Before You Write: Frame Your Thoughts with Concept Modeling

[@iagolura2361]

Brazilian here. GREAT VIDEO! I really liked your content. He gained another subscriber to his channel and another admirer of his work.

[@dapperninji646]

Diagnosed with adhd at 35. Going back to grad school. just found this channel. YOu are a godsend.

[@rvrgrrl]

Oh, gosh - I used to use Thinking Maps when I taught school, and loved them! I still think about them bc they were a great tool.

[@angelost1467]

This is really valuable content for people (like me) looking to harness their thoughts and become better communicators. Thank you for taking the time to share.

[@sonicmaths8285]

You explained it well. Not too many months ago, I understood the importance and power of concept maps and am still impressed by how they helped deepen my understanding of topics.

[@coffeemkr0]

One of the best treasures I’ve ever seen on you tube. Thank you for making this!!

[@itechnwrite]

THIS is evolutionary thinking technology that directly influences learning, design, implementation and conscious mental scaffolding that individuals can learn and apply to everything. In case you missed just how revolutionary this technology is, this is a critical advancement in efficiency, accuracy and transmissibility of information. The added bonus is a higher function and capacity of content contained in long-term memory. No matter what you do or focus on, THIS is the most valuable skill to learn and apply.

[@causalinference4176]

You are a knowledge master, your video really really helped me with learning and writing. Anyone should think clearly before his speaking and writing

[@gavada8596]

Great video and insightful and inspiring thinking as always! Thank you!

[@krackr8089]

Great combination of a presentation, structured thought flow & of course - a visual note..Thanks!

[@wolffn1]

Great video, good thinking, and slow, clear and friendly for non-native speakers like me! Thanks Zsolt!

[@swamihuman9395]

- Nice presentation. Thx. - I'm happy I came across this vid, and its content: this is the first time I've encountered some of "my" ideas expressed by another person. Not that I thought my ideas were original, just that I've never seen them formalized. - I'm an autodidact/polymath, plus teacher/"empowerer". - My approach to learning/teaching is CONCEPT-focused, along w/ the proper balance of / attention to CONCRETE. --- Concept is the idea, along w/ relations between things, whereas, --- Concrete is the implementation of the idea, along w/ labels to identify things. - Identifying/clarifying the concept/s upfront allows establishing intentional/good underlying structure, and a framework on which to build. This allows me to succeed where many others don't - but not because they can't: they just aren't thinking about things properly. When sharing this concept/concrete approach, I tell people, "Sometimes it's more important HOW you think than what you think." I've helped many people advance in their endeavors (at least those who have recognized the value/power in the concept/concrete viewpoint/approach). - Thx, again; I look forward to delving into more content on this channel...

[@VisualPKM]

Thanks! It's interesting how in some disciplines planning and design comes natural (think of buildings and construction), you'd never imagine building any serious structure like a bridge or a house without first modeling and design, yet in others, people seem to think they can wing it on the fly.

[@swamihuman9395]

​@@VisualPKM - Indeed. - My current area of focus is 3D design/modeling, and manufacturing. - I provide assistance online in users groups. The vast majority of people just jump in, start creating, and figure out things as they go... they might reach their goal, BUT the process (and sometimes results) is "less-than-optimal"; they develop bad practices; and generally work harder, not smarter - and often they don't even realize it! - Fortunately, usually I can straighten them out :)

[@renaudliber3467]

Such a great video Zsolt. Looking forward to put it into practice. Thanks!

[@gustavozanette61]

Very concise instructions. Great video!

[@pikatwinky28]

Thank you so much for making this valuable content Zsolt

[@davidxgreenwood]

Awesome instruction and insights ❤

[@VikrantSingh-se2zb]

Thanks for caring to share about art and science of personal knowledge base management.

[@sheon2]

Awesome video! I always thought they were the same but with your help, I now appreciate the differences!

[@lnard0]

very well explained thank you!!

[@thein3rovert-l9c]

❤ Gold

[@lawrencehawkins7198]

Gratitude!!!!

[@gondala]

I think this idea of concept modeling is very important before writing. But to my initial thought and impression, I think there is a gap between modeling and "actual" implementing or creating text from that model. I think, there should be another "step" i.e., outlining... I think, making outline right before writing, by adopting concept modeling will be really helping those who constantly "distracted" by many thought and "internal critic"...I think, outline make us more focus on working the actual text (e.g. paper, essay, book, presentation, etc)... I guess, the main goal of writing something is just to finishing the first draf. Sometime, we actually never finish even the first draft because of so many things... I hope you may give some thought on that... Thank you for your video...really help!

[@VisualPKM]

I fully agree with you. I think outlining and concept mapping serve two very distinctive purposes. Concept mapping is a great tool for crystallizing key concepts, their relationships, and the vocabulary you want to use to convey your ideas, while outlining is about storytelling, it is about converting the web of interconnected concepts in your mind into a sequential thread of words, sentences, paragraphs,... that engages the reader and guides them on a journey of discovery and understanding.

[@stoictrader7432]

This is gold

[@wlfred.ed1930]

great content thanks

[@ricardosoares2924]

Excelente explicação 👌🇧🇷

[@JohnMitchellCalif]

very useful!

