Notes & Mini-Essays

Atomic Notes

14-07-2024

Tags: On reading, On learning, Note-taking

Suggestion: taking atomic (absolute) notes, that are "stripped from their context" (sic); as in, don't copy-paste the read thing on another note and then link the source reference to this note, but make a new one that doesn't need context.

I don't much like the concept of an idea which doesn't need context, though. I think that the context of where and when an idea originates is itself very much a PART of it, and trying to abstract it from its roots could very well lead to misinterpretations due to de-contextualization. Nonetheless, it could be useful to at least give it a shot, since it could be useful to link similar ideas back to a common node, a core idea which they all point to.

In the book How to Take Smart Notes by Soenke Ahrens there's this similar but slightly different idea that when the author can be removed from the scene, and the concept can be understood without the need to go back and look for the reference, then it is a note that will be helpful.

Basically, as I have understood it, the idea is to create notes that contain enough information for you to be able understand and recall the concept and information without going back to the source material, and that will help you even if much time has passed, and you have forgotten about the context of the note. It's like the proper commenting etiquette in a programming/coding environment.

It's also important in the sense that, if you can abstract and make new metaphor about a concept, then you will have understood it better and will be able to recall it and use it again when needed. -- And to connect it better with other ideas, which is the core idea of a Zettelkasten system.

While I don't really enact a Zettelkasten in my notes, and the book I've mentioned before itself does come with its own flaws (for starters, I'm not really of the idea 'that the author can be removed from the scene' with no consequences to the idea itself, but. nuance) I have found this whole thing useful as a kickstarter to get into the habit of taking notes about the things I experience more frequently.

References:

• Note-taking and mini-essays tips
• How to Take Smart Notes - Soenke Ahrens - pg 36
• This guy's video about atomic notes