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> "Between 1997 and 2000, I continued burning tons of CDs." > "Over time, disks became larger and larger. Prices also dropped. The limits and constraints I had

> "Between 1997 and 2000, I continued burning tons of CDs." > "Over time, disks became larger and larger. Prices also dropped. The limits and constraints I had before slowly vanished. I stored even more data." > "And again, I collected the data. I kept the movies, the TV shows, the documentaries. Everything. It was tough for me to just "let go"." How does one approach composting knowledge, things that no longer serve, or weren't theirs in the first place? Saying this as someone who's in love with the latest 'second-brain' tools and such yet goes through some old bookmarks and find myself sitting if one really needs it. Similarly just went through digitizing a chunk family history and while there's some important bits, there was plenty to either let go of or not try to organize. The author later in the article... > "I feel like I've come to terms with the idea that it's time for me to let go of the past. I don't pressure myself, but I'm getting rid of more and more things. I do this slowly. Thoughtfully. Not so much because I fear losing something important, but rather because I have fond memories, and I realize that it takes me time to accept deleting some things, even if I know I'll never need those again. While discussing with my friend André he mentioned emotional attachment to things and gently letting go of those, as Marie Kondo recommends. I gave it some thought, and while it's true that I'm not attached to many actual things in my life, I'm actually attached to many digital ones."

Infernal 5y ago
Composting knowledge, I like this. I find that with papers, books, audio CDs, video game cartridges, etc., it is easier to filter, to know what you have, and to get rid of what you don't use as you go. In some ways, the default of a physical medium is loss, and you have to put in some non-zero, repeat effort to retain it. In contrast, the default of digital media is retention, sometimes even in spite of efforts against (think trying to remove data from social media). Every Apple Note, iCloud Photo, browsing history, bookmark, etc. will continue to persist unless you make an effort to get rid of it. So, the challenge for me, is not so much how do I retain all this digital data, but how do I ONLY retain the bits that are relevant, and how do I cull those bits occasionally?

Infernal 5y ago

Composting knowledge, I like this. I find that with papers, books, audio CDs, video game cartridges, etc., it is easier to filter, to know what you have, and to get rid of what you don't use as you go. In some ways, the default of a physical medium is loss, and you have to put in some non-zero, repeat effort to retain it. In contrast, the default of digital media is retention, sometimes even in spite of efforts against (think trying to remove data from social media). Every Apple Note, iCloud Photo, browsing history, bookmark, etc. will continue to persist unless you make an effort to get rid of it. So, the challenge for me, is not so much how do I retain all this digital data, but how do I ONLY retain the bits that are relevant, and how do I cull those bits occasionally?