Build a Latticework of Mental Models
Every intellectual endeavour starts from an already existing preconception
Memory
the maximum capacity of our working memory is not seven plus/minus two, but more like a maximum of four
it is so much easier to remember things we understand than things we don’t.
the way we organise everyday information makes a big difference not only for long-term memories, but short-term as well.
How to use literature notes to write Talakahon notes
“I always have a slip of paper at hand, on which I note down the ideas of certain pages. On the backside I write down the bibliographic details. After finishing the book I go through my notes and think how these notes might be relevant for already written notes in the slip-box. It means that I always read with an eye towards possible connections in the slip-box.”
reflect as much on what is not mentioned as what is mentioned.
You need to take some form of literature note that captures your understanding of the text, so you have something in front of your eyes while you are making the slip-box note. But don’t turn it into a project in itself. Literature notes are short and meant to help with writing slip-box notes.
Notes during exploration will tend to be more extensive
The Talakahon prevents confirmation bias
Confirmation bias is tackled here in two steps: First, by turning the whole writing process on its head, and secondly, by changing the incentives from finding confirming facts to an indiscriminate gathering of any relevant information regardless of what argument it will support.
Linear process of writing promotes confirmation bias
The linear process promoted by most study guides, which insanely starts with the decision on the hypothesis or the topic to write about, is a sure-fire way to let confirmation bias run rampant. First, you basically fix your present understanding, as the outcome instead of using it as the starting point, priming yourself for one-sided perception. Then you artificially create a conflict of interest between getting things done (finding support for your preconceived argument) and generating insight, turning any departure from your preconceived plan into a mutiny against the success of your own project. This is a good rule of thumb: If insight becomes a threat to your academic or writing success, you are doing it wrong.
The bottom-up development of arguments in the Talakahon facilitate insight
Developing arguments and ideas bottom-up instead of top-down is the first and most important step to opening ourselves up for insight. We should be able to focus on the most insightful ideas we encounter and welcome the most surprising turns of events without jeopardizing our progress or, even better, because it brings our project forward. We postpone the decision on what to write about specifically and focus on building a critical mass within the slip-box.
Only then do we take a step back to look at what developed, then make a decision on what conclusions are to be drawn from that.
If it connects with other things in the Talakahon, it gets added there
he only criterion is the question of whether something adds to a discussion in the slip-box. The only thing that matters is that it connects or is open to connections. Everything can contribute to the development of thoughts within the slip-box: an addition as well as a contradiction, the questioning of a seemingly obvious idea as well as the differentiation of an argument.
Talakahon invites disconfirming data
dis-confirming data becomes suddenly very attractive, because it opens up more possible connections and discussions within the slip-box
The slip-box is pretty agnostic about the content it is fed. It just prefers relevant notes. It is after reading and collecting relevant data, connecting thoughts and discussing how they fit together that it is time to draw conclusions and develop a linear structure for the argument.
Move your attention from projects to open connections in the Talakahon
Extracting the gist of a text or idea and giving account in writing constitutes practice for a nonfiction writer
Reframing knowledge is more important than having extensive knoweldge
Being able to re-frame questions, assertions and information is even more important than having an extensive knowledge, because without this ability, we wouldn’t be able to put our knowledge to use.
Write permanent notes as if you are writing to your future self, ignorant of your past self
Rereading is dangerous
Reading, especially rereading, can easily fool us into believing we understand a text. Rereading is especially dangerous because of the mere-exposure effect: The moment we become familiar with something, we start believing we also understand it.
Rephrasing an argument helps us check if we really understood it
Traditional education is like fast food
it helps to remember how much effort teachers still put into the attempt to make learning easier for their students by prearranging information, sorting it into modules, categories and themes. By doing that, they achieve the opposite of what they intend to do. They make it harder for the student to learn because they set everything up for reviewing, taking away the opportunity to build meaningful connections and to make sense of something by translating it into one’s own language. It is like fast food: It is neither nutritious nor very enjoyable, it is just convenient.
Elaboration
Elaboration means nothing other than really thinking about the meaning of what we read, how it could inform different questions and topics and how it could be combined with other knowledge.
The challenge of writing as well as learning is therefore not so much to learn, but to understand, as we will already have learned what we understand. The problem is that the meaning of something is not always obvious and needs to be explored. That is why we need to elaborate on it. But elaboration is nothing more than connecting information to other information in a meaningful way. The first step of elaboration is to think enough about a piece of information so we are able to write about it. The second step is to think about what it means for other contexts as well.
By elaborating on what we encounter, we also discover aspects we didn’t know anything about before and therefore develop our interests along the way.
