This was super helpful! I'm getting ready to start my first zettelkasten and this gave me a much better idea of how to structure it so it makes sense to me.
Prof P, thank you so much for these videos. You've given me clarity by examples. I'm less daunted by ZK now because of your systematic illustration. Also your dry humor and deadpan style of presentation is a huge plus :-)
I've been using Obsidian, and Scott convinced me to go the O.Z. route. I started my O.Z. a few weeks ago, and have read Scott's book, and I'm in Dan Allosso's discussions on Saturday mornings, and I'm getting my O.Z. up and running, and this video was the watershed moment where I have finally landed on how I'll address my notecards. Many Mahalos--great job!!!!
Very happy to hear this. I've been watching all of the Saturday morning discussions of ANTINET ZETTELKASTEN Dan has been hosting. Your "Many Mahalos" leads me to believe you're the one in the group who teaches philosophy. Oh, and title of the next video I'm working on was inspired by something Chris Aldrich said in the last meeting (related to "cows and Mozart").
@@forrestrperry Nice to know you're watching the book club vids! Yes, I'm the philosopher. My focus is on process philosophy, Whitehead, Hartshorne, Griffin, Cobb, etc. Yes, Chris is quite brilliant. Aloha! 🌊 🏖
@@raiseyourvibration1411 I had never heard of Hartshorne, Griffin, and Cobb. Probably because I never got around to reading any Whitehead. Three or four years spent studying Hegel drove me a wee bit crazy and I worried Whitehead might just contribute to a further decline in the quality of my life. Will have to check them out. Thanks.
@@forrestrperry Haha! Yes, Whitehead will in fact contribute to the further decline in your quality of life! IMNSHO, however, much less so than Hegel. Indeed, it's painful at first, but radically powerful once you wrap your head around the fact that he's saying matter and energy are really abstract structures and not ultimately real. It's much more parsimonious to think of reality as composed of Actual Entities (similar to Leibniz's Monads). Actual Entities combine to create matter and energy in the first place. People peg Whitehead as an Idealist and/or Platonist, but he really isn't. He was among the handful of human beings alive 1910 to 1947 who fully understood Quantum theory and Einstein, and he incorporated these into his metaphysics. The Stanford article is pretty good as an intro--best to just look at sections 4,5,6, and 7: plato.stanford.edu/entries/whitehead/ I don't know where I put it but I wrote a comment telling you I've settled, finally, on your way of addressing the notecards. Mahalo!!
Remember to also write within the context of the idea you link too, i.e. it's not an atomic note in the sense that it really is understandable on its own, but rather that you extend the line of thought. This is part of how you're brain actually learns the information, it's a big part of the cognitive processing that goes on in your mind when working with a ZK workflow. Without the writing within context of lines of thought, the ZK is a whole less useful for learning and retention purposes.
Yes, great point. I've been working on a "Folgezettel" video in which I plan on stressing how important it is to focus on DEVELOPING (or, as you say, EXTENDING) lines of thinking and why the Zettelkasten method (or, more specifically, the Folgezettel aspect of the method) is a good way to do that.
Thank you for this video! I have a question: what if after having created cards ending in 1 and 1a, I create a card that I’d like to place after card ending in 1? Is there a way to number it? Or would it be a matter of finding a good enough place for that could be after 1a, for example?
1b would be the address to put on a card that has a good-enough relation to the card that has 1 as its address (it would have been 1a except that 1a has already been used). You might find the following webpage of some help (it's one I created for my students this semester, who are being asked to build their own Zettelkastens): pushy-protest-f83.notion.site/Card-addresses-rules-to-follow-610627f38aad48c7841ab6ae4e3120a5?pvs=4
Another TH-cam gentleman by the name of Al Persohn numbers his cards with the current date first and then includes an alphanumeric ID specific to each card. What are your thoughts on this way of numbering.
Thanks for the question, Kathleen. And look at me answering it a mere 20 or so minutes after you posted it! I think there's definitely value in having on each card the date when it was first created, but it seems to me that if you're interested in building Folgezettel (sequences of connected notes), it would be best to put the alphanumeric ID first and then the date after that or, better, just elsewhere on the card. At the risk of saying a bunch of stuff that might not make sense to you unless you already know a fair amount about Obsidian, I should add here that when I back up the content of my Zettelkasten cards in Obsidian (by making a note/file in Obsidian for each ZK card), I have a template that I trigger that automatically adds to the note's metadata the date the template is triggered. With this piece of metadata added to the note, it would be easy for me to create a table listing all ZK cards in chronological sequence. Thanks for letting me know about Al Persohn. I'll have to check out some of his videos after I'm done grading final papers for this semester.
Thank you, sir. Your explanation is on point. However, I do have a question. According to what you've said, does it mean that, let's say, card 1/1z is as close to 1/1 as 1/1a?
