Building a Second Brain: The 10-Year Vision

We live in a golden age of content, with almost unlimited free learning resources available online. But not everyone is prepared to benefit from it equally. It is only those who know how to harness technology and organize knowledge for their own purposes who will be empowered by the information tidal wave we are now facing. 

Stepping back to look at the broader history, it’s clear that the Second Brain movement is part of the long arc of technology’s progress in helping us transcend our biological limitations. It’s an essential tool in the remote, autonomous, project-based economy we are increasingly moving toward, as important to knowledge workers as a hammer is to a ... See more

The way professionals, entrepreneurs, and companies utilize knowledge will dramatically change. Every professional will feel a sense of agency that they can capture the highest-value information they encounter, and distill it into actionable, bite-sized nuggets to enrich their future thinking. Entrepreneurs and creators will save tremendous amounts... See more

More and more people will consider themselves “creators,” regardless of whether they make it a living. They will see their intellectual output as a body of work, which they can grow and evolve over time independently of themselves. The original vision of the Internet as a knowledge sharing network will come to fruition, as more and more people’s kn... See more

Knowledge already exists all around us in abundance. We are changing how people take in, handle, contextualize, and deploy that knowledge at the most practical level. We are building the cognitive infrastructure of knowledge work – not the devices or apps they run on, but the “mental software” running on people’s minds that allows them to use those... See more

If we succeed in our mission, the role of technology in people’s lives will never be the same. Technology will be less invasive and distracting, as people learn how to set boundaries and tailor their exposure to information based on what serves them. But technology will also be more intimately intertwined with people’s work and lives, as they give ... See more

People will have more agency and control over their lives, knowing that there are countless ways for them to create durable value and monetize that value in whatever way suits their goals and lifestyle. 

Second Brains are a critical part of the democratization of education, providing a place for learners to take note of, organize, and engage with knowledge as they navigate the endless self-guided learning resources they find online. And Second Brains even play a part in humanity’s spiritual journey, helping us externalize our thoughts and emotions ... See more