272 Matching Annotations
  1. Last 7 days
  2. Jul 2024
    1. "And the rich get stitched up, when we get cut Man a heal dem broken bones in the bush with the wed mud" Rich are more advantaged than the mass middle class/poor. It's always the middle/lower classes who have to do the dirty work of the elites, it's because we gave our power away in the first place which is why we're treated like toy soldiers. this song is all about equality and self-empowerment in this aspect. Raises the importance of naturopathy science, how old and ancient herbal rememdies and medicinal practices are more advanced and provide better treatment than modern medicine. raises the issue of the supression of ancient medicinnal practices/herbs by corporate structures who just want to generate more income and improperly prescribe harmful substances/drugs to people. The EU is already banning natural herbs that cure all sorts of natural illnesses by natural/healthy means. "Can you read signs? can you read stars? Can you make peace? can you fight war? Can you milk cows, even though you drive cars? huh Can you survive, Against All Odds, Now?" reference to occult/esoteric wisdom - alchemism, astronomy/astrology, tarot reading. those questions are to make us self-reflect on what modern civilization and human beings can do compared to ancient civilizations and cultures. are we moving backwards or moving forwards towards progression mentally, spiritually, emnotionally and physically? are we surviving/beyond the need for survival.. or are we heading towards the path of self-destruction as a species?

      Is there truth in this regarding medicine? Can we get more out of nature than media and common knowledge portrays? I am not certain, nor is this an area of research for me; but the truth is that it is fascinating to think about.

      The larger point does make sense, too much people are focused on money for the sake of money. Money is supposed to be a means to an end; the end being the improvement of society; in the way things are currently set up.

    2. "Scholars teach in Universities and claim that they’re smart and cunning Tell them find a cure when we sneeze and that’s when their nose start running" the academic community and university is designed for very purpose of maintaining the “status quo”/ethics of research and the system/preventing progressive ideas from being explored until you can be trusted to know what the “truth” is apparently is to be known by those who came before you. Whoever says that in university your freedom/capacity of thought/speech/action is not limited is blind. Certain ideas are more preferable “healthy” to the system than others, and if you promote and engage with the more agreeable concepts you’ll get through your degree/get accepted by academic community easily. once again, scholars are still in the "problem, reaction and solution" paradigm, rather than focusing on preventions than cures. We've got a long way to go in the evolution of consciousness. PATIENCE.

      True freedom of expression (a need for the soul as expressed by Simone Weil) must be given in academia as well; to write about that which you want to write about... Regardless of "social acceptance". A degree should be about objective knowledge and quality of knowledge, not the content of said knowledge.

    3. "The Earth was flat if you went too far you would fall off Now the Earth is round if the shape change again everybody woulda start laugh The average man can’t prove of most of the things that he chooses to speak of And still won’t research and find out the root of the truth that you seek of" commenting on how new structures/theories/inventions are always at conflict with old structures/theories/inventions that refuse to accept new ideas/truths because of mental conditioning (e.g. laugh) society is in to accept everything as fact and never question/research/evolve/change. this is very much predominant in science and history, for example, Galileo was condemned and died for the truth, Copernicus's model that the Earth rotated around the sun, a truth that contradicted biblical truth. it's like what camus was complaining about in the myth of sisyphus essay, where man faces an existential crisis of absurdism when there are no absolute truths and values in the world. humanity is suffering because we're working against eachother instead of working together in order to find out the truth of all things.

      See intellectual flexibility.

    4. I should also mention, that the notion of east/west in verse 1 is also reference to alternative history and sacred texts which reveal that human civilization rose from the east and now sets in the west. criticism against academics and scholars who are paid to rehash and propgandaise an official/revised history, which favours the winners. History is always written by the victors. this also ties into notions of the New world order (satan-west) in conflict with the old world order (God-east). My interpretation of Verse II: "Huh, we born not knowing, are we born knowing all? We growing wiser, are we just growing tall?" Notion of reincarnation ties into this i feel. if you do past-life regression therapy you attain knowledge of previous lives and experiences, the line symbolises an awakening - remembering life before life, life before birth, your life's purpose here on earth. God has a plan for everyone, this universe is intelligently designed as we can see in the fractal universe/mandelbrot set and the notion of consciousness. i see esoteric and occult wisdom in these lines, knowing all things/God consciousness in the notion of the "Akashic records/Library" - universal consciousness reflected in the entire design of this universe and all of creation. it's a scientific fact that memory/knowledge is stored in the universal design - cells/energy/wate, just as energy is not created nor destroyed but transferred.

      Honestly, I can't make a lick of sense from what Mr. X is saying here lol.

      At least the latter part. I understand the previous part.

      Again, as Simone Weil says, media (and especially research) must contain impartial factual knowledge, not opinion and especially not propaganda. Truth is a vital need of the soul.

      No amount of money should be able to buy your soul (making you spread misinformation). It's like making a deal with the devil.

    5. "So the ones in the west Will never move east And feel like they could be at home Dem get tricked by the beast But a where dem ago flee when the monster is fully grown?" commenting on the conflict between western and eastern nations. particularly the conflict between the U.S./Britain with Islamic nations of the Middle East. once again, the "beast" referring to satan, devil who exploits our differences to keep us fighting amongst eachother, destroying eachother. we don't come from the east, west, north or safe. we come from God, the source, from EARTH. Earth is our home and we're all earthers. by the time they realise this and understnd that they were pawns of the satanic occult groups such as the freemasons, elites or satanic illuminati, who generate order from choas - "as above so below", they can't hide or run from the problems they've helped to create in the first place. the beast is also synomynous with the "ego" - shadow/false self, you yourself are your own greatest enemy. here's a commentary on the ego, from the film "revolver": "The ego is the worst confidence trickster we could ever figure. "I am you". The problem is that the ego hides in the last place that you'd ever look within itself. It disguises its thoughts as your thoughts, its feelings as your feelings. "You think it's you". Peoples' need to protect their own egos knows no bounds. They will lie, cheat, steal, kill, do whatever it takes to maintain what we call ego boundaries. People have no clue that they're imprisoned. They don't know that there is an ego, they don't know the distinction. At first, it's difficult for the mind to accept that there's something beyond itself, that there's something of greater value and greater capacity for discerning truth than itself. In religion, the ego manifests as the devil. And of course no one realizes how smart the ego is, because it created the devil so you could blame someone else. In creating this imaginary external enemy, it usually made a real enemy for ourselves, and that becomes a real danger to the ego, but that's also the ego's creation. There is no such thing as an external enemy no matter what the voice in your head is telling you. All perception of an enemy is a projection of the ego as the enemy. In that sense, you could say that 100 percent of our external enemies are of our creation. "Your greatest enemy is your own inner perception, is your own ignorance, is your own ego"."

      We are all united in being human and should act that way. Find common ground rather than focusing on differences. Don't be biased. A house divided will surely fall. A house united is strong.

      When humanity is united as one, true societal advancement can happen.

    6. "Some of the worst paparazzis I've ever seen and I ever known Put the worst on display so the world can see And that's all they will ever show" similar to the role of the media. always feeding on the negativity/problems of the human race, human development, human actions, human consciousness but never providing a productive solution to these problems projecting people's fears, creating war propaganda. if you've been following the middle east revolution, you'd notice that news stations like fox lied about their coverage on the libyan war and revolution, generating false reports. fabricating lies as truth for the public to blindly consume as truth without questioning. it's like the media/journalists are energy vampires who amplify amplify and feed on negativity and fear. no news is good news. they never truly demonstrate a 60 minute news show on the positive developments, actions and solutions to the people because then it would lead to positive developments in human consciousness, our enlightement as a species because being shown positive things that human beings are doing and have done and will continue to do creates a sense of purpose for us all and unites us, inspires people rather than fear/negativity which keeps us feeling trapped, apathetic, angry, depressed... esp. in a state of victimisation as though we're not empowered to change or that nothing will change, that violence, poverty, world hunger, rape, war pillaging, theft... as if all these things are normal and natural when they're NOT. they're not okay and we shouldn't accept them as being part of reality, part of the norm because we know that it isn't. it's not natural and innate, since it's started by the actions made by conscious individuals and mentally capable human beings. it's man-made.

      The media is opinionized and feeds on fads; what is in the mind of the people. They survive based on attention.

    7. "You buy a khaki pants And all of a sudden you say a Indiana Jones An' a thief out gold and thief out the scrolls and even the buried bones" criticism on how people change their appearances so easily, acclaim status/right just because they can conform to social appearances - doesn't mean that they actually are who they say they or they really mean what they do/represent. like those televangelists with their fake/unproductive compassion and care. what change are they really doing to help humanity as a whole, when they are truly only looking out for themselves and their own comfort/security, while projecting their own existence/ideologies on others. criticism on the right/ownership of ancient artifacts, knowledge and discoveries. people who claim to own knowledge or ancient artifacts are actually theives who are stealing and exploting humanity, what belongs to everyone.

      Epictetus: "He who is properly grounded in life should not have to look for outside approval."

      Also: "If you are ever tempted to look outside for approval, realize you have lost your integrity. If you need a witness, be your own."

      Do not change as often as the winds... But do not be impervious to change either.

      Nietzche: "The snake which cannot cast its skin has to die. As well the minds which are prevented from changing their opinions; they cease to be mind."

      There is a balance to be held. Change opinion and outside projection only if applicably by rational thought based on thorough research and nuanced deep understanding. Be principled, yet flexible.

    8. "This is how the media pillages On the TV the picture is Savages in villages" criticism of the media, how it produces ratings/money from sensationalising/propagandasing/taking advantage of the absurdity of the human condition, the problems of humanity - creating trauma based mind control, programming our thoughts and controlling mass consciousness of society. projecting false/bias stereotypes, prejudice and perspectives on particular socio-cultural groups. Esp. creating prejudice against individuals and cultures who show the truth towards enlightenment and growth in human consciousness - keep the masses asleep/blinded to the truth of their existence as a whole, also their self-empowerment and enlightenment.

      The control of knowledge (or how it is portrayed) means to control the thoughts of people. This goes against freedom. See Simone Weil: the media should give factual knowledge and leave interpretation to the people. Opinion should fall to a person themselves.

