7 ms·

Tony Buzan, Inventor of the “Mind Map”, Has Died

tunesmith 8y ago
I am curious how other people have found mind mapping useful. I only find it useful if the edges mean something logical, like cause/effect, or hierarchical like "A is the boss of B". But when it's merely drawing lines that imply some sort of fuzzy "is related" relationship, or "A makes me think of B", it only leads to a bunch of nodes and lines that are a jumble.
- cdumler 8y ago
  Mind maps are useful when you don't know what the structure is before hand. For instance, when I start a new job, I tend to mind map everything. I really have no idea how to organize concepts, names, computers/servers, etc. But, a mind map makes it very easy to reorganize as I gain more clarity. Eventually, I drop the map once I understand innately.
- RickJWagner 8y ago
  I find mind maps very useful. I like to categorize things by branch (and use the number, etc. icons to cross-reference sometimes.) It's not perfect, but it's better than reams of text. I think sometimes the primary value of the mindmap is the study I put in building it.
- KineticLensman 8y ago
  They aren't my go-to tool but I have found mind maps useful for playing with high-level doc structures. I used one today to prevent some candidate taxonomical groupings to some domain experts, and it served the purpose of sparking debate and getting feedback on suggested regroupings
agsilvio 8y ago
Rest in peace, sir. Shameless tribute plug: my mind map project - jumproot.com
- musingsole 8y ago
  That's more of an outlining tool than a mind map. An inner node should be able to connect back to any outer node to fully define a thought space.
  - agsilvio 7y ago
    Yes but I want to keep the tree view. Been trying to brainstorm ways to do a graph in a tree view (or something with similar attributes). And believe me, I use this as a mind map daily.
rahuldottech 8y ago
Aw man. I've used them all through school. We were taught to, since like 2nd grade? Cool stuff.
cutler 8y ago
Takes me back to my first year at university in 1979/80 when I used mind maps to take lecture notes. A valuable contribution to learning technology.
perilunar 8y ago
Had completely forgotten about mind maps until the recent reference in Sex Education.
aaron695 7y ago
Not to knock a man while he's down but Mind Maps don't work. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mind_map#Effectiveness https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mind_map#Effectiveness It's part of the myth of the existence of learning styles. Personally I think these things allow struggling students an excuse to redo the material again or a lecturer two chances at teaching the material well. It'll work, but a better way is to do it properly.
HNLurker2 7y ago
His books sounds like snake oil to me. Never found mnenmonics useful , only tricks to impress teachers and friends.
Starwatcher2001 7y ago
I love mind maps and still use them regularly. I find them particularly good for marshalling my ideas at the start of a project when it's just important to get things written down somewhere and bash them into a sensble order and heirarchy. I also use them as quick single page summaries for revision of topics. RIP Tony.

I am curious how other people have found mind mapping useful. I only find it useful if the edges mean something logical, like cause/effect, or hierarchical like "A is the boss of B". But when it's merely drawing lines that imply some sort of fuzzy "is related" relationship, or "A makes me think of B", it only leads to a bunch of nodes and lines that are a jumble.

cdumler 8y ago
Mind maps are useful when you don't know what the structure is before hand. For instance, when I start a new job, I tend to mind map everything. I really have no idea how to organize concepts, names, computers/servers, etc. But, a mind map makes it very easy to reorganize as I gain more clarity. Eventually, I drop the map once I understand innately.
RickJWagner 8y ago
I find mind maps very useful. I like to categorize things by branch (and use the number, etc. icons to cross-reference sometimes.) It's not perfect, but it's better than reams of text. I think sometimes the primary value of the mindmap is the study I put in building it.
KineticLensman 8y ago
They aren't my go-to tool but I have found mind maps useful for playing with high-level doc structures. I used one today to prevent some candidate taxonomical groupings to some domain experts, and it served the purpose of sparking debate and getting feedback on suggested regroupings

agsilvio 8y ago

Rest in peace, sir. Shameless tribute plug: my mind map project - jumproot.com

musingsole 8y ago
That's more of an outlining tool than a mind map. An inner node should be able to connect back to any outer node to fully define a thought space.
- agsilvio 7y ago
  Yes but I want to keep the tree view. Been trying to brainstorm ways to do a graph in a tree view (or something with similar attributes). And believe me, I use this as a mind map daily.

rahuldottech 8y ago

Aw man. I've used them all through school. We were taught to, since like 2nd grade? Cool stuff.

cutler 8y ago

Takes me back to my first year at university in 1979/80 when I used mind maps to take lecture notes. A valuable contribution to learning technology.

perilunar 8y ago

Had completely forgotten about mind maps until the recent reference in Sex Education.

aaron695 7y ago

Not to knock a man while he's down but Mind Maps don't work. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mind_map#Effectiveness https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mind_map#Effectiveness It's part of the myth of the existence of learning styles. Personally I think these things allow struggling students an excuse to redo the material again or a lecturer two chances at teaching the material well. It'll work, but a better way is to do it properly.

HNLurker2 7y ago

His books sounds like snake oil to me. Never found mnenmonics useful , only tricks to impress teachers and friends.

Starwatcher2001 7y ago

I love mind maps and still use them regularly. I find them particularly good for marshalling my ideas at the start of a project when it's just important to get things written down somewhere and bash them into a sensble order and heirarchy. I also use them as quick single page summaries for revision of topics. RIP Tony.