What is Zettelkasten Note-Taking? 📝 Why It Works & Knowledge Theory 🧠

[@Wanderloots]

I hope this explanation helps simplify the often-overcomplicated Zettelkasten method while helping you see the bigger picture of personal knowledge management theory 🧠📝 Part 2: The Practice - Templating Zettelkasten in Obsidian is now available kzbin.info/www/bejne/raDVoatmgbSYf6s✨ I personally found that tying this system to knowledge theory helped make the Zettelkasten system much more practical. Please let me know if you have any questions in the comments and I will do my best to help where I can 🫡

[@mohdhafizuddiniqbalazman7794]

Subscribed.... 🎉 I'm interested

[@Wanderloots]

@@mohdhafizuddiniqbalazman7794 Amazing! Thank you so much 😊Which part interested you the most?

[@rasmia09]

Thank you for your video man! Well explained, and well developed. Definitely, I have to check it out your Obsidian videos

[@Wanderloots]

You’re welcome! Appreciate the feedback, this one was a lot of work 😂 awesome! Would love to hear what you think of the other videos too 😊 let me know if you have any questions or are looking for videos on anything in particular 🫡

[@jameshuisangkim]

I can’t thank you enough for creating these videos. The way you break down complex concepts into understandable content is incredibly helpful. I know from experience how challenging it is to present dense information clearly like this, and I hope you're taking it easy, because I would hate to see you burn out! Looking forward to the part 2! :)

[@Wanderloots]

I'm so glad to hear it! 😊 Really appreciate your appreciation haha, they are a ton of work and not everyone realizes that, so it means a lot. Taking it easy this weekend, then it's on to part 2! I burnt out pretty hard when working as a lawyer, so I'm always trying to be cognizant of when it starts rearing up again. Actually made a video about burnout a little while ago if you're interested: Burnout Recovery Through Self-Discovery kzbin.info/www/bejne/emPOp5h4mc6LoNE Also, thanks so much for joining the membership! 🫡 I'm excited to get some more conversations going around the topics of these videos so we can all learn together ✨

[@timbushell8640]

Information overload, solved... Metaphor overload, well it sounds like you haven't even started ... yet! Excellent vid. Excellent pull through of the concepts and workflow.

[@Wanderloots]

Woo! Glad to hear it 😊 haha I went more into the analogies & examples in Part 2: The Practice - Templating Zettelkasten in Obsidian kzbin.info/www/bejne/raDVoatmgbSYf6s✨ Thank you so much! Glad you resonated, it's something that's been on my mind for a long time so I'm happy to finally have converted the thought into video

[@timbushell8640]

@@Wanderloots Part II later. But part I and it implementation. I am having to overlay this onto an existing note collection, in Obsidian, but one that has some legacy issues from 'older' note taking apps and systems... i.e. style of and use of tags for instance. But I now see more of where I want to go. Following, especially your "How I Automatically Organize My Obsidian Vault", it has helped. And a slight rebellion against your 'thinking inside the box', as I 'now' "think" not recognizing 'the box', as the barriers that imply are broken by the organic vault or local graphs. It isn't the bounded "Encyclopedia" all nicely arranged on the bookshelf. Keep up the good work.

[@torbenzeuge1031]

Thanks so much! These Videos and the way you explain really helps me getting everthing sorted Out and Help me getting started! The thing that keep me struggling the most is how you Take on notes about trivial Things. These Methods and Zettelkasten etc ist great and i get how powerfull they are for learning News Things, getting Intro complex Things and Help you create new ideas. But i also Just wanna Note thise 3 damn Linux command i keep looking Up or even the Name of my Barber, the Openingtimes of my janitors at my House.... That Kind of stuff

[@Wanderloots]

My pleasure! So glad you found it helpful 😊That's a great question! In my opinion, I consider trivial notes to be under the "fleeting note" category. They can be added to daily notes, new notes, or to source notes. The key is that they may never be converted (distilled) into permanent notes, since they don't actually fit into the proper Zettelkasten system with respect to trying to "learn" something. So I would say just create new notes as you feel like it! But, by keeping a focused structure for the zettelkasten part of your Vault, you can easily & automatically move your Zettelkasten notes into their respective folders so that, when the time comes, you can just click through the folder without seeing the trivial notes. I talk more about this automated inboxing & indexing in this video here: kzbin.info/www/bejne/Y2aslJqnodyMg6M Happy to answer more questions 🫡

[@torbenzeuge1031]

@Wanderloots That really helps thank you so much!! I think the Key is to understand that the Zettelkasten is just a part of the notetaking, Not the while thing. Even i know its a pittrap its really easy to get stuck in all those Methods, but i feel Like i need some structure so i dont feel lost. Now i Just need to Figuren Out how i wanna Link everthing . Really looking forward for the practical video!