Elaboration is the best-researched and most successful learning method
the best-researched and most successful learning method is elaboration. It is very similar to what we do when we take smart notes and combine them with others
Talakahon promotes elaboration
Writing notes and sorting them into the slip-box is nothing other than an attempt to understand the wider meaning of something. The slip-box forces us to ask numerous elaborating questions: What does it mean? How does it connect to … ? What is the difference between … ? What is it similar to? That the slip-box is not sorted by topics is the precondition for actively building connections between notes.
elaborating on the differences and similarities of notes instead of sorting them by topic not only facilitates learning, but facilitates the ability to categorise and create sensible classifications!
Talakahon frees up the brain to be creative
There is a clear division of labour between the brain and the slip-box: The slip-box takes care of details and references and is a long-term memory resource that keeps information objectively unaltered. That allows the brain to focus on the gist, the deeper understanding and the bigger picture, and frees it up to be creative.
Effective reading
read a text with questions in mind and try to relate it to other possible approaches
spot the limitations of a particular approach and see what is not mentioned in the text.
think hard about how they connect with other ideas from different contexts and could inform questions that are not already the questions of the author of the respective text.
Three Talakahon notes a day is enough
you could settle for three notes a day and still build up a significant critical mass of ideas in a very reasonable time. And you could settle for less than one book every twelve months.
measure your daily productivity by the number of notes written.
To think about the idea effectively, we need to write it down
Only in the written form can an argument be looked at with a certain distance – literally. We need this distance to think about an argument – otherwise the argument itself would occupy the very mental resources we need for scrutinizing it.
Embed an idea into the Talakahon by writing about its importance to your own line of thought
A common way to embed an idea into the context of the slip-box is by writing out the reasons of its importance for your own lines of thought.
the first question I asked myself when it came to writing the first permanent note for the slip-box was: What does this all mean for my own research and the questions I think about in my slip-box? This is just another way of asking: Why did the aspects I wrote down catch my interest?
two notes in my slip-box, based on the literature notes I took while reading the book, but written along the lines of my own thinking. One note states the relevance of the book for my own thinking and one explains my idea in more detail. Here I could draw from my literature notes as a source of valuable facts and insight.
While I am writing these notes, it becomes obvious that the answer to the question “why” has already triggered more follow-up questions
Skimming through the Talakahon reveals topics to write about
You do not have to discuss ideas in the Talakahon right away
Forgetting actually facilitates long-term learning
Two different measurements when it comes to memory
Storage strength and retrieval strength
Shift the attention from storage strength to retrieval strength
building connections and bridges between pieces of information to circumvent the inhibition mechanism in the right moment
making sure that the right “cues” trigger the right memory
focus on “retrieval strength,” we instantly start to think strategically about what kind of cues should trigger the retrieval of a memory.
A writer asks: In which circumstances will I want to stumble upon this note, even if I forget about it?
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?
Every piece of information can become the trigger for another piece of information
Connect a piece of information to as many meaningful contests as possible
What does help for true, useful learning is to connect a piece of information to as many meaningful contexts as possible, which is what we do when we connect our notes in the slip-box with other notes. Making these connections deliberately means building up a self-supporting network of interconnected ideas and facts that work reciprocally as cues for each other.
The Talakahon does not require completeness
Because the slip-box is not intended to be an encyclopaedia, but a tool to think with, we don’t need to worry about completeness. We don’t need to write anything down just to bridge a gap in a note sequence. We only write if it helps us with our own thinking.
The incompleteness of the Talakahon is bridged when writing the rough draft
The gaps we do need to concern ourselves with are the gaps in the arguments in the final manuscript – but these gaps will only become obvious in the next step, when we take the relevant notes for an argument out of the network of the slip-box and sort them into the linear order for the rough draft.
The Talakahon does not need an overview
As the slip-box is not a book with just one topic, we don’t need to have an overview of it. On the contrary, we are much better off accepting as early as possible that an overview of the slip-box is as impossible as having an overview of our own thinking while we are thinking.
References between a note and another note is more important than its reference to the index
Most notes will be found through other notes. The organisation of the notes is in the network of references in the slip-box, so all we need from the index are entry points. A few wisely chosen notes are sufficient for each entry point. The quicker we get from the index to the concrete notes, the quicker we move our attention from mentally preconceived ideas towards the fact-rich level of interconnected content, where we can conduct a fact-based dialogue with the slip-box
Liberating our brain from the task of organizing notes is the main purpose of the Talakahon
The element of surprise is crucial in the Talakahon
This crucial element of surprise comes into play on the level of the interconnected notes, not when we are looking for particular entries in the index.