[@kristomen]

I experience some difficulties while watching some of your videos. Although it seems to me that I understand the content presented, I have a problem with assimilating it. The belief that I am making mistakes while taking notes constantly accompanies me. This may be due to the fact that I need more time to truly understand the material. For me, without practical application, theory remains incomprehensible.

[@VisualPKM]

As mentioned in the video as well, I use concept mapping in two situations. 1) When I am reading something that I find difficult to understand, I like to create a concept map for myself to solidify my understanding and to create a mental reference. For example I created this (excalidraw.com/#json=-RhsSN0kA-Vyh6981qiPa,LnIPNY1pxx-0eFxIeReNHw) concept map when reading the first chapter of Rationality by Eliezer Yudkowsky. 2) When creating a new knowledge product. For example I created a concept map when defining the topics and structure for my Visual Thinking Framework: The MindSET. I recommend you try to create a concept map the next time you read something that is hard to understand or when you are creating some written product (e.g. proposal, article, etc... not sure about your field of interest, thus can't be more specific about what might be most relevant to you).

[@TheVigilantEye77]

Review. Think. Revise. Repeat

[@SavioSenaMachado]

IMO, when it comes to learning, you need a lot more than simply organizing the ideas in boxes and arrows. you need to explode these boxes into further detailed information with text (a lot of text), definitions, formulas, statements, references, etc. while having this "broad overview" might be a good starting point, it probably won't suffice in the long run.

[@VisualPKM]

We are in agreement. In my experience, it is very easy to get fooled by the illusion of understanding by reading/watching/listening to a lot of material about a subject - because by the end it will sound familiar, and we interpret familiar as "I understand it". But, until I am able to distill that understanding into a conceptual model like a concept map, I haven't really mastered the topic I am learning about. I often find myself revisiting chapters and books to re-read and re-interpret when trying to create a map of my own.

Good video. It's been many years since I used concept maps, and I think I'll pick it up again. Are there more visual elements that can be added to be useful? For example, accompanying with symbols to highlight more important areas or similar types of relationships? Greetings from Chile.

[@VisualPKM]

Well, nothing stops you from adding additional elements. Here's an example of a concept map I created when I was reading Rationality by Eliezer Yudkowsky: excalidraw.com/#json=-RhsSN0kA-Vyh6981qiPa,LnIPNY1pxx-0eFxIeReNHw

[@fabiolemos1750]

Great, ty

[@TheKr0ckeR]

Great guide! How to have this background on Exalidraw?

[@VisualPKM]

what do you mean by "this"? You mean the grid? right click on the canvas and select Toggle Grid from the context menu. Also you can download a set grid script from the Excalidraw script store. Set grid will give you additional control over the gird settings.

[@TheKr0ckeR]

@@VisualPKM Yes, I meant grid, thank you.

[@afrosymphony8207]

great stuff, i wish you chose a another concept topic to explain this, using a diagram as the concept became a bit confusing to me because its a bit meta since u need to draw diagrams...to...explain..what a diagram is...idk lool

[@VisualPKM]

Yes, the concept map became a bit meta... I wanted to link the concept map to the prior video about diagrams in PKM. I am currently collaborating with another KZbin creator in the PKM space. I hope to have a practical example of a concept map in the context of writing a book within the next 1-2 weeks. Hopefully that will be more hands on and practical.

[@afrosymphony8207]

@@VisualPKM yess pls remind me if you can

[@VisualPKM]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/sKWmpqNtbKZqbaM

[@nolanroube1009]

Thank you for this very interesting video, Zsolt (very difficult to pronounce your name) !

[@meburke]

I disagree with the "differences" between 'Mind Maps" and "Concept Maps: Mind Maps are hierarchal. Mind maps proceed from a central topic and branch into smaller subtopics or more details. Mind Maps can easily be transformed into "outlines". Although Mind Maps can have cross-connections between topics, they seldom connect those topics with dependencies on "attributes", which are essential for understanding the difference between "concepts", "facts", and "values". Concept Maps, on the other hand, RELY on the intermediate mapping of the connections to attributes, and mapping a concept specifically distinguishes between actual concepts, and attributes of those concepts such as facts and values. (The connecting idea is not always a verb.) The output of a Concept Map is most often something resembling a "Hypertree" rather than an hierarchal branching tree. A good book on this might be, "Thinking with Concepts" By John Wilson (if you can find a copy). Other than a jarring conflict between what I learned in Science and Philosophy classes back in the '60s, I appreciate the clarity of this video, as I enjoy the content of all your videos.

[@TheVigilantEye77]

By hand buy large sketch books Using both left and right pages as one big page allows for excellent concept/mind mapping

[@7th_CAV_Trooper]

looks like a knowledge graph

[@lorenkuhn3806]

Saying that mind maps are non-hierarchical shows that there is no original thought in this video... It's plain wrong and obviously just a regurgitation of other books or articles without thinking a second about it. he even said mind-maps are from inside to outside. that is a hierarchy. even stronger so than what was shown in concept maps.

[@VisualPKM]

I take it you have a different view on these and disagree with some of my statements about mind maps. That happens. Would love to see (read) your comparison of mind maps vs. concept maps. Please share in a response.

[@unknowninfinium4353]

This is by no means a disrespect or making fun but has anyone mentioned you look like Andrew Klavan?

[@bloomflora1105]

ah! the Germans!