    9. "And the scientist still can't explain the pyramids, huh Evangelists making a living on the videos of ribs of the little kids Stereotyping the image of the images And this is what the image is" similar criticism of religious fundamentalists and secular groups who exploit our emotions - FEAR - esp. playing cards on our "differences", negativity, problems to project their own fears, ideologies and keep everyone in the game of the matrix - the game of polarities and paradigm wars on human consciousness/energy. refers to televangelists who exploit the problem of poverty and children who are dying of malnourishment of hunger to generate their own income. not really creating our productive change to create a long-term solution or fix to these problems. feigned/false compassion and care.

      Worth noting for Christians: before responding on impulse (from a good heart) and paying to save children, take a moment to stop, reflect and analyse, is this a trustworthy organization and person? Will my money truly solve something, will it really help someone?

    10. "But save the animals in the zoo Cause the chimpanzee dem a make big money" another comment similar to the irony/absurdity of focusing on problems of the universe/space exploration rather than problems which affect humanity. we focus on saving other animals, yet we can't even save our own species? why? because of money.

      Money should not be the deciding factor when it comes to determining which problems to solve and which to forego. In fact, anything that advances society as a whole, I'd argue should be free of charge. Is this possible? Not sure, but we as intellectuals should think about this.

    11. "Pay no mind to the youths Cause it's not like the future depends on it" sarcasm. esp. if you look at the music video, you'll notice Damian's sarcastic hand gesture, tone and facial experience. mocking the irony of how schools don't provide children with real knowledge of the world which is ironic because their generation will be the future keepers of humanity with old/new responsibilities and purposes to fulfil. once again, we're stuck in this repeitive cycle of stagnation - problem, reaction, solution. it's kind of what aristotle once said about knowledge and teaching: "This discovery of yours, this writing, you give your students not truth, but only the appearance of truth. They will read many things and will have learned nothing. They will therefore seem to know many things, when they are, for the most part, ignorant and hard to get along with, having the show of wisdom without the reality."

      Interesting food for thought for the optimization of education: should we give students not just domain knowledge (in an efficient manner) but also intercultural and experiental knowledge of the world?

      Not just related to personal development such as wealth creation and personal finance, but also how other civilizations work... Tolerance. Teach them philosophy as well.

      Obviously in such a way that it is attracting and they are intrinsically motivated to go to school and learn.


      Raises a broader question: Is domain knowledge worth anything if you have no knowledge (or experience) about the world in itself? Can you be of any value if you do not know the world in such a manner?

    12. "An' a fly go a moon And can't find food for the starving tummies" criticism on how the wealth and resources used on space exploration - is something that humanity can't understand when those billions used for the scientific pursuit/understanding of the universe, can instead be used to feed and clothe the hungry, the impoverish - basically poverty and world hunger would cease. it's sort of like criticisng the fact that we have problems here on this planet that we all need to work together to solve as a species/planet, yet we're not prioritising those problems as our main repsonisbility, something we need to fix, instead the most intelligent bunch/resourceful are spending their energy/time/reousrces on solving the mysteries of the universe instead. it's commenting on the notion of the microcosm within the macrocosm. if we as a species, esp. the intelligent and resurceful of our lot focused on solving problems like poverty, world hunger, war, crime... solve problems that continue to stagnate our human evolution/progress/conciousness, we could put an end to hegelian dialectics of problem, reaction, solution... this repititive state of insanity - doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. why do we keep looking outside/external when we have problems in the inside/internal, in our very hearts, minds and homes.. on our own planet Earth? if we solved the problems at home, problems that create the suffering and keep just a few individuals privelaged/intelligent/resourceful over the rest of humanity who is stagnated and moving backwards and keeping humanity in a continous cycle of karma, the wheel of samsara of the human condition... then doesn't that mean that everyone as a whole is enlightened intelligent, resourceful? no one gets left behind and everyone becomes empowered self-sufficient, self-independent, self-enlightened, self-responsible...imagine each and every person self empowered now imagine the entire race of humanity self-empowered... that's billions of buddhas/christs - intellectuals, academics and enlightened individuals working together as a strong force of unity for a common cause. if we can fix those small problems that continue to keep humanity going backwards towards self-destructi, those small problems which greatly impact upon the bigger picture and schemes of things, then we can truly progress towards real change and together explore the universe as a human species. no one gets left behind.

      This is a valid criticism (sorry Elon Musk)... By helping the other individual you in the end help society and therefore yourself.

      We should be focusing on present problems that are closer to us before moving on to more abstract problems that have less value at present.

      The same goes for ourselves. Try not to fix your family or neighborhood before you have fixed yourself (keep in mind diminishing returns). As Dan Koe said: "Your purpose is solving the most pressing problem you have right now." (not verbatim).

      Try not to learn how to learn before your sleep schedule is excellent, before you know how to be productive and have habits.

      Learning enablers first, THEN learning.

      Fix first yourself, then your household, then the city, then the country, then the continent, etc. This does not have to be taken literally, but use it as a wise guidance. It's a principle rather than a law.

    13. "Some of the smartest dummies Can't read the language of Egyptian mummies" points to the notion of paradoxes, dualism, where even the most knowledgeable, creative, innovative, intelligent and academic can't interpret or make sense of ancient wisdom, the pun "language of the Egyptian mummies" refers to the language of the spiritual - life after death wisdom. the divine, infinite and eternal.

      I will call the guy who gives a full theoretical analysis of this song, Mr. X.

      Well, I wonder where Mr. X got all his analysis from first of all. Is it his interpretation? Or what is his source for the meaning of the song?

      Is it therefore objectively true to the artist's intent or is it merely a (good) explanation that seeks to provoke thought?


      I don't know how accurate this claim is as I have not yet dived deeply into ancient knowledge and compare it to modern interpretations of it, but I do feel like this hits a nail... Either Mr. X does or the artists.

      It is quite logical that it is difficult to interpret ancient wisdom as wisdom often assumes the student or reader is familiar with common knowledge... However, what was common in ancient times might be rare currently, or even forgotten or used in different ways, making it very difficult to interpret and parse such texts without a high degree of mastery of background knowledge.

      It's even harder for certain ancient times where everything was rooted in oral tradition without writing. People back then could've been generally wise, but without texts to refer to as primary sources it is virtually impossible to make sense of it.

    1. BDSC #64088

      DOI: 10.1038/s41593-019-0444-x

      Resource: (BDSC Cat# 64088,RRID:BDSC_64088)

      Curator: @mzhang007

      SciCrunch record: RRID:BDSC_64088


      What is this?

    2. BDSC #64087

      DOI: 10.1038/s41593-019-0444-x

      Resource: (BDSC Cat# 64087,RRID:BDSC_64087)

      Curator: @mzhang007

      SciCrunch record: RRID:BDSC_64087


      What is this?

    3. BDSC #48072

      DOI: 10.1038/s41593-019-0444-x

      Resource: BDSC_48072

      Curator: @mzhang007

      SciCrunch record: RRID:BDSC_48072


      What is this?

    4. BDSC #48338

      DOI: 10.1038/s41593-019-0444-x

      Resource: BDSC_48338

      Curator: @mzhang007

      SciCrunch record: RRID:BDSC_48338


      What is this?

    5. BDSC #39247

      DOI: 10.1038/s41593-019-0444-x

      Resource: (BDSC Cat# 39247,RRID:BDSC_39247)

      Curator: @mzhang007

      SciCrunch record: RRID:BDSC_39247


      What is this?

    6. BDSC #52867

      DOI: 10.1038/s41593-019-0444-x

      Resource: (BDSC Cat# 52867,RRID:BDSC_52867)

      Curator: @mzhang007

      SciCrunch record: RRID:BDSC_52867


      What is this?

    7. BDSC #52869

      DOI: 10.1038/s41593-019-0444-x

      Resource: (BDSC Cat# 52869,RRID:BDSC_52869)

      Curator: @mzhang007

      SciCrunch record: RRID:BDSC_52869


      What is this?

    8. BDSC #44277

      DOI: 10.1038/s41593-019-0444-x

      Resource: (BDSC Cat# 44277,RRID:BDSC_44277)

      Curator: @mzhang007

      SciCrunch record: RRID:BDSC_44277


      What is this?

    9. Genotypes and their origins are listed in Supplemental Tables 2, 3.

      DOI: 10.1038/s41593-019-0444-x

      Resource: (BDSC Cat# 64088,RRID:BDSC_64088)

      Curator: @memartone

      SciCrunch record: RRID:BDSC_64088


      What is this?

  3. Jun 2024
    1. It's an interesting position and had me rethinking things a bit, but the way I look at it, the actions themselves are negative; it's their boundary conditions which are different. Take for instance embark/disembark. In pseudo-mathematical terms, I would tend to think they increment or decrement one's embarkedness, with an upper boundary of 1 (aboard), and a lower boundary of 0 (ashore). The non-existence of values >1 (super-aboard) or <0 (anti-aboard) shouldn't affect the relative polarity of the actions themselves. I think. Looking through the rest of the list, there's a variety of different boundary conditions. Prove/disprove would range from 1 to -1 (1=proven, 0=asserted but untested, -1=proven false), entangle/disentangle seems to range from 0 to infinity (because you can always be a little more entangled, can't you?), and please/displease is perhaps wholly unbounded (if we imagine that humanity has an infinite capacity for both suffering and joy).
    2. her first remark upon embarking would no doubt be "on a scale from one to on a boat, we're on a boat!
    1. RRID: AB, #2,536,161

      DOI: 10.1186/s12864-024-10423-x

      Resource: (Thermo Fisher Scientific Cat# A28175, RRID:AB_2536161)

      Curator: @evieth

      SciCrunch record: RRID:AB_2536161


      What is this?

    2. RRID:AB, #2,534,017

      DOI: 10.1186/s12864-024-10423-x

      Resource: (Thermo Fisher Scientific Cat# A10042, RRID:AB_2534017)

      Curator: @evieth

      SciCrunch record: RRID:AB_2534017


      What is this?

    3. RRID: AB, #2,534,067

      DOI: 10.1186/s12864-024-10423-x

      Resource: (Thermo Fisher Scientific Cat# A-10691, RRID:AB_2534067)

      Curator: @evieth

      SciCrunch record: RRID:AB_2534067


      What is this?