The structure of topics in the Talakahon changes based on your intellectual development
the structure of topics and subtopics is not a given, but the outcome of our thinking, they too are subject to ongoing considerations and alteration. The consideration of how to structure a topic, therefore, belongs on notes as well – and not on a meta-hierarchical level. We can provide ourselves with a (temporarily valid) overview over a topic or subtopic just by making another note. If we then link from the index to such a note, we have a good entry point. If the overview on this note ceases to correctly represent the state of a cluster or topic, or we decide it should be structured differently, we can write a new note with a better structure and update the respective link from the index. This is important: Every consideration on the structure of a topic is just another consideration on a note – bound to change and dependent on the development of our understanding.
What we think is relevant for a topic and what is not depends on our current understanding and should be taken quite seriously: It defines an idea as much as the facts it is based on. What we regard as being relevant for a topic and how we structure it will change over time. This change might lead to another note with a different, more adequate topic structure, which then can be seen as a comment on the previous note.
Think inside the Talakahon
We look at our slip-box for already existing lines of thought and think about the questions and problems already on our minds to which a new note might contribute.
Cross-references in the Talakahon
Overview-to-note references
Note-to-note references
Overview note
These are notes directly referred to from the index and usually used as an entry point into a topic that has already developed to such a degree that an overview is needed or at least becomes helpful. On a note like this, you can collect links to other relevant notes to this topic or question, preferably with a short indication of what to find on these notes (one or two words or a short sentence is sufficient). This kind of note helps to structure thoughts and can be seen as an in-between step towards the development of a manuscript. Above all, they help orientate oneself within the slip-box. You will know when you need to write one.
Luhmann collected up to 25 links to other notes on these kind of entry notes. They don’t have to be written in one go as links can be added over time
Talakahon prevents us from forcing connections
By dealing with actual notes, we are also less prone to imagine connections where there aren’t any, as we can see in black and white if something makes sense or not.
Talakahon prevents lofty thinking
The slip-box is like a well-informed but down-to-earth communication partner who keeps us grounded. If we try to feed it some lofty ideas, it will force us to check first: What is the reference? How does that connect to the facts and the ideas you already have?
Talakahon helps clarify differences between concepts
the confrontation with old notes helps to detect differences we wouldn’t have noticed otherwise. What seems to be the same idea sometimes turns out to be slightly, but crucially, different. We then can explicitly discuss this difference on another note
The clarification of differences in the use of words and concepts is a major part of every serious academic work anyway – but it is so much easier if you have a nit-picking partner like the slip-box.
Talakahon detects contradictions and oppositions
Comparing notes also helps us to detect contradictions, paradoxes or oppositions – important facilitators for insight. When we realise that we used to accept two contradicting ideas as equally true, we know that we have a problem – and problems are good because we now have something to solve. A paradox can be a sign that we haven’t thought thoroughly enough about a problem or, conversely, that we exhausted the possibilities of a certain paradigm. Finally, oppositions help to shape ideas by providing contrast.
Talakahon helps us become critical readers
Adding new notes to old notes and being forced to compare them leads not only to a constant improvement of one’s own work, but often discloses weaknesses in the texts we read. We have to compensate for that by being extra critical as readers and careful with extracting information from texts, and we always have to check the original source of a claim.
Feature-positive effect
This is the phenomenon in which we tend to overstate the importance of information that is (mentally) easily available to us and tilts our thinking towards the most recently acquired facts, not necessarily the most relevant ones. Without external help, we would not only take exclusively into account what we know, but what is on top of our heads. The slip-box constantly reminds us of information we have long forgotten and wouldn’t remember otherwise – so much so, we wouldn’t even look for it.
Talakahon is a good learning method
by working with the slip-box, we retrieve old ideas and facts on an irregular basis and connect them with other bits of information – very much how experts recommend we learn
We learn something not only when we connect it to prior knowledge and try to understand its broader implications (elaboration), but also when we try to retrieve it at different times (spacing) in different contexts (variation), ideally with the help of chance (contextual interference) and with a deliberate effort (retrieval). The slip-box not only provides us with the opportunity to learn in this proven way, it forces us to do exactly what is recommended just by using it.
Having multiple theoretical models are advantageous
Our ability to read a situation or to interpret information depends on our broader knowledge and how we make sense of it.
some theories or theoretical models are surprisingly versatile, which is why it makes sense to assemble a toolbox of useful mental models
have not just a few, but a broad range of mental models in your head. Otherwise, you risk becoming too attached to one or two and see only what fits them.
You’ve got to have models in your head. And you’ve got to array your experience, both vicarious and direct, on this latticework of models.
A truly wise person is not someone who knows everything, but someone who is able to make sense of things by drawing from an extended resource of interpretation schemes. This stands in harsh contrast to the common but not-so-wise belief that we need to learn from experience.
It is better to learn from experience of others
It is much better to learn from the experiences of others – especially when this experience is reflected on and turned into versatile “mental models” that can be used in different situations.