[@Wanderloots]

@@torbenzeuge1031 Awesome! Glad I could help ✨That's exactly it! The physical Zettelkasten had many limitations, one of which being that you had to be incredibly careful with your slip-boxes. That said, the digital ecosystem can make it easy to get lost in the overwhelming ability to create infinite notes effortlessly haha. By keeping the physical system in mind, it creates a really easy way to separate the true "Zettelkasten", in the literal sense of the word of slip-box, within your digital world. Re: linking, I recommend checking out my "How I Organize Obsidian" Video: kzbin.info/www/bejne/qYvbipSrZ5Z3aJI . I talk about tags vs topics and my philosophy of "emergent linking" vs "rigid structure". This organization video will also help you understand the practical video better too (which I'm working on right now! 🫡 )

[@SoMDeadeye]

I've been enjoying your videos Callum. I've recently started going down the rabbit hole of obsidian, second brain, and Zettlekasten in order to expand my knowledge. Thanks for the information, looking forward to more.

[@Wanderloots]

Thank you 😊 appreciate the feedback! Haha it is quite the rabbit hole, but I feel like I’ve begun to understand my own mind better as a result, which has knock on benefits ✨ Was there anything in particular you’ve found the most helpful? Either in this video or others? Always interested in learning what others want to learn more about 🫡

[@TihorSam]

If your new to obsidian, I would advise against going down the plugin and setup rabbit hole as it can slow down the whole process.

[@Wanderloots]

@@TihorSam Yeah it can be a huge time-sink and can lead to "organizational paralysis", which is why it's best to start taking notes & getting used to the system first. That said, one thing that drew me to Obsidian in the first place was the ability to interpret my notes via plugins, so there is also value in understanding the tools available to you 😊

[@SoMDeadeye]

@@Wanderloots I really enjoyed the diagrams you had for a lot of things, it made it really digestible, and quite easy to understand. Do you have a recommended reading list somewhere? You reference a lot of books like how to take smart notes, which is sitting on my desk right now waiting for me to start it 😆, among others.

[@SoMDeadeye]

@@TihorSam Thanks, I did go down it a little and found that to be the case. I am a programmer though, and have found a couple things to be quite fun, like templater and dataview. I did have to bring myself to stop looking at everything and just start setting a system up 😆.

[@DmitriZaitsev]

Very interesting system but the part I missing is how do you actually find the old connected notes as you keep pouring more and more ideas it's easy to forget what you have in the system so you might end up with loads and loads of the same ideas spread differently how do you actually sort through this and classify and reduce the redundancy?

[@Wanderloots]

Thank you! Discovering/rediscovering key ideas/concepts is a huge part of this system for sure, and can be difficult if you don't have a consistent way to surface insights. I have a few ways that I do this: 1) Descriptive note titles for ideas. When I have a "new" idea, I'll start typing it out in a new linked note [[new idea]], and Obsidian will auto-suggest notes with similar titles. Often, my best ideas are recurring ones that pop up every 4 months, so I'll be reminded of the previous idea when Obsidian suggests it. Then, rather than starting a new note, I'll click into the old one and just add onto what I previously wrote. 2) Tags for structure, Topic Notes for emergent pattern development. By being intentional with tags & topics, I'll often find old ideas when searching in Obsidian Search or looking through the Local Graph View. I explain more about tags vs topics in this video: How I Organize My Obsidian Vault 📥 Tags, Topics & Maps of Content kzbin.info/www/bejne/qYvbipSrZ5Z3aJI 3) Distill & Consolidate: When I notice, for example, that searching a keyword brings up multiple notes that are very similar, I'll open them all up side by side and then consolidate them into a single note that is the most relevant. I'll then check the backlinks of the notes I didn't use, and either delete them if they are not important links, or just add a reference link to the main note I just consolidated so that I can always follow the train of thought through connected notes. Hope that helps! I'll show more of how this all works in Part 2: Templating Molecular Zettelkasten 😊 Happy to answer any more questions 🫡

[@samuelbaruch8790]

What data integrity mechanisms are implemented to prevent tampering and bias?

[@Wanderloots]

Within Obsidian? It's a local folder of markdown files, so there is, by default, no way for tampering or bias to occur. Not sure if that's what you mean? You can also introduce backup systems using Git or alternatives to allow for a version control system, so you can rollback if anything happens.

[@samuelbaruch8790]

@Wanderloots Haha, I meant to protect data from my own biases. Knowledge is power, and acquiring it significantly impacts decision-making and even shapes history, as seen with influential figures from the past I'm seeking a balanced worldview, ensuring my internal logic doesn't negatively influence others or create biases when shared. Success can be detrimental if it contaminates the data. There is a great book called the ego is the enemy that explains more about this concept To mitigate this, I'm considering Fabric, an open-source tool, to double-check my .md files. Specifically, its "extract_hidden_message" feature generates opposing viewpoints, promoting critical thinking.

[@Wanderloots]

@@samuelbaruch8790 Oh I see! Fabric sounds fascinating, thanks so much for sharing 🫡 Ego is the Enemy is on my list to read actually! Been working my way through the Daily Stoic book too. I also highly recommend "Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking" & "Thinking Fast and Slow" as two other sources that go into cognitive biases and ways to overcome them. I think that keeping careful track of the source material in your vault can also assist with recognizing bias, because you can always identify if a source has lost credibility and use it to quickly assess your vault. That's one of the key benefits of zettelkasten. Also, just released Part 2 if you're interested! kzbin.info/www/bejne/raDVoatmgbSYf6s

[@samuelbaruch8790]

Is it feasible to develop a customized AI model leveraging carefully curated data from a personal knowledge system, considering contemporary AI's reliance on autocomplete-like functionality?

