I don’t have a problem with PKM as a referencing tool. But ...

I don’t have a problem with PKM as a referencing tool. But step 2 “Organize → Place in buckets or categories” creates all sorts of problem: When you delegate your info into existing categories, at least 2 problems arise: 1. Framing bias: the way presented → way you think → limits the possibilities. 2. Low cognitive load: the struggle is essential for encoding → more forgetting.

Toan Truong

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In the old system, the question is: Under which topic do I store this note? In the new system, the question is: In which context will I want to stumble upon it again?

Sönke Ahrens • How to Take Smart Notes: One Simple Technique to Boost Writing, Learning and Thinking – for Students, Academics and Nonfiction Book Writers

You can't do it. You can't collapse these categorizations without some signal loss. The problem is, because the cataloguers assume their classification should have force on the world, they underestimate the difficulty of understanding what users are thinking, and they overestimate the amount to which users will agree, either with one another or wit... See more

Clay Shirky • Ontology is Overrated: Categories, Links, and Tags

The way people choose their keywords shows clearly if they think like an archivist or a writer. Do they wonder where to store a note or how to retrieve it? The archivist asks: Which keyword is the most fitting? A writer asks: In which circumstances will I want to stumble upon this note, even if I forget about it? It is a crucial difference.

Sönke Ahrens • How to Take Smart Notes: One Simple Technique to Boost Writing, Learning and Thinking – for Students, Academics and Nonfiction Book Writers