    4. RRID: AB, #528,456

      DOI: 10.1186/s12864-024-10423-x

      Resource: (DSHB Cat# ro-62C2A8 anti-rough, RRID:AB_528456)

      Curator: @evieth

      SciCrunch record: RRID:AB_528456


      What is this?

    5. RRID:AB, #2,889,995

      DOI: 10.1186/s12864-024-10423-x

      Resource: (Millipore Cat# AB356482, RRID:AB_2889995)

      Curator: @evieth

      SciCrunch record: RRID:AB_2889995


      What is this?

    1. Pres. Biden declined to applaud the Supreme Court for its decision on regulation of the abortion pill mifepristone — which preserved access to the medication nationwide — instead reminding voters that the fight for women's reproductive freedom is not over.

      新闻。拜登拒绝赞扬最高法院对堕胎药米非司酮监管的决定——该决定保留了全国范围内获得该药物的机会——而是提醒选民,争取妇女生育自由的斗争尚未结束。

    2. regulation

      在这句话中,"regulation" 是一个名词,指的是对某事物或活动的管理、控制或规定。

    3. applaud

      在这个句子中,"applaud" 是一个动词,意思是“鼓掌”或“赞扬”。但是,它在这里被用作引申义,表示对某个决定或行动表示赞同或支持。句子中说总统拜登“declined to applaud”,意思是拜登选择不表达对最高法院决定的支持或赞同。

    1. Bloomington Drosophila Stock Center

      DOI: 10.1038/s41598-022-27329-x

      Resource: Bloomington Drosophila Stock Center (RRID:SCR_006457)

      Curator: @DavidDeutsch

      SciCrunch record: RRID:SCR_006457


      What is this?

  4. May 2024
    1. I have run across Jeff Shelton's Analog system (originally via Kickstarter) before. Thanks for the reminder.

      There's also a slew of others, especially for folks looking at commercially preprinted cards (though I tend to think they're overpriced compared to blank cards): - The Hipster PDA (Parietal Disgorgement Aid) https://web.archive.org/web/20040906150523/https://merlin.blogs.com/43folders/2004/09/introducing_the.html - Pile of Index Cards (PoIC) https://www.flickr.com/photos/hawkexpress/albums/72157594200490122/ - Levenger https://www.levenger.com/products/triple-decker-pocket-planner?variant=42485422424213 (among others they carry including pocket briefcases) - Notsu https://notsubrand.com/ - Baronfig / Strategist: https://baronfig.com/products/strategist?variant=39787199529043 - Jeff Shelton's Analog system https://ugmonk.com/ - 3x5 Life https://www.3x5life.com/ - Foglietto https://www.nerosnotes.co.uk/collections/foglietto - Jot & Mark https://amzn.to/3Qs26Je

      Am I missing any significant or influential examples, particularly branded ones?

      Hubnote for 3 x 5" index cards for productivity

  5. Mar 2024
  6. Feb 2024
    1. Not so the tenth-century John of Gorze, who issaid to have pored continuously over the psalms with a soft buzzing‘in morem apis’: in the manner of a bee.8

      quoted portion via:<br /> John of St Arnulf, ‘Vita Joannis abbatis Gorziensis’, Patrologia Latina, 137.280D.

      relationship to collecting like the bees (rhetoric)

      relationship to humming and rocking practices of Hassidic readers/learners/memorizers

    1. The volunteer ‘Readers’ were instructed to write out the words andsentences on small 4 x 6-inch pieces of paper, known as ‘slips’.

      Volunteer 'Readers' for the Oxford English Dictionary were encouraged to write down interesting headwords along with their appearances in-situ along with the associated bibliographical information. The recommended paper size was 4 x 6-inch pieces of paper which were commonly called 'slips'.

      (Double check this against the historical requests from James Murray.)

  7. Jan 2024
  8. Dec 2023
    1. Avery Templates for 4 x 6" products:

      • Avery 8386 postcards 2 per sheet (template compatibility 5889)
      • Avery 5292 Shipping Labels 1 per Sheet White (template compatibility 5454, 5614)
      • Avery 5454 Print or Write Multi-Use Labels 6" x 4" 1 per Sheet White (template compatibility 5292, 5614)
      • Avery 5389 Postcards 4" x 6" 2 per Sheet White (template compatibility 15389)
    1. Ron White recommends taking notes on 3 x 5 inch index cards. One should place the Dewey Decimal or Library of Congress catalog number in the upper left of their bibliography card and in the upper right corner one should number their cards consecutively (1, 2, 3, etc.). White indicates the importance of these numbers is primarily that they are unique, presumably so one can refer to them or reorder them if they are put out of order. (p46-7)

  9. Nov 2023
    1. As to the mechanics of research, I take notes on four-by-six indexcards, reminding myself about once an hour of a rule I read long agoin a research manual, “Never write on the back of anything.”

      Barbara Tuchman took her notes on four-by-six inch index cards.

      She repeated the oft-advised mantra to only write on one side of a sheet.


      What manual did she read this in? She specifically puts quotes on "Never write on the back of anything." so perhaps it might be something that could be tracked down?

      Who was the earliest version of this quote? And was it always towards the idea of cutting up slips or pages and not wanting to lose material on the back? or did it also (later? when?) include ease-of-use and user interface features even when not cutting things up?

      At what point did double sided become a thing for personal printed materials? Certainly out of a duty to minimize materials, but it also needed the ability to duplex print pages or photocopy them that way.

  10. Oct 2023
    1. Wikipedia is inherently hierarchical and therefore subject to the biases of higher ranking editors, independent of their merits.

      True, but it should never be taken as the authoritative voice and there are ways to annotate on the internet :)

    1. frank danielle at the 1:29 american film institute 1:30 who was dean of the school uh center for 1:33 advanced film studies 1:34 and he taught a way to do it 1:39 um you get yourself a pack of three by 1:42 five cards 1:44 and you write a scene 1:47 on each card and when you have 70 scenes 1:52 you have uh a feature film 1:56 so on each card you write the heading of 1:58 the scene 1:59 and then the next card the second scene 2:00 the third scene four scenes so you have 2:03 70 cards 2:04 each with the name of the scene then you 2:07 flesh out each of the cards 2:09 and walk away you got a script

      David Lynch described the method from Frank Daniel (1926-1996) of the American Film Institute and Dean of advanced film studies who taught students to plot out their screenplays using 3 x 5" index cards. One would write out a total of 70 cards each with scene headings. Once fleshed out, one would have a complete screenplay.

      via https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yngWNmouhP0

  11. Sep 2023
  12. Aug 2023
    1. https://www.lochby.com/collections/frontpage/products/venture-pouch<br /> Lochby Venture Pouch<br /> $44.00

      Acquired one of these in early 2023 on sale?

      several internal sections including for pens. <br /> will easily fit a handful or so of 4 x 6" index cards for quick travel

    1. Writing on small cards forces certain habits which would be good even for larger paper, but which I didn’t consider until the small cards made them necessary. It forces ideas to be broken up into simple pieces, which helps to clarify them. Breaking up ideas forces you to link them together explicitly, rather than relying on the linear structure of a notebook to link together chains of thought.

      A statement of the common "one idea per card" (or per note). He doesn't state it, but links to an article whose title is "One Thought Per Note".

      Who else has use this or similar phrasing in the historical record? - Beatrice Webb certainly came pretty close. - Others?

    2. one early reader of this write-up decided to use half 3x5 cards, so that they’d fit in mtg deck boxes.

      First reference I've seen for someone suggesting using half size 3 x 5" index cards so that they could use commercially available Magic: The Gathering (MTG) boxes.

      Oxford and possibly other manufacturers already make 1/2 size 3 x 5" index cards.

    1. https://www.attorneyatwork.com/analog-attorney-5-best-index-cards/

      Article about general usefulness of index cards written by a lawyer and for them, though not specific to them as a subgroup.

      Makes not of Nock's Dot-Dash cards which were apparently 3 x 5" dash gridded cards similar to Midori's grid notebooks. The website for the company is no longer active. Archived site: https://web.archive.org/web/20171007102414/https://nockco.com/paper/dotdash-3-x-5-note-cards

  13. Jul 2023
      • Title
        • One Billion Happy
      • Author

        • Mo Gawdat
      • Description

        • Mo Gawdat was former chief business officer at Google X, Google's innovation center.
        • Mo left Google after seeing the rapid pace of AI development was going to lead to a progress trap in which
          • the risk of AI destroying human civilization is becoming real because AI will be learning from too many unhappy people whose trauma AI will learn and incorporate into its algorithms
        • Hence, human happiness becomes paramount to prevent this catastrophe from happening
      • See Ronald Wright's prescient quote
    1. "I keep a dated diary of sorts on index cards, though they rarely go past one card a day."This is something I haven't heard of before. So, you journal/diary on index cards, one per day?

      reply to u/taurusnoises (Bob Doto) at tk

      Yep, for almost a full year now on 4x6" index cards. (Receipts for the kids: https://boffosocko.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/wp-1688411021709-scaled.jpg)

      Previously I'd used a Hobonichi Cousin (page per day) journal for this. (Perhaps I should have stayed with the A6 size instead of the larger A5 for consistency?) Decades ago (around 1988ish?) I had started using a 2 page per day DayTimer pocket planners (essentially pre-printed/timed index cards spiral bound into monthly booklets which they actually shipped in index card-like plastic boxes for storage/archival purposes). Technically I've been doing a version of this for a really long time in one form or another.

      It generally includes a schedule, to do lists (bullet journal style), and various fleeting notes/journaling similar to the older Memindex format, just done on larger cards for extra space. I generally either fold them in half for pocket storage for the day or carry about in groups for the coming week(s) when I'm away from my desk for extended periods (also with custom blank index card notebooks/pads).

      I won't go into the fact that in the 90's I had a 5,000+ person rolodex... or an index card (in the entertainment they called them buck slips) with the phone numbers and names of \~100 people I dealt with regularly when early brick cell phones didn't have great (or any) storage/functionality.

  14. Jun 2023
    1. Most older card indexes are common enough, but I thought I'd tip off anyone who is all in on 5x8" index cards and may be looking for a permanent home for their growing collection that there's a reasonably rare, but lovely looking Yawman & Erbe card catalog for sale right now.