Yes and no. If you were to look at a card ending with 1/1z ON THE MIND MAP, it would be "as close to" 1/1 as 1/1a is close to 1/1. But IN THE ZETTELKASTEN itself, the card with 1/1z would be at least, what, 25 cards behind 1/1? And likely more than 25 cards if any of the preceding cards are the beginning of a sequence of cards-or Folgezettel. For example, a card with 1/1c as its address might have behind it cards with the following addresses: 1/1c1, 1/1c1a, 1/1c1a1, 1/1c1a2, 1/1c2, 1/c2a, and so on. I hope that makes sense.
I apologize if you've addressed this somewhere and I missed it (or I haven't gotten to it yet). Is it a characteristic of your card "addresses" that they only ever have at most only one dash "-" in them? That appears to hold true on your mind map. If it is, what does this imply? I think it has something to do with "one idea at a time", but I'm not perflectly clear on that yet.
Hi Perry: in the videos where I show card addresses that contain hyphens in them, everything to the left of the hyphen represents a “folder card.” As you will see in the fourth or fifth video in this series I have been creating about building a Zettelkasten, I no longer use folder cards, and therefore I no longer use hyphens in my card addresses. My most recent thinking about the kinds of addresses to put on cards can be found on the following Miro board: miro.com/app/board/uXjVP3YDPRc=/?share_link_id=336500932959 However, what I lay out there is kind of complicated. If you’re just starting out, I recommend following much of what I say in this third video. If you end up finding that following that advice produces very long card addresses, that is something that you can deal with later, and dealing with it later will not, I’m pretty sure, require that you go back and change addresses on the cards that you have already created.
My apologies for having overlooked your question. If I understand it correctly, the answer is "yes." But now I need to say how I understand your question so that you know whether I have answered it. If you're asking about how to arrange analog Zettelkasten cards, then I would say that if you have, say, cards that run from 1a to 1m, all of those would be placed/filed in front of a card that has 2a as its address. I hope that answers your question. If not, feel free to respond with, "You're a terrible teacher. Now answer my question properly!"
The best explanation so far! 🎉
Glad it was helpful!
4:30 No, but kind of yes. There is a word for this in spoken German: Jein. It is just a combination of Ja and Nein
Correct! I wish I had recalled this term when making the video.
In Finnish there is a word for "Yeah, but actually no" - jooei (or juuei), which is also just portmanteau of the Finnish words for yeah and no.
This was super helpful! I'm getting ready to start my first zettelkasten and this gave me a much better idea of how to structure it so it makes sense to me.
Prof P, thank you so much for these videos. You've given me clarity by examples. I'm less daunted by ZK now because of your systematic illustration. Also your dry humor and deadpan style of presentation is a huge plus :-)
Thanks for your kind comments. Much appreciated.
I've been using Obsidian, and Scott convinced me to go the O.Z. route. I started my O.Z. a few weeks ago, and have read Scott's book, and I'm in Dan Allosso's discussions on Saturday mornings, and I'm getting my O.Z. up and running, and this video was the watershed moment where I have finally landed on how I'll address my notecards. Many Mahalos--great job!!!!
Very happy to hear this. I've been watching all of the Saturday morning discussions of ANTINET ZETTELKASTEN Dan has been hosting. Your "Many Mahalos" leads me to believe you're the one in the group who teaches philosophy. Oh, and title of the next video I'm working on was inspired by something Chris Aldrich said in the last meeting (related to "cows and Mozart").
@@forrestrperry Nice to know you're watching the book club vids! Yes, I'm the philosopher. My focus is on process philosophy, Whitehead, Hartshorne, Griffin, Cobb, etc. Yes, Chris is quite brilliant. Aloha! 🌊 🏖
@@raiseyourvibration1411 I had never heard of Hartshorne, Griffin, and Cobb. Probably because I never got around to reading any Whitehead. Three or four years spent studying Hegel drove me a wee bit crazy and I worried Whitehead might just contribute to a further decline in the quality of my life. Will have to check them out. Thanks.
@@forrestrperry Haha! Yes, Whitehead will in fact contribute to the further decline in your quality of life! IMNSHO, however, much less so than Hegel. Indeed, it's painful at first, but radically powerful once you wrap your head around the fact that he's saying matter and energy are really abstract structures and not ultimately real. It's much more parsimonious to think of reality as composed of Actual Entities (similar to Leibniz's Monads). Actual Entities combine to create matter and energy in the first place. People peg Whitehead as an Idealist and/or Platonist, but he really isn't. He was among the handful of human beings alive 1910 to 1947 who fully understood Quantum theory and Einstein, and he incorporated these into his metaphysics. The Stanford article is pretty good as an intro--best to just look at sections 4,5,6, and 7: plato.stanford.edu/entries/whitehead/
I don't know where I put it but I wrote a comment telling you I've settled, finally, on your way of addressing the notecards. Mahalo!!
