2 ms·

Hierarchies vary based on the application and your point of view. For example, let's say you have an entry for beer bottles. Does that go under beer or under bo

by mmooss 1y ago

Hierarchies vary based on the application and your point of view. For example, let's say you have an entry for beer bottles. Does that go under beer or under bottles, or under glass-making or Charlie's hobbies or something else? And your perspective today might differ tomorrow or in a year or 20 years. Think about Wikipedia (and other wikis) - there is no hierarchy. You can start at any point and, in a sense, there's a hierarchy of pages with the starting point at the top.

vvpan 1y ago
I suppose my observation is that I have never seen anybody actually have enough of notes for long enough of time (cannot imagine needing any of mine in a few years) for this to be a problem. Those people likely exist but I have not met them.
- mmooss 1y ago
  One such person's take (i.e., my own): https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=44025080 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=44025080
singhrac 1y ago
I think you have 2 issues with content based systems: you have ambiguity (in archiving and retrieval) and you have to use mental effort to resolve that ambiguity. The Dewey decimal system has less ambiguity in both, and an alphabetical system would be unambiguous for archiving (if not retrieval). I prefer to organize my notes functionally (eg internal emails, blog posts, links to read, reading notes) and then rely on search for retrieval. It’s not perfect but it lowers the friction, which I think is very important.
- mmooss 1y ago
  > I think you have 2 issues with content based systems: you have ambiguity (in archiving and retrieval) and you have to use mental effort to resolve that ambiguity. True, but ....... Full-text search solves many problems. And hyperlinks enable knowledge to be in multiple places at once and even remain normalized (i.e., it can be in other locations by reference). If your kb has an efficient 'include' functionality, it's even easier. Most importantly, if you are using your kb well (by my definition [0]), you record high-quality knowledge that you've already engaged deeply with. If you can't solve the content ambiguity issue easily, it's just a sign that you haven't engaged and don't know it well enough. [0] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=44025080 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=44025080

by mmooss 1y ago

vvpan 1y ago

I suppose my observation is that I have never seen anybody actually have enough of notes for long enough of time (cannot imagine needing any of mine in a few years) for this to be a problem. Those people likely exist but I have not met them.

mmooss 1y ago
One such person's take (i.e., my own): https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=44025080 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=44025080

singhrac 1y ago

I think you have 2 issues with content based systems: you have ambiguity (in archiving and retrieval) and you have to use mental effort to resolve that ambiguity. The Dewey decimal system has less ambiguity in both, and an alphabetical system would be unambiguous for archiving (if not retrieval). I prefer to organize my notes functionally (eg internal emails, blog posts, links to read, reading notes) and then rely on search for retrieval. It’s not perfect but it lowers the friction, which I think is very important.

mmooss 1y ago
> I think you have 2 issues with content based systems: you have ambiguity (in archiving and retrieval) and you have to use mental effort to resolve that ambiguity. True, but ....... Full-text search solves many problems. And hyperlinks enable knowledge to be in multiple places at once and even remain normalized (i.e., it can be in other locations by reference). If your kb has an efficient 'include' functionality, it's even easier. Most importantly, if you are using your kb well (by my definition [0]), you record high-quality knowledge that you've already engaged deeply with. If you can't solve the content ambiguity issue easily, it's just a sign that you haven't engaged and don't know it well enough. [0] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=44025080 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=44025080