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Heh, you haven't looked around for a note-taking app recently. Note-taking is like the nerdy version of weight loss. There's a cottage industry around note-taki

by dkarl 3y ago

Heh, you haven't looked around for a note-taking app recently. Note-taking is like the nerdy version of weight loss. There's a cottage industry around note-taking apps and techniques, complete with dozens (at least) of people producing influencer content on how they make their life amazing using <notetaking-method-A> with <notetaking-app-B>.

LordDragonfang 3y ago
No, you see, they're not "note-taking apps", they're PKMSs - Personal Knowledge Management Systems. (bleh)
- doubled112 3y ago
  This sounds like the equivalent of a gas station attendant calling themselves a petrol product distribution technician.
- datadrivenangel 3y ago
  The problem is that people confuse information for knowledge.
pavlov 3y ago
Yes, it feels like people are desperately searching for "This one crazy hack that will make you think better!" In my experience, thinking more is the only thing that will reliably make you think better. And to think more, you need space and time, not a breathtaking density of inputs and outputs surrounding your thoughts, which seems to be the note-taking industry's solution.
- boredemployee 3y ago
  >> you need space and time ie.: a simple walk in a park or a calm and silent place
- taude 3y ago
  Agreed. Everyone is overthinking it, and spending their brain cells on the wrong thing looking for that one panacea. Wanna get fit: watch what you eat, burn more calories than you intake, exercise, probably minimize alcohol intake. Wanna learn stuff: intake new information from a reliable source, write it down (in anything), reprocess the information in your own words, and review often enough for you to pick it up. Anything I'm missing?
  - brightlancer 3y ago
    I agree there isn't a panacea, but small improvements can pay huge dividends over time. > burn more calories than you intake That's harder than it sounds. Most people incorrectly measure how many calories they intake and incorrectly measure how many calories they burn. Even for folks who correctly calculate both, they then have to change behaviors -- usually behaviors that have been developed over decades. Again, harder than it sounds. This is why so many people keep seeking out weight-loss solutions: because the best way isn't easy. While most folks today can pick any note software (or notebook) off the shelf and happily jot things down, a relative few folks are trying to do a _lot_ more with their notes and are going to be frustrated with the generic tools that most people use. For those few folks, the easy way isn't the best way. And this isn't new: depending how we categorize it (har), folks have been trying to refine their "note-taking" for hundreds or thousands of years. I don't think they were looking for a panacea; they were heavy thinkers who wanted to improve their process.
- atoav 3y ago
  Curiously there have been indications that the way we take notes does indeed affect our thinking — but not in the way those note app devs would like: Taking handwritten notes is linked to better memorization in various studies over e.g. typing.

by dkarl 3y ago

LordDragonfang 3y ago

No, you see, they're not "note-taking apps", they're PKMSs - Personal Knowledge Management Systems. (bleh)

doubled112 3y ago
This sounds like the equivalent of a gas station attendant calling themselves a petrol product distribution technician.
datadrivenangel 3y ago
The problem is that people confuse information for knowledge.

pavlov 3y ago

Yes, it feels like people are desperately searching for "This one crazy hack that will make you think better!" In my experience, thinking more is the only thing that will reliably make you think better. And to think more, you need space and time, not a breathtaking density of inputs and outputs surrounding your thoughts, which seems to be the note-taking industry's solution.

boredemployee 3y ago
>> you need space and time ie.: a simple walk in a park or a calm and silent place
taude 3y ago
Agreed. Everyone is overthinking it, and spending their brain cells on the wrong thing looking for that one panacea. Wanna get fit: watch what you eat, burn more calories than you intake, exercise, probably minimize alcohol intake. Wanna learn stuff: intake new information from a reliable source, write it down (in anything), reprocess the information in your own words, and review often enough for you to pick it up. Anything I'm missing?
- brightlancer 3y ago
  I agree there isn't a panacea, but small improvements can pay huge dividends over time. > burn more calories than you intake That's harder than it sounds. Most people incorrectly measure how many calories they intake and incorrectly measure how many calories they burn. Even for folks who correctly calculate both, they then have to change behaviors -- usually behaviors that have been developed over decades. Again, harder than it sounds. This is why so many people keep seeking out weight-loss solutions: because the best way isn't easy. While most folks today can pick any note software (or notebook) off the shelf and happily jot things down, a relative few folks are trying to do a _lot_ more with their notes and are going to be frustrated with the generic tools that most people use. For those few folks, the easy way isn't the best way. And this isn't new: depending how we categorize it (har), folks have been trying to refine their "note-taking" for hundreds or thousands of years. I don't think they were looking for a panacea; they were heavy thinkers who wanted to improve their process.
atoav 3y ago
Curiously there have been indications that the way we take notes does indeed affect our thinking — but not in the way those note app devs would like: Taking handwritten notes is linked to better memorization in various studies over e.g. typing.