[@Wanderloots]

For sure! This possibility is what drew me to Obsidian in the first place, since I wanted my data structured using markdown since it is so interoperable with AI models. That said, a true custom model might be overkill/a lot of work, depending on what you're wanting to use it for. Instead, I foresee using your Obsidian vault, or a curated selection of it, to fine-tune an existing model. You could do this with a local model so there is no data privacy concerns. Alternatively, you could use a RAG system to query your Vault, fine-tuning the RAG with custom prompting & memory (e.g., like I talk about in my NotebookLM video: kzbin.info/www/bejne/amPdlqqap6ilhcU Regarding the "autocomplete-like functionality", that tendency will vary depending on the model and the way you have set up your AI to access your Vault. By fine-tuning or introducing memory, you can customize the way the AI will interact with you, which, while still being "autocomplete" will at least be more "autocomplete for Samuel" Will be sharing more about these concepts in the coming weeks!

[@imgeffrey]

Thank you!

[@Wanderloots]

My pleasure! Glad you found it helpful 😊 had you heard of zettelkasten before?

[@imgeffrey]

​@@Wanderloots 😄 I've been slipboxing for about 4 years now. Started with Tiddlywiki and transitioned to Obsidian in 2022.

[@Wanderloots]

@@imgeffrey oh wow! Haha you've got more experience than I do then 😊 any tips on what you've found the most helpful in your own system?

[@imgeffrey]

@@Wanderloots 😄 It's become an obsession and it has helped on many occassions. I needed a sustainable, future-proof system that’s unobtrusive. Future-proof means it should remain optimal when my interests, learning style, goals, and tools change. I’ve simplified my process to: 1. Consume content, write a 1-page outline, and break up interesting ideas into separate notes. 2. Note my thoughts during the process and link them to existing notes. I don’t tag, categorize, or use folders except for ‘inbox’ (where outlines live to be processed). Once done, they become ‘reference notes’ among existing notes. Having a ‘source’ automatically means it’s not an original thought.

[@julianomoraisbarbosa]

# til

[@Wanderloots]

What was it you learned?

[@jonr6680]

Dude, you took an HOUR. Ain't nobody got time for that. And what's with the arm waving? Think you're some kind of JEDI?! This zettlekasten zeitgeist train sailed about 2y ago. It's just like BuJo, it had its time in the sun. Now the grim reality is none of us are Einstein or Leonardo, and for sure your or my insights don't need a supercomputer (or even an iPhone) to track them. And assuming you have the time to grind all this data, you need to actually ACTION the genius ideas. Otherwise it's just HOARDING.

[@Wanderloots]

A few thoughts: 1) I spent about 10 hours reading the book "How to take smart notes" and 10+ hours watching Zettelkasten youtube videos to understand the system. I figured if I could condense it down to less than 1 hour, with detailed explanations and examples, I would actually be saving people time. Also, this video goes into depth on various knowledge management theories, which go far beyond Zettelkasten itself, leading to greater insights and understanding of knowledge as a whole (and actually this is what a few people have told me they found the most helpful part of the video, starting around 31:00). 2) Speaking with hand gestures is more accessible to people who are hard of hearing, so it actually can help improve comprehension. 3) Zettelkasten is not something that has sailed, it's merely a way that works for some people to shift to notetaking in a way that is structured for insights that compound over time. Also, reducing information overload through smart note-taking. This is also an updated version of Zettelkasten that I modified in my own system (more at 26:41). 4) The goal of a system like this is actually to negate the need for supercomputing in any capacity; instead enabling each person to uniquely assess their own ideas, while tracking the origin of their inspirations from external sources. No one is forced to use a system like this 😊 5) Zettelkasten is all about actionability. By standardizing the organization & processing system up front, you open the door to focusing more on actioning ideas rather than the system.

[@JosephHollak]

Whoa. Someone did not get a hug from their momma this morning.Little JonnyR woke up this morning in dirty pajamas and thought he should transfer that to his keyboard. Is it odd to anyone else that little jonny complains about it taking an hour for information that he thinks is out of date anyway? You couldn't get what the video was going to be about from the title of the video? Spoiler alert, that's what video titles are for. Listen jon jon, this dude has found a system that helps him with productivity and his personal knowledge management and he feels compelled to share what works for him publicly because it could probably help other people that, unlike you, don't feel like they know it all. HIs channel, his time, his life. Even if this video helps one person, then good on @wanderloots. Step away from the keyboard, go get your little applesauce cup jonboy, and take a minute to think about how you're going to make someone's day a little better despite your grumpy little boy attitude.

[@jonr6680]

@JosephHollak OK Pops

[@Wingedmagician]

some good points but you could be less smug and arrogant about it 😊

[@JosephHollak]

@@Wingedmagician Could. Online bullies need a good reminder sometimes.