Even writers need a practice
we need experience until we can “feel our way” around the problems and questions we deal with, even if these things are words, concepts and notes in a file system. What we learn in practice is always much more thorough and complex than what we could put into words.
Ideas need to be abstracted and respecified to be useful
To be able to play with ideas, we first have to liberate them from their original context by means of abstraction and re-specification. We did this when we took literature notes and translated them into the different contexts within the slip-box.
Abstraction is also the key to analyse and compare concepts, to make analogies and to combine ideas; this is especially true when it comes to interdisciplinary work
it is the concrete standardization of notes in just one format that enables us to literally shuffle them around, to add one idea to multiple contexts and to compare and combine them in a creative way without losing sight of what they truly contain.
Your working environment can allow you to be creative
The ability to generate new ideas has more to do with breaking with old habits of thinking
turn the slip-box into a tool for breaking out of our own thinking habits.
To see things as they really are is the ability of experts
Make sure that you really see what you think you see and describe it as plainly and factually as possible. Double-check if necessary. That this isn’t as obvious as it sounds will become clearer by the fact that the ability to truly see what is in front of one’s eyes is often listed as a trait of experts. And that is easily explained by the fact that our perception does not follow the order of seeing first and interpreting second. It does both at the same time: We always perceive something as something – our interpretation is instantaneous.
To see things as they really are, we need to constantly revised our first interpretation
To really understand a text is therefore a constant revision of our first interpretation. We have to train ourselves to get used to seeing this difference and to hold back our ingrained urge to jump to conclusions. To be able to see what we see instead of what we expect to see is indeed a skill in itself
Always ask what is not in the picture
While the constant comparison of notes can help us to detect differences, no technique can help us see what is missing. But we can make it a habit to always ask what is not in the picture, but could be relevant.
It is very good to know what has already proven to not work if we try to come up with new ideas that do work
Before solving a problem, try redefining it first
Problems rarely get solved directly, anyway. Most often, the crucial step forward is to redefine the problem in such a way that an already existing solution can be employed. The first question should always be directed towards the question itself: What kind of answer can you expect from asking a question in this particular way? What is missing?
Using the slip-box trains important intellectual skills deliberately
By using the slip-box on a daily basis, we train these important intellectual skills deliberately: We check if what we understood from a text is really in the text by having our understanding in written form in front of our eyes. We learn to focus on the gist of an idea by restricting ourselves in terms of space. We can make it a habit to always think about what is missing when we write down our own ideas. And we can practice asking good questions when we sort our notes into the slip-box and connect them with other notes.
Restrict yourself to one idea per Tala
I highly recommend treating a digital note as if the space were limited. By restricting ourselves to one format, we also restrict ourselves to just one idea per note and force ourselves to be as precise and brief as possible. The restriction to one idea per note is also the precondition to recombine them freely later.
Each note should fit onto the screen and there should be no need of scrolling.
A lack of structure and restriction is the biggest threat to creativity and scientific progress
The biggest threat to creativity and scientific progress is therefore the opposite: a lack of structure and restrictions. Without structure, we cannot differentiate, compare or experiment with ideas. Without restrictions, we would never be forced to make the decision on what is worth pursuing and what is not. Indifference is the worst environment for insight.
Outlining reveals the gaps in your argument
outline your argument and construct a preliminary order of sections, chapters or paragraphs. This will make questions, which are not answered, obvious, and it will show the gaps in the argument that need to be filled and make visible which parts still need some work.
Writing is narrowing down
it is now about narrowing the perspective, making a decision on one topic only and cutting out everything that does not directly contribute to the development of the text and support the main argument.
we have so much at hand that we have to curb our impulse to mention everything at the same time.
Testing students for memorized knowledge is futile
the fixation of our educational system to learn things by heart – which means to think without external tools. Testing students for memorised knowledge does not give much indication about their understanding
The brain prioritizes recent, emotional, and concrete information over abstract, vague, and emotionally neutral
the brain prioritises ideas that are easily available in the moment. This, obviously, does not equal relevant. The brain more easily remembers information that it encountered recently, which has emotions attached to it and is lively, concrete or specific.
Everything that is rather abstract, vague, emotionally neutral or does not even sound good is far down on its list of priorities – not exactly the best criteria for an intellectual endeavour.
We tend to like our first ideas the best irrespective of their actual relevance
The slip-box decetralizes thinking
The slip-box does not put the learner in the centre. Quite the contrary: It allows the learner to let his or her own thinking become decentralised within a network of other ideas.
Learning, thinking, and writing should be about personal development
Learning, thinking and writing should not be about accumulating knowledge, but about becoming a different person with a different way of thinking. This is done by questioning one’s own thinking routines in the light of new experiences and facts.
Unsorted
It is such an important skill to see differences between seemingly similar concepts, or connections between seemingly different ideas.