      Syndication link: https://www.reddit.com/r/antinet/comments/14jlk69/beautiful_18_drawer_yawman_erbe_card_catalog/

    1. https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1568150/

      Based on having watched the documentary Joan Rivers: A Piece of Work and the depictions of Rivers' card index in the film and using her hands and a lateral file for scale, her cards seem to have been 3 x 5" index cards.

      cross reference: https://hypothes.is/a/RvLTZjCQEe2uuaNwpTBNuA

    1. At 9¢/card these are very expensive in comparison to bulk cards which usually can be found for 1-2¢/card. The difference however is in the luxuriousness of the silky smooth texture. Whether you're writing with your favorite fountain pen or a carefully chosen pencil. I don't know if these are the same brand of Bristol cards that Vladimir Nabokov used for his writing, but one could easily image him using such lovely material.

      These provide a very smooth writing experience for fountain pens, gel pens and pencils. I particularly love the way my Tennessee Reds and Blackwing 602s glide over their surface. In comparison to some Japanese stationery, I'd put these cards somewhere between tsuru tsuru (slippery) and sara sara (smooth). If you're looking for a toothier paper, you'll definitely want to look elsewhere. They take fountain pens pretty well with no feathering or ghosting. My juiciest fountain pen dries in about 15 seconds, while a drier extra fine is dry in about 7 seconds, so it may take some care not to smear ink if you're on the messier end of the spectrum.

      Pencil erases reasonably well, though there may be some minimal residual ghosting here. At 205 gsm, they've got a satisfying thickness unseen in most index cards and one is unlikely to rip or crinkle them when erasing. They're also thick enough that the wettest Sharpie won't bleed much less ghost through. You have to hold a card up to a backlight to see the appearance of any ghosting through it and even then, not well.

      For the sticklers used to using standard 4 x 6" index cards, one should take note that the dimensions of these are slightly shorter in both dimensions—they're closer to 3.94" x 5.91". This means that you might have to take some care that while flipping through mixed company of cards your Exacompta can potentially hide between larger imperial sized cards. They're also close to, but not quite A6 in size either (105 x 148.5 mm or 4.1 x 5.8 inches).

  15. May 2023
    1. - Set of 52 weekly 3 x 5 accordion tri-folded cards - Undated planner with ruled lines and shaded blank areas for writing appointments, notes or lists on each day of the week - Thick and substantial 250-gsm card stock - Friendly to all types of ink - Unfolded, 9W x 5H

      A 9 x 5" card that folds in three to make a 3 x 5" card for planning out one's entire week.

      This is quite clever with respect the space of cards like Analog and 3x5 Life.

    1. What's included in the 3x5 Life System: 6 months of Daily cards **Schedule version** (186 cards) Monthly/Year Goal Cards (1 year of cards) Habit Tracker Cards (1 year of cards) Weekly Review Cards (1 year of cards) Storage Box with 3x5 logo on lid Monthly dividers to keep your storage box organized Mobile Phone Sleeve Stainless Steel Stand MINI COURSE: Outlining how best to utilize the system

      via: https://www.3x5life.com/collections/frontpage/products/3x5-life-system-with-mini-course

      They apparently offer a mini course outlining the system.

      One wonders how much "why" they offer?

    1. Frictionless Tools Capture Cards – Red — These are my index cards of choice. More sturdy than the standard variety. I like the grid design. Takes fountain pen ink better too. Unfortunately, they are no longer available. I purchased several packages before they stopped being sold.

      Frictionless Tools' Capture Cards were custom 3 x 5" index cards, printed in vertical orientation with a square grid pattern on most of the card. The top was usually split in half between equal grey and red rectangles for titles/dates/headings and a slightly thinner single long rectangle as a footer at the bottom.

      Patrick Rhone indicates on 2018-01-24 that they had quit manufacturing them by that date.

    1. Each Analog Card Pack include 50 cards - enough cards to get you through an entire month (with a few extras in case you need to start over). 35 Today Cards 10 Next Cards 5 Someday Cards
    1. How big is your ZettelKasten? .t3_13b0b5c._2FCtq-QzlfuN-SwVMUZMM3 { --postTitle-VisitedLinkColor: #9b9b9b; --postTitleLink-VisitedLinkColor: #9b9b9b; --postBodyLink-VisitedLinkColor: #989898; }

      reply to u/jordynfly at https://www.reddit.com/r/Zettelkasten/comments/13b0b5c/how_big_is_your_zettelkasten/

      The idea of notes per day comes up occasionally, here's some discussion on the last go-round: https://www.reddit.com/r/Zettelkasten/comments/11z08fq/comment/jdbnchv/?utm_source=reddit&utm_medium=web2x&context=3

      Many people, especially when getting started, get wrapped up in the idea of doing this for "increased productivity" or the goal of being as prolific as Niklas Luhmann. I would submit (and think others would back me up anecdotally) that there's far more to the practice than raw (or measurable) productivity as the single, driving value. Perhaps approach it as a way to sharpen and improve your thinking instead? If you're seeing life-like behavior already, that's a good sign of appreciating some of the hidden benefits which are difficult to describe and which are likely more valuable than the "productivity" goals many may have.

      I've noted before that S.D. Goitein had 1/3 less index cards than Luhmann over an equivalent research lifetime, but produced a 1/3 more written output (in terms of books and journal articles). Others like Aby Warburg and Gotthard Deutsch (70,000 notes) had significant practices, but their writing output was marginal at best, though their impact and influence were outsized, in part, I would suggest as a result of their zettelkasten work.

      Others like Roland Barthes (generally low card output of \~12,500) and Deutsch also used their fichier boîte/card index/zettelkasten as teaching tools, so while their written outputs may have varied considerably, their teaching practices were incredibly influential for the students and generations they encountered afterwards.

      This being said, I'll share my current easily countable lower bound dating roughly from 2016 as:

      • 15,200 notes
      • 32,000+ links
      • 2.1M words

      (Having a zk in digital form makes it reasonably easy to do these sorts of counts versus analog methods of note making.)

      Some additional pathways to learning and practicing, including my own, can be found here: https://www.reddit.com/r/Zettelkasten/comments/11ay28d/how_did_you_teach_yourself_zettelkasten/

    1. For $1,900.00 ?

      reply to rogerscrafford at tk

      Fine furniture comes at a fine price. 🗃️🤩 I suspect that it won't sell for quite a while and one could potentially make an offer at a fraction of that to take it off their hands. It might bear considering that if one had a practice large enough to fill half or more, then that price probably wouldn't seem too steep for the long term security and value of the contents.

      On a price per card of storage for some of the cheaper cardboard or metal boxes you're going to pay about $0.02-0.03 per card, but you'd need about 14 of those to equal this and those aren't always easy to stack and access regularly. With this, even at the full $1,900, you're looking at storage costs of $0.10/card, but you've got a lot more ease of use which will save you a lot of time and headache as more than adequate compensation, particularly if you're regularly using the approximately 20,400 index cards it would hold. Not everyone has the same esthetic, but I suspect that most would find that this will look a lot nicer in your office than 14 cheap cardboard boxes. That many index cards even at discount rates are going to cost you about $825 just in cards much less beautiful, convenient, and highly usable storage.

      Even for some of the more prolific zettelkasten users, this sort of storage is about 20 years of use and if you compare it with $96/year for Notion or $130/year for Evernote, you're probably on par for cost either way, but at least with the wooden option, you don't have to worry about your note storage provider going out of business a few years down the line. Even if you go the "free" Obsidian route, with computers/storage/backups over time, you're probably not going to come out ahead in the long run. It's not all apples to apples comparison and there are differences in some of the affordances, but on balance and put into some perspective, it's probably not the steep investment it may seem.

      And as an added bonus, while you're slowly filling up drawers, as a writer you might appreciate the slowly decreasing wine/whiskey bottle storage over time? A 5 x 8 drawer ought to fit three bottles of wine or as many fifths of Scotch. It'll definitely accommodate a couple of magnums of Jack Daniels. 🥃🍸🍷My experience also tells me that an old fashioned glass can make a convenient following block in card index boxes.

      A crystal old fashioned glass serves as a following block to some index cards and card dividers in a Shaw-Walker card index box (zettelkasten). On the table next to the index are a fifth of Scotch (Glenmorangie) and a bowl of lemons.

  16. Apr 2023
    1. Catalog cards were 2 by 5 inches (5 cm × 13 cm); the Harvard College size.

      Early library card catalogs used cards that were 2 x 5" cards, the Harvard College size, before the standardization of 3 x 5" index cards.

    1. The result of working with this technique for a long time is a kind of second memory, an alter ego with which you can always communicate. It has, similar to our own memory, no pre-planned comprehensive order, no hierarchy, and surely no linear structure like a book. And by that very fact, it is alive independently of its author. The entire note collection can only be described as a mess, but at least it is a mess with a non-arbitrary internal structure.

      Luhmann attributes (an independent) life to his zettelkasten. It is effectuated by internal branching, opportunities for links or connections, and a register as well as lack of pre-planned comprehensive order, lack of hierarchy, and lack of linear structure.

      Which of these is necessary for other types of "life"? Can any be removed? Compare with other systems.

  17. Mar 2023
    1. http://www.shopbrodart.com/Library-School-Furniture/Adult-and-Teen-Furniture/Computer-Furniture/Card-Catalog-Trays-and-Cabinets/_/Brodart-Wood-Charging-Trays/?q=tray&s=MToyNTY6NDo6Ojo6OjA6

      Brodart Mini Single Charging Tray Mini single charging tray with 600-card capacity More Info Price: $76.76

      • Adjustable steel follower block with automatic lock
      • Felt pads on tray bottom protect desktop
      • Mini charging tray fits on your lap
      • 4"H x 4"W x 8"D
      • Holds 600 5"H x 3"W cards
      • Includes antimicrobial finish
      • Made in the USA

      This could be used for a modern day Memindex box for portrait oriented 3 x 5" index cards.

