How to Build a Digital Zettelkasten

Adam Keesling on why a Zettelkasten compounds: because notes are linked, the more information you add the more you increase the whole system’s value — the opposite of a folder, where volume is cost.

Notes

• ==Notes==
  • It’s powerful because, thanks to the way notes are linked together in a Zettelkasten, the more information you add, the more you increase its overall value.
  • Benefit of Digital System
    • Search. Searching through a box of physical cards is tedious. It’s much easier to type in a search bar.
    • Linking. Links in a physical Zettelkasten are equivalent to hyperlinks online. Computers make links clickable and the underlying information accessible in an instant (so speed is an advantage, too).
    • Storage. If you’re going to index a lifetime of knowledge on notecards, you’re eventually going to need a lot of space for boxes. It’s a little easier if you keep this information on the internet, where you can get to it from your laptop or phone, or any device anywhere in the world.
  • Google tried to answer your questions by indexing the web, but it’s too broad and unfiltered to be an effective personal Zettelkasten. Plus, Google exists to help you find only what you’re looking for — there’s no room for intellectual surprise or creativity, or for you to create your own links between search results.
  • Roam is a note-taking tool designed for networked thought. In contrast to a file structure on a computer (or with Evernote and Notion), in Roam you link thoughts together at the idea level. ==**It encourages you to think topically instead of linearly. **==
  • Interesting idea to nest all metadata on one bullet; still organizes them but then they would be searchable (I think) - #query