What I miss in this discussion is the level of proficiency and purpose of the reader. > Your zettelkasten should be made up of your ideas about the authors ide

What I miss in this discussion is the level of proficiency and purpose of the reader. > Your zettelkasten should be made up of your ideas about the authors ideas. Linking these notes is what's meant to happen. If the subject is new to me, I will have few or no valid ideas yet. It'll take several readings to start having some. In order to start having valuable ideas, I need to keep relevant third-party ideas in my working memory. That's where taking notes and, especially, reviewing them frequently is important. But it all depends on the purpose. If I don't mean to improve my mastery of a subject in the short term, I can just enjoy and let the experience of reading surprise myself.