  18. books.googleusercontent.com books.googleusercontent.com
    1. 2 3-4 x 4 3-4 inches in size, made of seal grain , real sealor Russia leather, in a thoro

      Memindex dimensions mentioned in a 1904 advertisement<br /> cards: 2 3/4 x 4 1/2 inches<br /> case: 2 3/4 x 4 3/4 inches

    1. 1930s Wilson Memindex Co Index Card Organizer Pre Rolodex Ad Price List Brochure

      archived page: https://web.archive.org/web/20230310010450/https://www.ebay.com/itm/165910049390

      Includes price lists

      List of cards includes: - Dated tab cards for a year from any desired. - Blank tab cards for jottings arranged by subject. - These were sold in 1/2 or 1/3 cut formats - Pocket Alphabets for jottings arranged by letter. - Cash Account Cards [without tabs]. - Extra Record Cards for permanent memoranda. - Monthly Guides for quick reference to future dates. - Blank Guides for filing records by subject.. - Alphabet Guides for filing alphabetically.

      Memindex sales brochures recommended the 3 x 5" cards (which had apparently been standardized by 1930 compared to the 5 1/2" width from earlier versions around 1906) because they could be used with other 3 x 5" index card systems.

      In the 1930s Wilson Memindex Company sold more of their vest pocket sized 2 1/4 x 4 1/2" systems than 3 x 5" systems.

      Some of the difference between the vest sized and regular sized systems choice was based on the size of the particular user's handwriting. It was recommended that those with larger handwriting use the larger cards.

      By the 1930's at least the Memindex tag line "An Automatic Memory" was being used, which also gave an indication of the ubiquity of automatization of industrialized life.

      The Memindex has proved its success in more than one hundred kinds of business. Highly recommended by men in executive positions, merchants, manufacturers, managers, .... etc.

      Notice the gendering of users specifically as men here.

      Features: - Sunday cards were sold separately and by my reading were full length tabs rather than 1/6 tabs like the other six days of the week - Lids were custom fit to the bases and needed to be ordered together - The Memindex Jr. held 400 cards versus the larger 9 inch standard trays which had space for 800 cards and block (presumably a block to hold them up or at an angle when partially empty).

      The Memindex Jr., according to a price sheet in the 1930s, was used "extensively as an advertising gift".

      The Memindex system had cards available in bundles of 100 that were labeled with the heading "Things to Keep in Sight".

    1. 312 Oak Midget Tray WWeesCoverEquipped same as]No.324,price.55CTohold cards14x3.No.423.Equippedasabove,tohold65Ccards 24x4, priceNo. 533. Standard size.to hold card 3x5, equip-ped as above,price..........No. 7- Nickel ....PrepaidinU. S.onreceiptofpriceNo. 324OakMidgetTraytheCoverWeis75cNo. 644. To hold cards4x6,equipped$1.10(StyleNos.312,423.533and644)asabove......(Style No. 324,213.335and446.)Send for catalog showing many other time-saving office devices. Our goods are soldyour dealer does not carry our line we can supply you direct from the factory.To hold cards 24x4. lengthof tray2%in..equippedwithAtoZindexand100record cards 45cNo. 213. To hold cards 14x3in,, lenght of tray 24in..equipped asabove40cNo.335.Standardsize,tohold3x5 cards.equipped asabove50c80cNo. 446. To hold 4x6 cards,equipped asabove.Any of these trays sent pre-paid in U. S. on receipt ofpriceby stationers everywhere. IfNo. 6 Union St.The WeisManufacturing Co.,Monroe,Mich.,U. S.A.Please mention SYSTEM when writing to advertisers

      Notice the 1 1/4" x 3" cards, 2 1/4 x 4" cards in addition to the 3 x 5" and 4 x 6".

    1. The width of the drawers of both McDowell & Craig and Steelcase desks is just wide enough to accommodate two rows of 4 x 6" index cards side by side with enough space that one might insert a sizeable, but thin divider between them

      I suspect that this is a specific design choice in a world in which card indexes often featured in the office environment of the mid-twenty first century.

      Were other manufacturers so inclined to do this? Is there any evidence that this was by design? Did people use it for this? Was there a standard drawer width?

      The metal inserts to section off the desk drawer area could have also been used for this sort of purpose and had cut outs to allow for expanding and contracting the interior space.

      Keep in mind that some of these tanker desks were also manufactured with specific spaces or areas intended for typewriters or for storing them.

    1. Analog Supplies

      I should mention that the Stockroom Plus 4 x 6" cards I got a while back are great with even my juiciest fountain pens. They're some of the least expensive gridded cards I've been able to find and are a fraction of the cost of the Exacompta.

    1. A Zettelkasten is a system of notes that fit the criteria of being a system. Being alive vs. being a machine is a good metaphor to understand the difference. A Zettelkasten is alive, a conventional note taking system is a machine.

      I'm not the only one to think of zettelkasten as "living"...

  19. Feb 2023
    1. It turns out he had a secret arsenal: stacks of 3x5 index cards filled with one-liners, which he kept in his desk to append to speeches.

      Ronald Reagan used 3 x 5" index cards.

    1. Tesla will offer a software update free of charge to customers, the agency said.

      Aren't these updates pushed over the air?

      So now every time someone releases a software update, media is going to call it a recall? 🤔

  20. www.edwinwenink.xyz www.edwinwenink.xyz
    1. Here’s a basic hermeneutic insight for you: interpretation requires a form of application which renews the interpretandum by engaging it in a new context. Yes, “something in it anarchives” itself, but that’s also the seed for the old to enter into something new and to stay “alive”.
    1. First, I am a big fan of Chris’ posts. He is our best historian. Second, I did not challenge his ideas but asked for clarification about some terms which I believe are of general interest. Chris is well-positioned to answer my questions. Third, statistical mechanics is more about microscopic systems that do not evolve. As we know, ideas (from concepts to theories) evolve and generally emerge from previous ideas. Emergence is the key concept here. I suggested Phenomics as a potential metaphor because it represents well the emergence of some systems (phenotypes) from pre-existing ones (genotypes).

      reply to u/New-Investigator-623 at https://www.reddit.com/r/antinet/comments/10r6uwp/comment/j6wy4mf/?utm_source=reddit&utm_medium=web2x&context=3

      Ideas, concepts, propositions, et al. in this context are just the nebulous dictionary definitions. Their roots and modern usage have so much baggage now that attempting to separate them into more technical meanings is difficult unless you've got a solid reason to do so. I certainly don't here. If you want to go down some of the rabbit hole on the differences, you might appreciate Winston Perez' work on concept modeling which he outlines with respect to innovation and creativity here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gGQ-dW7yfPc.

      I debated on a more basic framing of chemistry or microbiology versus statistical mechanics or even the closely related statistical thermodynamics, but for the analogy here, I think it works even if it may scare some off as "too hard". With about 20 linear feet of books in my library dedicated to biology, physics, math, engineering with a lot of direct focus on evolutionary theory, complexity theory, and information theory I would suggest that the underlying physics of statistical mechanics and related thermodynamics is precisely what allows the conditions for systems to evolve and emerge, for this is exactly what biological (and other) systems have done. For those intrigued, perhaps Stuart Kauffman's Origins of Order (if you're technically minded) or At Home in the Universe (if you're less technically oriented) are interesting with respect to complexity and emergence. There's also an interesting similar analogy to be made between a zettelkasten system and the systems described in Peter Hoffman's book Life's Rachet. I think that if carefully circumscribed, one could define a zettelkasten to be "alive". That's a bigger thesis for another time. I was also trying to stay away from the broad idea of "atomic" and drawing attention to "atomic notes" as a concept. I'm still waiting for some bright physicist to talk about sub-atomic notes and what that might mean... I see where you're going with phenomics, but chemistry and statistical mechanics were already further afield than the intended audience who already have issues with "The Two Cultures". Getting into phenomics was just a bridge too far... not to mention, vastly more difficult to attempt to draw(!!!). 😉 Besides, I didn't want Carol Greider dropping into my DMs asking me why didn't I include telomeres or chancing an uncomfortable LAX-BWI flight and a train/cab ride into Baltimore with Peter Agre who's popped up next to me on more than one occasion.

      Honestly, I was much less satisfied with the nebulousness of "solution of life"... fortunately no one seems to be complaining about that or their inability to grapple with catalysis. 🤷🏼

  21. Jan 2023
    1. emergentism. The argument here is that once a certain level of complexity is reached, there is a kind of qualitative leap where completely new sorts of physical laws can “emerge”—ones that are premised on, but cannot be reduced to, what came before.
    2. But in the new full-blown capitalist version of evolution, where the drive for accumulation had no limits, life was no longer an end in itself, but a mere instrument for the propagation of DNA sequences—and so the very existence of play was something of a scandal.

      Could refuting the idea of accumulation without limits (and thus capitalism for capitalism's sake) help give humans more focus on what is useful/valuable?

    3. To exercise one’s capacities to their fullest extent is to take pleasure in one’s own existence, and with sociable creatures, such pleasures are proportionally magnified when performed in company. From the Russian perspective, this does not need to be explained. It is simply what life is. We don’t have to explain why creatures desire to be alive. Life is an end in itself. And if what being alive actually consists of is having powers—to run, jump, fight, fly through the air—then surely the exercise of such powers as an end in itself does not have to be explained either. It’s just an extension of the same principle.

      I'm not sure I like that Graeber waves away the question "why play?" here. I don't think there's an equivalency to the "why life?" question.

      It will take some additional thinking to build something up to refute this idea however.

    1. May 19, 2004 #1 Hello everyone here at the forum. I want to thank everyone here for all of the helpful and informative advice on GTD. I am a beginner in the field of GTD and wish to give back some of what I have received. What is posted below is not much of tips-and-tricks I found it very helpful in understanding GTD. The paragraphs posted below are from the book Lila, by Robert Pirsig. Some of you may have read the book and some may have not. It’s an outstanding read on philosophy. Robert Pirsig wrote his philosophy using what David Allen does, basically getting everything out of his head. I found Robert Pirsigs writing on it fascinating and it gave me a wider perspective in using GTD. I hope you all enjoy it, and by all means check out the book, Lila: An Inquiry Into Morals. Thanks everyone. arthur

      Arthur introduces the topic of Robert Pirsig and slips into the GTD conversation on 2004-05-19.

      Was this a precursor link to the Pile of Index Cards in 2006?

      Note that there doesn't seem to be any discussion of any of the methods with respect to direct knowledge management until the very end in which arthur returns almost four months later to describe a 4 x 6" card index with various topics he's using for filing away his knowledge on cards. He's essentially recreated the index card based commonplace book suggested by Robert Pirsig in Lila.

