OnNoteTaking

Fewdaysback,myfriend AnilTulsiram
tweetedabouttheimportanceofhavingaproper
systeminplacewhilereading.Icouldntagreemorewithwhathestated.Readingmoreis
uselessifyoucantrecallwhatyouread.

Whilereadingthefantasticbook WhereGoodIdeasComeFrom ,Icameacrossthemethodof

notetakingpracticedbygreatmindslikeCharlesDarwinandJohnLocke.Givenbeloware
someexcerptsfromthebookwhichexplainsthesystemfollowedbytheseluminaries.

CharlesDarwinissuperiortothecommonrunofmeninnoticingthingswhicheasilyescape
attention,andinobservingthemingreatdetail.Headheredtoarigorouspracticeofmaintaining
notebookswherehequotedothersources,improvisednewideas,interrogatedanddismissed
falseleads,drewdiagrams,andgenerallylethismindroamonthepage.

WecanseeDarwinsideasevolvebecauseonsomebasiclevelthenotebookplatformcreates
acultivatingspaceforhishunches;itisnotthatthenotebookisameretranscriptionofthe
ideas,whicharehappeningoffstagesomewhereinDarwinsmind. Darwinwasconstantly
rereadinghisnotes,discoveringnewimplications.Hisideasemergeasakindofduet
betweenthepresenttensethinkingbrainandallthosepastobservationsrecordedon
paper. SomewhereinthemiddleoftheIndianOcean,atrainofassociationcompelshimto
revisithisnotesonthefaunaoftheGalpagosarchipelagofromfivemonthsbefore.Ashe
readsthroughhisobservations,anewthoughtbeginstotakeshapeinhismind,which
provokesawholenewsetofnotesthatwillonlymakecompletesensetoDarwintwoyears
later,aftertheMalthusepisode.

TheimageshownbelowisapagefromDarwin'snotebooksaroundJuly1837showinghisfirst
sketchofanevolutionarytree.DidDarwincomeupwithideaofnotetakingallbyhimself?Of
coursenot.Darwinsnotebooksarearefinementofalongandfruitfultraditionthatwas
practicedinEuropesincethe17thcenturythepracticeofmaintaininga
commonplace
book.JohnLockefirstbeganmaintainingacommonplacebookin1652,duringhisfirstyearat
Oxford.Whatisacommonplacebook?

Initsmostcustomaryform,commonplacing,asitwascalled,involvedtranscribing
interestingorinspirationalpassagesfromonesreading,assemblingapersonalized
encyclopediaofquotations. Thereisadistinctselfhelpqualitytotheearlydescriptionsof
commonplacingsvirtues:maintainingthebooksenabledonetolayupafundofknowledge,
fromwhichwemayatalltimesselectwhatisusefulintheseveralpursuitsoflife.

Lockesapproachseemsalmostcomicalinitsintricacy,butitwasaresponsetoaspecificset
ofdesignconstraints:creatingafunctionalindexinonlytwopagesthatcouldbeexpandedas
thecommonplacebookaccumulatedmorequotesandobservations:WhenImeetwithany
thing,thatIthinkfittoputintomycommonplacebook,Ifirstfindaproperhead.Suppose
forexamplethattheheadbeEPISTOLA,Ilookuntotheindexforthefirstletterandthe
followingvowelwhichinthisinstanceareE.i.ifinthespacemarkedE.i.thereisanynumber
thatdirectsmetothepagedesignedforwordsthatbeginwithanEandwhosefirstvowel
aftertheinitialletterisI,ImustthenwriteunderthewordEpistolainthatpagewhatIhave
toremark.

TheimagegivenbelowshowsJohnLockesindexforacommonplacebook.Unlikemodern
readers,whofollowtheflowofanarrativefrombeginningtoend,earlymodernEnglishmen
readinfitsandstartsandjumpedfrombooktobook.