What would you do if you had more than 26 cards pertaining one concept? Say 1.2.3-1z, would the next be 1.2.3-1aa?
Remember to also write within the context of the idea you link too, i.e. it's not an atomic note in the sense that it really is understandable on its own, but rather that you extend the line of thought. This is part of how you're brain actually learns the information, it's a big part of the cognitive processing that goes on in your mind when working with a ZK workflow. Without the writing within context of lines of thought, the ZK is a whole less useful for learning and retention purposes.
Yes, great point. I've been working on a "Folgezettel" video in which I plan on stressing how important it is to focus on DEVELOPING (or, as you say, EXTENDING) lines of thinking and why the Zettelkasten method (or, more specifically, the Folgezettel aspect of the method) is a good way to do that.
Thank you for this video! I have a question: what if after having created cards ending in 1 and 1a, I create a card that I’d like to place after card ending in 1? Is there a way to number it? Or would it be a matter of finding a good enough place for that could be after 1a, for example?
1b would be the address to put on a card that has a good-enough relation to the card that has 1 as its address (it would have been 1a except that 1a has already been used). You might find the following webpage of some help (it's one I created for my students this semester, who are being asked to build their own Zettelkastens): pushy-protest-f83.notion.site/Card-addresses-rules-to-follow-610627f38aad48c7841ab6ae4e3120a5?pvs=4
Another TH-cam gentleman by the name of Al Persohn numbers his cards with the current date first and then includes an alphanumeric ID specific to each card. What are your thoughts on this way of numbering.
Thanks for the question, Kathleen. And look at me answering it a mere 20 or so minutes after you posted it!
I think there's definitely value in having on each card the date when it was first created, but it seems to me that if you're interested in building Folgezettel (sequences of connected notes), it would be best to put the alphanumeric ID first and then the date after that or, better, just elsewhere on the card.
At the risk of saying a bunch of stuff that might not make sense to you unless you already know a fair amount about Obsidian, I should add here that when I back up the content of my Zettelkasten cards in Obsidian (by making a note/file in Obsidian for each ZK card), I have a template that I trigger that automatically adds to the note's metadata the date the template is triggered. With this piece of metadata added to the note, it would be easy for me to create a table listing all ZK cards in chronological sequence.
Thanks for letting me know about Al Persohn. I'll have to check out some of his videos after I'm done grading final papers for this semester.
Thank you, sir. Your explanation is on point. However, I do have a question. According to what you've said, does it mean that, let's say, card 1/1z is as close to 1/1 as 1/1a?
Yes and no. If you were to look at a card ending with 1/1z ON THE MIND MAP, it would be "as close to" 1/1 as 1/1a is close to 1/1. But IN THE ZETTELKASTEN itself, the card with 1/1z would be at least, what, 25 cards behind 1/1? And likely more than 25 cards if any of the preceding cards are the beginning of a sequence of cards-or Folgezettel. For example, a card with 1/1c as its address might have behind it cards with the following addresses: 1/1c1, 1/1c1a, 1/1c1a1, 1/1c1a2, 1/1c2, 1/c2a, and so on. I hope that makes sense.
@@forrestrperry Thank you. Your explanation makes perfect sense 👍
I apologize if you've addressed this somewhere and I missed it (or I haven't gotten to it yet). Is it a characteristic of your card "addresses" that they only ever have at most only one dash "-" in them? That appears to hold true on your mind map. If it is, what does this imply? I think it has something to do with "one idea at a time", but I'm not perflectly clear on that yet.
Hi Perry: in the videos where I show card addresses that contain hyphens in them, everything to the left of the hyphen represents a “folder card.” As you will see in the fourth or fifth video in this series I have been creating about building a Zettelkasten, I no longer use folder cards, and therefore I no longer use hyphens in my card addresses.
My most recent thinking about the kinds of addresses to put on cards can be found on the following Miro board: miro.com/app/board/uXjVP3YDPRc=/?share_link_id=336500932959
However, what I lay out there is kind of complicated. If you’re just starting out, I recommend following much of what I say in this third video. If you end up finding that following that advice produces very long card addresses, that is something that you can deal with later, and dealing with it later will not, I’m pretty sure, require that you go back and change addresses on the cards that you have already created.
@@forrestrperry Thanks for your response!
I assume the cards are physically arranged in a depth first order?
My apologies for having overlooked your question. If I understand it correctly, the answer is "yes." But now I need to say how I understand your question so that you know whether I have answered it.
If you're asking about how to arrange analog Zettelkasten cards, then I would say that if you have, say, cards that run from 1a to 1m, all of those would be placed/filed in front of a card that has 2a as its address.
I hope that answers your question. If not, feel free to respond with, "You're a terrible teacher. Now answer my question properly!"
Why is your video so dark, especially when you are appearing in the video.
I'm pretty upset "your mom" wasn't one of the answers for the quiz questions, lol