    1. About twenty thousand of those cards are 3 × 5 inches and seven thousand 5 × 8 inches.

      Goitein's zettelkasten is comprised of about 20,000 3 x 5" index cards and 7,000 5 x 8" index cards.

      Link to: https://hypothes.is/a/TEiQ5H1rEe2_Amfzi4XXmg

      While not directly confirmed (yet), due to the seeming correspondence of the number of cards and their corpus descriptions, it's likely that the 20,000 3 x 5" cards were his notes covering individual topics while the 7,000 5 x 8" cards were his notes and descriptions of a single fragment from the Cairo Geniza.

    1. More news organizations will realize they are in the business of impact, not eyeballs

      https://www.niemanlab.org/2022/12/more-news-organizations-will-realize-they-are-in-the-business-of-impact-not-eyeballs/

      Journalistic outlets should be in the business of creating impact and not scrounging merely for eyeballs and exposure.

      Exposure may be useful for advertising revenue with respect to surveillance capitalism, but if you're not informing along the way, not making a measurable impact, then you're not living, not making a change.

    1. TIPOFF was created in 1987 for the express purpose of using biographic information drawn from intelligence products for watchlisting purposes. In 1987 TIPOFF began keeping track of suspected terrorists literally with a shoebox and 3 by 5 cards. Since then the program has evolved into a sophisticated interagency counterterrorism tool specifically designed to enhance the security of our nation's borders.
  22. Dec 2022
    1. The drawers are jammed with jokes typed on 4-by-6-inch cards — 52 drawers, stacked waist-high, like a card catalog of a certain comedian’s life’s work, a library of laughs.

      Joan Rivers had an index card catalog with 52 drawers of 4-by-6-inch index cards containing jokes she'd accumulated over her lifetime of work. She had 18 2 drawer stackable steel files that were common during the mid-1900s. Rather than using paper inserts with the label frames on the card catalogs, she used a tape-based label maker to designate her drawers.

      Scott Currie, who worked with Melissa Rivers on a book about her mother, Joan Rivers, at the comedian’s former Manhattan office. Many of her papers are stored there.Credit...Hiroko Masuike/The New York Times


      Note carefully that the article says 52 drawers, but the image in the article shows a portion of what can be surmised to be 18 2-drawer cabinets for a total of 36 drawers. (14 2-drawer cabinets are pictured, but based on size and perspective, there's one row of 4 2-drawer boxes not shown.)

    1. If we consider organizations (universities, corporations, governments and so on) as organisms (a view I do not agree with) we can argue some increase in intelligence and institutional memory through record keeping and information technology. But, in my opinion, organizations don’t have significant emergent reasoning capabilities that aren’t really more properly attributed to their members.

      What does Hidalgo have to say with respect to this quote? Can we push this argument?

    1. No es magia.

      I love that he points this out explicitly.

      Some don't see the underlying processes of complexity within note taking methods and as a result ascribe magical properties to what are emergent properties or combinatorial creativity.

      See also: The Ghost in the Machine zettel from Luhmann

      Somehow there's an odd dichotomy between the boredom of such a simple method and people seeing magic within it at the same time. This is very similar to those who feel that life must be divinely created despite the evidence brought by evolutionary and complexity theory. In this arena, there is a lot more evolved complexity which makes the system harder to see compared to the simpler zettelkasten process.

    1. I have about fourteen or sixteen weeks to do this, so I'm breaking the course into an "intro" section that covers some basic stuff like affordances, and other insights into how tech functions. There's a section on AI which is nothing but critical appraisals on AI from a variety of areas. And there's a section on Social Media, which is the most well formed section in terms of readings.

      https://zirk.us/@shengokai/109440759945863989

      If the individuals in an environment don't understand or perceive the affordances available to them, can the interactions between them and the environment make it seem as if the environment possesses agency?

      cross reference: James J. Gibson book The Senses Considered as Perceptual Systems (1966)


      People often indicate that social media "causes" outcomes among groups of people who use it. Eg: Social media (via algorithmic suggestions of fringe content) causes people to become radicalized.

    1. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b-Wp0sLpnMY

      PVA Glue used in bookbinding, but isn't inexpensive.

      • Tacky glue - okay
      • rubber cement - not great
      • elmer's glue - not great, tears esp. for 2 layers
      • Mod podge - pulls nicely and strong
      • mod podge hard shell - cracks, not great
      • PVA Glue - the best of the group

      Recommendations in order: PVA, Tacky Glue, Mod Podge (regular)

      Brush on top edge and do two coats. Don't get it down between sheets.

  23. Nov 2022
    1. Victor Margolin's note taking and writing process

      • Collecting materials and bibliographies in files based on categories (for chapters)
      • Reads material, excerpts/note making on 5 x 7" note cards
        • Generally with a title (based on visual in video)
        • excerpts have page number references (much like literature notes, the refinement linking and outlining happens separately later in his mapping and writing processes)
        • filed in a box with tabbed index cards by chapter number with name
        • video indicates that he does write on both sides of cards breaking the usual rule to write only on one side
      • Uses large pad of newsprint (roughly 18" x 24" based on visualization) to map out each chapter in visual form using his cards in a non-linear way. Out of the diagrams and clusters he creates a linear narrative form.
      • Tapes diagrams to wall
      • Writes in text editor on computer as he references the index cards and the visual map.

      "I've developed a way of working to make this huge project of a world history of design manageable."<br /> —Victor Margolin

      Notice here that Victor Margolin doesn't indicate that it was a process that he was taught, but rather "I've developed". Of course he was likely taught or influenced on the method, particularly as a historian, and that what he really means to communicate is that this is how he's evolved that process.

      "I begin with a large amount of information." <br /> —Victor Margolin

      "As I begin to write a story begins to emerge because, in fact, I've already rehearsed this story in several different ways by getting the information for the cards, mapping it out and of course the writing is then the third way of telling the story the one that will ultimately result in the finished chapters."<br /> —Victor Margolin

    1. https://www.instagram.com/p/CeWV6xBuZUN/?hl=en

      Ryan Holiday in the past has made custom 4 x 6" index cards for taking notes for his individual projects.

      Pictured: A custom slip with 11 light gray lines, small margins all around, and at the top the printed words: "Courage. Temperance. Justice. Wisdom."

      <small><cite class='h-cite via'> <span class='p-author h-card'>Billy Oppenheimer, research assistant to Ryan Holiday</span> in The Notecard System: Capture, Organize, and Use Everything You Read, Watch, and Listen To - Billy Oppenheimer (<time class='dt-published'>11/03/2022 16:53:44</time>)</cite></small>

      <div style="padding:16px;"> <div style=" display: flex; flex-direction: row; align-items: center;"> <div style="background-color: #F4F4F4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 40px; margin-right: 14px; width: 40px;"></div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex-grow: 1; justify-content: center;"> <div style=" background-color: #F4F4F4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; width: 100px;"></div> <div style=" background-color: #F4F4F4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; width: 60px;"></div></div></div><div style="padding: 19% 0;"></div> <div style="display:block; height:50px; margin:0 auto 12px; width:50px;"><svg width="50px" height="50px" viewBox="0 0 60 60" version="1.1" xmlns="https://www.w3.org/2000/svg" xmlns:xlink="https://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"><g stroke="none" stroke-width="1" fill="none" fill-rule="evenodd"><g transform="translate(-511.000000, -20.000000)" fill="#000000"><g><path d="M556.869,30.41 C554.814,30.41 553.148,32.076 553.148,34.131 C553.148,36.186 554.814,37.852 556.869,37.852 C558.924,37.852 560.59,36.186 560.59,34.131 C560.59,32.076 558.924,30.41 556.869,30.41 M541,60.657 C535.114,60.657 530.342,55.887 530.342,50 C530.342,44.114 535.114,39.342 541,39.342 C546.887,39.342 551.658,44.114 551.658,50 C551.658,55.887 546.887,60.657 541,60.657 M541,33.886 C532.1,33.886 524.886,41.1 524.886,50 C524.886,58.899 532.1,66.113 541,66.113 C549.9,66.113 557.115,58.899 557.115,50 C557.115,41.1 549.9,33.886 541,33.886 M565.378,62.101 C565.244,65.022 564.756,66.606 564.346,67.663 C563.803,69.06 563.154,70.057 562.106,71.106 C561.058,72.155 560.06,72.803 558.662,73.347 C557.607,73.757 556.021,74.244 553.102,74.378 C549.944,74.521 548.997,74.552 541,74.552 C533.003,74.552 532.056,74.521 528.898,74.378 C525.979,74.244 524.393,73.757 523.338,73.347 C521.94,72.803 520.942,72.155 519.894,71.106 C518.846,70.057 518.197,69.06 517.654,67.663 C517.244,66.606 516.755,65.022 516.623,62.101 C516.479,58.943 516.448,57.996 516.448,50 C516.448,42.003 516.479,41.056 516.623,37.899 C516.755,34.978 517.244,33.391 517.654,32.338 C518.197,30.938 518.846,29.942 519.894,28.894 C520.942,27.846 521.94,27.196 523.338,26.654 C524.393,26.244 525.979,25.756 528.898,25.623 C532.057,25.479 533.004,25.448 541,25.448 C548.997,25.448 549.943,25.479 553.102,25.623 C556.021,25.756 557.607,26.244 558.662,26.654 C560.06,27.196 561.058,27.846 562.106,28.894 C563.154,29.942 563.803,30.938 564.346,32.338 C564.756,33.391 565.244,34.978 565.378,37.899 C565.522,41.056 565.552,42.003 565.552,50 C565.552,57.996 565.522,58.943 565.378,62.101 M570.82,37.631 C570.674,34.438 570.167,32.258 569.425,30.349 C568.659,28.377 567.633,26.702 565.965,25.035 C564.297,23.368 562.623,22.342 560.652,21.575 C558.743,20.834 556.562,20.326 553.369,20.18 C550.169,20.033 549.148,20 541,20 C532.853,20 531.831,20.033 528.631,20.18 C525.438,20.326 523.257,20.834 521.349,21.575 C519.376,22.342 517.703,23.368 516.035,25.035 C514.368,26.702 513.342,28.377 512.574,30.349 C511.834,32.258 511.326,34.438 511.181,37.631 C511.035,40.831 511,41.851 511,50 C511,58.147 511.035,59.17 511.181,62.369 C511.326,65.562 511.834,67.743 512.574,69.651 C513.342,71.625 514.368,73.296 516.035,74.965 C517.703,76.634 519.376,77.658 521.349,78.425 C523.257,79.167 525.438,79.673 528.631,79.82 C531.831,79.965 532.853,80.001 541,80.001 C549.148,80.001 550.169,79.965 553.369,79.82 C556.562,79.673 558.743,79.167 560.652,78.425 C562.623,77.658 564.297,76.634 565.965,74.965 C567.633,73.296 568.659,71.625 569.425,69.651 C570.167,67.743 570.674,65.562 570.82,62.369 C570.966,59.17 571,58.147 571,50 C571,41.851 570.966,40.831 570.82,37.631"></path></g></g></g></svg></div><div style="padding-top: 8px;"> <div style=" color:#3897f0; font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; font-style:normal; font-weight:550; line-height:18px;">View this post on Instagram</div></div><div style="padding: 12.5% 0;"></div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: row; margin-bottom: 14px; align-items: center;"><div> <div style="background-color: #F4F4F4; border-radius: 50%; height: 12.5px; width: 12.5px; transform: translateX(0px) translateY(7px);"></div> <div style="background-color: #F4F4F4; height: 12.5px; transform: rotate(-45deg) translateX(3px) translateY(1px); width: 12.5px; flex-grow: 0; margin-right: 14px; margin-left: 2px;"></div> <div style="background-color: #F4F4F4; border-radius: 50%; height: 12.5px; width: 12.5px; transform: translateX(9px) translateY(-18px);"></div></div><div style="margin-left: 8px;"> <div style=" background-color: #F4F4F4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 20px; width: 20px;"></div> <div style=" width: 0; height: 0; border-top: 2px solid transparent; border-left: 6px solid #f4f4f4; border-bottom: 2px solid transparent; transform: translateX(16px) translateY(-4px) rotate(30deg)"></div></div><div style="margin-left: auto;"> <div style=" width: 0px; border-top: 8px solid #F4F4F4; border-right: 8px solid transparent; transform: translateY(16px);"></div> <div style=" background-color: #F4F4F4; flex-grow: 0; height: 12px; width: 16px; transform: translateY(-4px);"></div> <div style=" width: 0; height: 0; border-top: 8px solid #F4F4F4; border-left: 8px solid transparent; transform: translateY(-4px) translateX(8px);"></div></div></div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex-grow: 1; justify-content: center; margin-bottom: 24px;"> <div style=" background-color: #F4F4F4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; width: 224px;"></div> <div style=" background-color: #F4F4F4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; width: 144px;"></div></div>