Theybroketextsintofragmentsandassembledthemintonewpatternsbytranscribing
themindifferentsectionsoftheirnotebooks.Thentheyrereadthecopiesandrearranged
thepatternswhileaddingmoreexcerpts. Readingandwritingwerethereforeinseparable
activities.Theybelongedtoacontinuousefforttomakesenseofthings,fortheworldwasfull
ofsigns:youcouldreadyourwaythroughit;andbykeepinganaccountofyourreadings,you
madeabookofyourown,onestampedwithyourpersonality.Eachrereadingofthe
commonplacebookbecomesanewkindofrevelation.

Youseetheevolutionarypathsofallyourpasthunches:theonesthatturnedouttobered
herrings;theonesthatturnedouttobetooobvioustowrite;eventheonesthatturnedinto
entirebooks.Buteachencounterholdsthepromisethatsomelongforgottenhunchwill
connectinanewwaywithsomeemergingobsession.ThebeautyofLockesschemewasthat
itprovidedjustenoughordertofindsnippetswhenyouwerelookingforthem,butatthe
sametimeitallowedthemainbodyofthecommonplacebooktohaveitsownunruly,
unplannedmeanderings.Imposingtoomuchorderrunstheriskoforphaningapromising
hunchinalargerprojectthathasdied,anditmakesitdifficultforthoseideastomingleand
breedwhenyourevisitthem.

Rereadtheabovelinesmarkedinbold.Pauseforamoment.Goandpickupthebook The
EssaysofWarrenBuffett authoredbyLawrenceCunningham.Thisbookisarearrangementof
WarrenBuffettslettertoshareholders,organizedintodifferentthemeslikeownerearnings,
stockoptions,arbitrage,etc.WhydidCunninghamorganizehisbookintothemes?

Someoftheadvantagesofthemebasedorganizationare (1)
easylookup
(2)
easyrecall
(3)
helpsourassociativebrainasthemesactasthecentralnodeonwhichwecanhangotherideas
andexperiences[latticeworkofmentalmodels ].NowyouknowwhyPeterBevelinorganizedhis
book
AFewLessonsfromSherlockHolmes basedonthemes.

TherewerenocomputerswhenLockeandDarwinoperated.Theyhadnochoiceexceptto
painstakinglytakecopiousnotes.Buttheworldwelivetodayisdominatedbytechnology.Andit
wouldbeashameifwedontusetechnologyfortakingandorganizingournotes.Steven
Johnsonauthorofthebook WhereGoodIdeasComeFrom usestechnologyextensivelyfor
organizinghisnotes.Read,reread,andreflectonwhatJohnsonwrote.

Privateserendipitycanbecultivatedbytechnologyaswell.Formorethanadecadenow,Ihavebeen
curatingaprivatedigitalarchiveofquotesthatIvefoundintriguing,mytwentyfirstcenturyversion
ofthecommonplacebook.Someofthesepassagesinvolveveryfocusedresearchonaspecific
project;othersaremorerandomdiscoveries,huncheswaitingtomakeaconnection.Someofthem
arepassagesthatIvetranscribedfrombooksorarticles;otherswereclippeddirectlyfromWeb
pages.(Inthepastfewyears,thankstoGoogleBooksandtheKindle,copyingandstoringinteresting
quotesfromabookhasgrownfarsimpler.) Ikeepallthesequotesinadatabaseusingaprogram
calledDEVONthink,whereIalsostoremyownwriting:chapters,essays,blogposts,notes.By
combiningmyownwordswithpassagesfromothersources,thecollectionbecomessomething
morethanjustafilestoragesystem.Itbecomesadigitalextensionofmyimperfectmemory,an
archiveofallmyoldideas,andtheideasthathaveinfluencedme. Therearenowmorethanfive
thousanddistinctentriesinthatdatabase,andmorethan3millionwordssixtybooksworthof
quotes,fragments,andhunches,allindividuallycapturedbyme,storedinasingledatabase.

Havingallthatinformationavailableatmyfingertipsisnotjustaquantitativematteroffindingmy
notesfaster.Yes,whenImtryingtotrackdownanarticleIwrotemanyyearsago,itsnowmuch
easiertoretrieve.Butthequalitativechangelieselsewhere:infindingdocumentsthatIveforgotten
aboutaltogether,findingdocumentsthatIdidntknowIwaslookingfor.Whatmakesthesystem
trulypowerfulisthewaythatitfostersprivateserendipity.

DEVONthinkfeaturesacleveralgorithmthatdetectssubtlesemanticconnectionsbetweendistinct
passagesoftext.Thesetoolsaresmartenoughtogetaroundtheclassicsearchenginefailingof
excessivespecificity:searchingfordogandmissingallthearticlesthatonlyhavethewordcanine
inthem.ModernindexingsoftwarelikeDEVONthinkslearnsassociationsbetweenindividualwords
bytrackingthefrequencywithwhichwordsappearneareachother.Thiscancreatealmostlyrical
connectionsbetweenideas.Severalyearsago,IwasworkingonabookaboutcholerainLondonand
queriedDEVONthinkforinformationaboutVictoriansewagesystems.Becausethesoftwarehad
detectedthatthewordwasteisoftenusedalongsidesewage,itdirectedmetoaquotethat
explainedthewaybonesevolvedinvertebratebodies:namely,byrepurposingthecalciumwaste
productscreatedbythemetabolismofcells.Atfirstglancethatmightseemlikeanerrantresult,but
itsentmeoffonalongandfruitfultangentintothewaycomplexsystemswhethercitiesor
bodiesfindproductiveusesforthewastetheycreate.Thatideabecameacentralorganizingtheme
foroneofthechaptersinthecholerabook.(Itwill,infact,reappearinthisbookinadifferentguise.)

Now,strictlyspeaking,whowasresponsibleforthatinitialidea?Wasitme,orthesoftware?It
soundslikeafacetiousquestion,butImeanitseriously.Obviously,thecomputerwasntconscious
oftheideatakingshape,andIsuppliedtheconceptualgluethatlinkedtheLondonsewerstocell
metabolism.ButImnotatallconfidentthatIwouldhavemadetheinitialconnectionwithoutthe
helpofthesoftware.Theideawasatruecollaboration,twoverydifferentkindsofintelligence
playingoffoneanother,onecarbonbased,theothersilicon. WhenIdfirstcapturedthatquote
aboutcalciumandbonestructure,Idhadnoideathatitwouldultimatelyconnecttothehistoryof
Londonssewagesystem(ortoabookaboutinnovation).Buttherewassomethingaboutthat
conceptthatintriguedmeenoughtostoreitinthedatabase.Itlingeredthereforyearsinthe
softwaresprimordialsoup,aslowhunchwaitingforitsconnection.

IuseDEVONthinkasanimprovisationaltoolaswell.Iwriteaparagraphaboutsomethingletssay
itsaboutthehumanbrainsremarkablefacilityforinterpretingfacialexpressions.Ithenplugthat
paragraphintothesoftware,andaskDEVONthinktofindotherpassagesinmyarchivethatare
similar.Instantly,alistofquotesappearsonmyscreen:somedelvingintotheneuralarchitecturethat
triggersfacialexpressions,othersexploringtheevolutionaryhistoryofthesmile,othersdealingwith
theexpressivenessofournearrelatives,thechimpanzees.Invariably,oneortwoofthesetriggersa
newassociationinmyheadperhapsIveforgottenaboutthechimpanzeeconnectionandsoI
selectthatquote,andaskthesoftwaretofindanewbatchofpassagessimilartoit.Beforelong,a
largerideatakesshapeinmyhead,builtuponthetrailofassociationsthemachinehasassembledfor
me.

LikeStevenJohnson,Prof.SanjayBakshiusesasimilarideatoorganizehisnotes.Hewrote
aboutitindetailhere .Inarecentinterview,ShaneParrish,founderoftheFarnamStreet blog,
explainshowheusesEvernotetotakenotes.Youcanfindhisinterview here.Readingwithout
havingapropersystemisuseless.Thekeyistotakepropernotes.Youcanincorporateallthe
notetakingideasfromLocke,Darwin,Cunningham,Bevelin,andJohnsonandcustomizeit
accordingtoyourneeds.

Author:JanaVembunarayanan
Website: https://janav.wordpress.com
Twitter:
@jvembuna