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The word "smarter" or even "smart" doesn't appear in the text, so I guess this is not the claim of the text; I would have appreciated a summary or at least a co
by Rochus 3y ago
The word "smarter" or even "smart" doesn't appear in the text, so I guess this is not the claim of the text; I would have appreciated a summary or at least a conclusion. I did not have the patience to read it all, but just skimmed over it and think it's more about information overflow in general.
It's not true that note-taking and well designed apps to do so don't make us smarter. Being smart means "having or showing a high degree of mental ability" (point 1 of 7 in https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/smart https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/smart). Applications which support our information management increase our mental abilities.
Since I take notes of every meeting, I still know days or even years later what was decided and for what reason, and I can check the arguments afterwards to see if they are still valid and, if necessary, make sure that they are returned to if circumstances change. If I don't take any notes or only keyword notes, I can't do that because after two hours you only remember a fraction of the meeting, and after a day full of meetings you hardly remember any details. I've done big enough projects for long enough and participated in meetings of 2 with up to 50 people in a room, and have been able to observe very well how what kind of notes affected the aftermath of the meeting on individuals.
- kazinator 3y agoThe phrase "improve our thinking" appears, which can be understood as the article author's clarification about what "make us smarter" refers to.
- Rochus 3y agoThanks, though "thinking" is a mental process and "make smarter" or "showing a high degree of mental ability" applies to a quality.
- kazinator 3y agoThe entire article can be summarized like this: "I define intelligence an innate ability to juggle information well, which is independent of memory. If you're trying to think, but have forgotten some key information and not have taken notes, you're not less intelligent, only less informed; therefore, note taking cannot make you more intelligent, only better informed." Yawn ...
- Rochus 3y agoThanks for the summary. > I define intelligence an innate ability to juggle information well, which is independent of memory ... Well, if people start using their own definitions, then we should not wonder that they come to unusual conclusions.
- Rochus 3y agoOk, now it's another headline (no longer "Why note-taking apps don't make us smarter"). But I doubt that "Note-taking apps are designed for storage, not insight" is more correct. When I'm taking notes, I'm collecting facts and evidence, from which I later draw conclusions, i.e. get insight.