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