Knowledge tools, finite and infinite | thesephist.com

Even today, in the age of Google, most knowledge tools are extensions of the humble note-taking app. As such, they feel very finite. They contain only and exactly the information you put in. A notes app isn’t an interface to something more expansive, nor does it synthesize anything new while you aren’t looking. No matter how large a personal databa

’m excited by the prospect of designing knowledge tools that feel infinite , that aren’t just repositories of information but interfaces to access a larger expanse of knowledge and generative worlds.

A knowledge base that looked for new connections within itself would be less of a memory system, as notes conventionally are, and become more of a generative tool. Generative tools are exciting because they contain real infinites that invite endless play and exploration.

The easiest way to open up our notes to infinites would be to let our notes search online to grow autonomously. By this, I mean: what if our notes searched the web for ideas that agreed with us or critiqued us, while we weren’t tending to them? This would transform note-taking into a truly valuable investment – put in a few ideas, discover many mor