      A post shared by Ryan Holiday (@ryanholiday)

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      I used to do this sort of practice before, but I used buckslips instead.

  24. Oct 2022
    1. he three-by-five inch slipsof thin paper eventually filled about eighty wooden file drawers.And he classified the notes day by day, under topical-chronologicalheadings that eventually extended from 4639 B.C. to 1949, theyear after his death.

      Frederic L. Paxson kept a collection of 3 x 5 " slips of thin paper that filled eighty wooden file drawers which he organized using topical-chronologic headings spanning 4639 BCE to 1949.

    1. The most important thing about research is to know when to stop.How does one recognize the moment? When I was eighteen orthereabouts, my mother told me that when out with a young man Ishould always leave a half-hour before I wanted to. Although I wasnot sure how this might be accomplished, I recognized the advice assound, and exactly the same rule applies to research. One must stopbefore one has finished; otherwise, one will never stop and neverfinish.

      Barbara Tuchman analogized stopping one's research to going out on a date: one should leave off a half-hour before you really want to.

      Liink to: This sounds suspiciously like advice about when to start writing, but slightly in reverse: https://hypothes.is/a/WeoX9DUOEe2-HxsJf2P8vw

      One might also liken these processes to the idea of divergence and convergence as described by Tiago Forte and others.

    1. Dwyer, Edward J. “File Card Efficiency.” Journal of Reading 26, no. 2 (1982): 171–171.

      Ease of use in writing and grading with short assignments by using 4 x 6" index cards in classrooms.

      This sounds like some of the articles from 1912 and 1917 about efficiency of card indexes for teaching.

      I'm reminded of some programmed learning texts that were card-based (or really strip-based since they were published in book form) in the 1960s and 1970s. Thse books had small strips with lessons or questions on the front with the answers on the reverse. One would read in strips through the book from front to back and then start the book all over again on page one on the second row of strips and so on.

    1. For the second time Goutor mentions using different size cards for different note types, but doesn't specifically advise for it or provide a reason. Perhaps his advice for consistency and card size applies only to cards of particular types? (p28)

      link to: https://hypothes.is/a/XPphjkNZEe2s3i9VV4qt1g


      Incidentally he also specifically mentions 7x9" cards here too. How frequently used were these as a standard?

    2. The design of Goutor's note taking method is such that each note should have "a life of its own, so that it can stand independently of every other one in the file." (p28) This concept is broadly similar to the ideas of both atomic notes and evergreen notes in related contexts.

      Goutor says that a note's life stems from its identity by means of its bibliographic source, its unique content, and its ultimate purpose. Here he uses the singular "purpose" and doesn't explicitly use "purposes" thereby indicating that an individual note can have multiple potential lives in different places within one's lifetime of work. It seems most likely that he may not have thought of using ideas in multiple different locations, but again, his particular audience (see: https://hypothes.is/a/8jKcTkNPEe2sCntTfNWf2Q) may have also dictated this choice. One could argue that it would have been quite easy for him to have used the plural to suggest the idea simply and tangentially, but that his use of the singular here is specifically because the idea wasn't part of his note taking worldview.

    3. While he previously recommended using note cards of the same size, the examples in Goutor (1980) have 3x5" cards for bibliographic notes and 5x7" or larger cards for content notes. (p19, 21)


      Is there a reason stated anywhere here for this discrepancy or change? One would ostensibly keep them in different places/sections of one's card index, but does the size difference help to differentiate the two to aid in sorting? Is the larger card intended to hold more long form writing?

      Goutor is in Canada, so were 5x7" cards more common or standardized there in the late 1970s and early 80s?

      A5 measures 148 × 210 millimeters or 5.83 × 8.27 inches, so is a bit larger than 5x7".

      5x7" is a more standard photo size, so was this chosen as the result of storage options from the photography space?

      5x7" is scantly available in America in 2022, but only from Hamilco. A few others make cardstock in that size but not specifically as index cards.

  25. Sep 2022
    1. In the article, "The New Normative: Queer Politics in The Outs," author John Sherman, a freelance writer from Brooklyn, implores reader's to give credit to show's casually- revolutionary representation of queer characters. Sherman indicates to reader's that this is a rarely great representation for its time (2012) because it gives gay characters a non-stereotypical story line. It allows it's characters to be people who just happen to be gay. In just the pilot episode, it's not hard to see this truth. With the first four queer male characters being introduced, they all have different characteristics, priorities, and dynamics with eachother that don't center around their gayness. This gives a depth to the queer character being represented without relying on the fact that their gay to do so. I think that the positive reaction to this show bodes very well for the style of queer representation being presented and will hopefully inspire more writing and content making of this kind which non-chalently gives a voice gay to story lines in a relatable- human way instead of a stereotypical and tokenising way.

      I believe that Shitt's Creek also does this fairly well. Although I've only seen a couple episodes myself- I saw the character of David as a complete person and story line not defined by his gayness or partner choices although it is an obvious part of his identity.

    1. Posted byu/jackbaty4 hours agoCard sizes .t3_xib133._2FCtq-QzlfuN-SwVMUZMM3 { --postTitle-VisitedLinkColor: #9b9b9b; --postTitleLink-VisitedLinkColor: #9b9b9b; --postBodyLink-VisitedLinkColor: #989898; } I've been on-again/off-again with paper for PKM, but one thing remains consistent each time: I don't enjoy using 4x6 index cards. I much prefer 3x5-inch cards. I realize that it's irrational, but there it is.My question is if I dive into building an antinet, will I regret using 3x5 cards? I already have hundreds of them. I have dividers, holders, and storage boxes for them. I just prefer how they _feel_, as weird as that sounds.I'd like to hear if people are using 3x5 cards successfully or if you've come to regret it.

      While it may be slightly more difficult to find larger metal/wood cases for the 4x6 or 5x8 cards, it's a minor nuisance and anyone who wants them will eventually find the right thing for them. Beyond this, choose the card size that feels right to you.

      If you don't have an idea of what you need or like, try things out for 10-20 cards and see how it works for you, your handwriting size, and general needs. People have been using 3x5, 4x6, and even larger for hundreds of years without complaining about any major issues. If Carl Linnaeus managed to be okay with 3x5, which he hand cut by the way, I suspect you'll manage too.

      Of course I won't mention to the Americans the cleverness of the A6, A5, A4 paper standards which allows you to fold the larger sizes in half to get the exact next smaller size down. Then you might get the benefit of the smaller size as well as the larger which could be folded into your collection of smaller cards, you just have to watch out for accidentally wrapping ("taco-ing") a smaller card inside of a larger one and losing it. I suppose you could hand cut your own 5" x 6" larger cards to do this if you found that you occasionally needed them.

      For the pocketbook conscious, 3x5 does have the benefit of lower cost as well as many more options and flexibility than larger sizes.

      At least commercial card sizes are now largely standardized, so you don't have deal with changing sizes the way Roland Barthes did over his lifetime.

      My personal experience and a long history of so many manuals on the topic saying "cards of the same size" indicates that you assuredly won't have fun mixing different sized slips together. I personally use 3x5" cards in a waste book sense, but my main/permanent collection is in 4x6" format. Sometimes I think I should have done 3 x 5, but it's more like jealousy than regret, particularly when it comes to the potential of a restored fine furniture card catalog. But then again...

    1. PDF-XChange Viewer The Link Tool can be used to create links to locations in the same document/different documents, external weblinks and files on the local computer. Follow the steps below to activate and use the Link Tool: 1. Click Tools in the Menu Toolbar. 2. Hover over Link Tool. 3. Select Rectangle Link Tool to create a rectangular link or Quadrilateral Link Tool to create a customized quadrilateral link. 4. Click and drag the pointer at the desired location to create the link. The Link Properties dialog box will open:
      • crear link
    1. https://web.archive.org/web/20080412071219/http://eastgate.com/catalog/Briefcase.html

      Eastgate systems used to make a "3x5 Card Briefcase" to capture short notes on the go which could later "be scanned or transcribed to Tinderbox."

