Zettelkasten (German: “slip-box”) is a note-taking method for knowledge management and writing. It is what made Niklas Luhmann, a self-made public servant to sociologist professor who wrote 58 books and over 400 papers during his lifetime, with more published based on his manuscripts after his death, a prolific scholar. Zettelkasten has gained popularity in recent years, particularly with the popular not-taking application Roam Research.
As a result of extensive work with this technique, a kind of secondary memory will arise, an alter ego with whom we can constantly communicate. It proves to be similar to our own memory in that it does not have a thoroughly constructed order of its entirety, not hierarchy, and most certainly no linear structure like a book. Just because of this, it gets its own life, independent of its author.
--- Niklas Luhmann
The idea of communicating with your second brain is a powerful one. It’s like you have a personal Google with all your thoughts and things you read about long ago. I find it particularly interesting as it resonates with my idea of searching over organising when organising knowledge. We can engage with our brains and ask questions instead of memorising facts.
The method itself is simple to get started. You use small index cards for notes. Each card (“Zettel” in German) has an ID, a set of contexts (tags) and references to other cards. All the cards are stored in a slip-box. You then create indexes with key terms of important notes as entry points for querying your knowledge (the second brain). Luhmann also has a slip-box dedicated to bibliographies.
References
- Ahrens, S. (2017). How to Take Smart Notes: One Simple Technique to Boost Writing, Learning and Thinking – for Students, Academics and Nonfiction Book Writers. 1st edition ed. Amazon. North Charleston, SC: CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform.