networked note-taking and spaced-repetition software are scalable sense-making tools to help address the increasing knowledge complexity of the 21st century
[[ 2021-05-24 ]] #note-taking
As argued in The Consilience Project article, “society needs to advance […] its abilities and capabilities for leaning, in general and in perpetuity”.1 We require a cultural enlightenment: an ethos of learning and epistemic humility are necessary cultural features for public sense-making to effectively navigate the complexity of hyperobjects.
Knowing that our minds require external scaffolding to perform complex intellectual feats, it’s clear that external cognitive scaffolding will be a part of the solution to enhance societies capacity for learning.
Two of the most effective methods that I am aware of for enhancing ones own capacity for learning are networked note-taking and spaced-repetition flashcards.
On the networked note-taking front, a graph is the most flexible, intuitive and least restrictive data structure for working with digital information, which helps people hold many different thoughts and ideas and combine them in novel ways to help with learning.
Spaced repetition flashcards help with building long-term memory, which is important for many reasons, especially considering that [[ memory of the basics is key to developing a deep understanding of complex topics ]].