      Tinderbox was one of the first digital tools to be used in a way very similar to zettelkasten of old, particularly by academics, who are a large portion of their power user base.

    1. Capture Cards (red) 4.00 Beautifully Useful 3″ x 5″ Index Cards (Pack of 100)I created my Capture Cards to help make it easier for me to capture ideas, make notes, and record tasks as they happen. Good tools have a way of removing frustration and stress from a workflow, and for me, these cards do just that.Just enough structure to help you capture, but not enough to get in the way.They’re printed full-bleed on 70lb (heavy and durable) premium smooth white cover stock, and you get 100 2-sided cards in each pack. They feel great in your hand, yet hold up well in your pocket.

      https://web.archive.org/web/20140707053048/http://www.getfrictionless.com/products/capture-cards-red

      Simple index cards, but sold with a purpose in mind: capturing notes!

      One is reminded here of waste books and fleeting notes.

      Image:<br /> Graph ruled index cards with two colored title areas-grey and red-on the top front and a grey footer with a red band at the header of the back

    1. The casting director Marion Dougherty, in the documentary Casting By (dir. Tom Donahue, 2012): “I would keep the three-by-five card. I would put down anything that hit my mind.” The card for Dustin Hoffman (whose first screen appearance was in an episode of Naked City) notes Bob Duval’s (Robert Duvall’s) judgment that Hoffman is “v.g.” — very good. Notice the name of Blair Brown in the third screenshot. The Days and Nights of Molly Dodd is an Orange Crate Art and Musical Assumptions favorite.

      The documentary Casting By (2012) shows casting director Marion Dougherty's 3 x 5" index card collection which she used for casting notes. In particular they show an example card for Dustin Hoffman with his details. In Hoffman's case, his card included the older telephone numbers with exchanges (EN2-6933 or Endicott2 6933), so these cards may have also served a contact purpose similar to more modern rolodexes. Different from them however, Dougherty's also included heights, credits, and other observations relevant to the casting process.

      Screen capture from the movie

  26. Aug 2022
    1. Forcertainlyagreatervarietyofcards,clippings,andsuchlikecan befiledbehind 4x6slipsthan behind3x5's.

      A benefit of 4 x 6" cards is that clippings and other items can often be more easily filed along with them as opposed to the smaller 3 x 5" cards.

    2. shall I adopt the 3x5 slip or the 4x61

      Dow indicates in 1924 that 3 x 5" and 4 x 6" are both commonly had in a range of materials the US as well as boxes or cases to keep them in. He does mention that one can also cut their own paper, indicating that this is a possibility.

    1. I can't find a default setting for that, but you can do something that will give you the result you want. 1. right click the tool bar, select "customize toolbar..." >commands >tools 2. find the select tool, double click 3. set "esc" key as shortcut, then every time when you hit "esc" key, it will go to the select tool. You can choose other keys on the keyboard, too.
      • TESTED!
      • THANK YOU, Daisy!
  27. Jul 2022
    1. I'll push back on this a bit. I suspect that even though one might create multiple links to digital notes in all directions like this, it really doesn't happen happen at scale like this in practice.

      I'd be willing to guess that very few people in the digital space are linking their ideas to more than two or three others. In fact, I suspect that if you looked at many digital ZKs you'd find a lot of orphaned notes floating around.

      Separately, even in the analog space, the two links (down or forward) isn't always correct either. I cross link all over the place. The one constant benefit of the analog is that you're generally required to create at least one link because you have to place the card somewhere, and this isn't the case in most digital contexts/tools.

      I'd posit that it's a lot of work to link a new idea into your system once much less in multiple places. Generally the more ideas you can link/cross-link it to, the more likely you'll run across it in the future and have potential to reuse it. I'd also suggest that the more links it's got, the better you'll "own" it. These addition links will also allow you to better compare/contrast various ideas by juxtaposing them in the future.

      Theorem: more (good/great) links = more complexity which yields more "life", serendipity, and surprise to be found in your slip box for future use.

    1. probefahrer · 7 hr. agoAre you familiar with Mark Granovetter‘s theory of weak ties?He used it in the sense of the value of weak social connections but I am pretty sure one could make a case for weak connections in a Zettelkasten as being very valuable

      Humanity is a zettelkasten in biological form.

      Our social ties (links) putting us into proximity with other humans over time creates a new links between us and our ideas, and slowly evolves new ideas over time. Those new ideas that win this evolutionary process are called innovation.

      The general statistical thermodynamics of this idea innovation process can be "heated up" by improving communication channels with those far away from us (think letters, telegraph, radio, television, internet, social media).

      This reaction can be further accelerated by actively permuting the ideas with respect to each other as suggested by Raymond Llull's combinatorial arts.

      motivating reference: Matt Ridley in The Rational Optimist

      link to: - Mark Granovetter and weak ties - life of x

  28. Jun 2022
    1. The Antinet’s permanent-address scheme, with its shifting nature, gives the system a unique personality. The Antinet’s unique personality stands as one of the most integral aspects of the system. A key component that enables insightful communication with a human being is the human’s personality–the person’s unique way of communicating with you based on their unique perspectives and interpretations. The Numeric-alpha addresses provide the Zettelkasten with a unique personality. Over time, unique structures form due to Numeric-alpha addresses. This is important because it allows one to communicate with the Antinet, transforming it into a communication experience with a second mind, a doppelgänger, or a ghost in a box, as Luhmann called it. (5)5 This is the entity Luhmann referred to when he titled his paper, Communicating with Noteboxes. Numeric-alpha addresses make all of this possible.

      Scheper seems to indicate that it is the addressing system alone which provides the "personality" of a zettelkasten, whereby he's actively providing personification of a paper and pencil system by way of literacy. We need to look more closely, however at the idea of what communication truly is to discern this. A person might be able to read an individual card and have a conversation with just it, but this conversation will be wholly one sided, and stops at the level of that single card. We also need the links between that individual card and multiple others to fill in the rest of the resulting potential conversation. Or we will rely on the reader of the card extending the idea or linking it to others of their ideas (and that of the zettelkasten), to grow the system and thereby its "personality".

      Thus the personality is part that of the collection of cards using their addresses and the links between them. This personality, however, isn't immediate. It might grow over time reaching some upper limit at the length of time of the user's life, but much of its personality is contingent upon the knowledge of the missing context of the system that is contained in or by its creator. Few zettelkasten will be so well composed as to provide full context. (cross reference: https://hyp.is/5gWedOs7Eeyrg2cTFW4iCg/niklas-luhmann-archiv.de/bestand/Zettelkasten/zettel/ZK_2_NB_9-8_V).

      The question we might want to look at: Is there a limiting upper bound (a la a Shannon Limit) to the amount of information that a zettelkasten might contain or transmit, even beyond the life of an initial creator? Could it converse with itself without the assistance of an outside actor of some sort? What pieces are missing that might help us to define communication or even life itself?

  29. May 2022
    1. I think adding automated deployments would be a nice quality-of-life feature and would definitely encourage me to write more. Currently, I have to upload a new text file to my server and refresh the pm2 job.

      Is "automated deployments" really the solution?

    1. You could also start a new email with the contents of this file, by making x-success use the mailto: scheme with something like working-copy://x-callback-url/read/?repo=my%20repo&path=README.md&x-success=mailto%3A%3Fbody%3D If you need to debug your callbacks, setting x-success=mailto%3A%3Fbody%3D

      Holy god in fuck...

  30. Apr 2022
    1. The way technologies like fMRI are applied is aproduct of our brainbound orientation; it has not seemed odd or unusual toexamine the individual brain on its own, unconnected to others.

      In part because of modalities of studying the brain using methods like fMRI where the images are of an individual's head, we focus too much and too exclusively on single brains bound to individuals rather than on brains working in concert.

      Greater flexibilities in tools and methods should help do studies of humans working in concert.


      Link this to the anecdote:

      I recall a radiology test within a medical school setting in which students were asked to diagnose an x-ray of a human patient's skull. Most either guessed small hairline fractures in the skull or that there was nothing wrong with the patient.

      Can you diagnose the patient?

      Almost all the students failed the question, and worse felt like idiots when the answer was revealed: the patient must be dead because the spinal column and the rest of the body are not attached. Compare:

  31. Feb 2022
  32. Oct 2021
    1. Turkey would have to strive for its own free trade agreement with the respective new trading partners of the EU to facilitate market access for Turkish companies in the respective countries.
  33. Sep 2021
  34. May 2021
    1. According to a study published last year by researchers at the University of California San Diego, more than three-quarters of American adults now experience moderate to high levels of loneliness — rates that have more than doubled over the last 50 years. Despite rising housing costs across the country, more Americans are living alone today than ever before. As Boone Wheeler, a 33-year-old member of East Wind, told me, “There are literal health consequences to loneliness: Your quality of life goes down due to lack of community — you will die sooner.”

      Loneliness is growing and communities address that ...

    2. IN 2017 BJORN GRINDE and Ranghild Bang Nes, researchers with the Norwegian Institute of Public Health, co-authored a paper on the quality of life among North Americans living in intentional communities. Along with David Sloan Wilson, director of the evolutionary studies program at Binghamton University, and Ian MacDonald, a graduate assistant, they contacted more than 1,000 people living in 174 communities across the U.S. and Canada and asked them to rate their happiness level on the Satisfaction With Life Scale (SWLS), a globally recognized measurement tool. They compared these results to a widely cited 2008 study by the psychologists William Pavot and Ed Diener, which surveyed past studies that used the scale to analyze 31 disparate populations — including Dutch adults, French-Canadian university students and the Inuit of northern Greenland — and discovered that members of intentional communities scored higher than 30 of the 31 groups. Living in an intentional community, the authors concluded, “appears to offer a life less in discord with the nature of being human compared to mainstream society.” They then hypothesized why that might be: “One, social connections; two, sense of meaning; and three, closeness to nature.”

      People in intentional communities are happier according to a 2017 study.