-
note sequences are the backbone of text development a pure topic-related order would have to be organized top-down and requires a heirical order upfront but loose order of sequence allows freedom to change course when necessary and provides enough structure to build up complexity
-
we don’t need to worry about the completeness. we don’t need to write to bridge the gap in another sequence, instead we only write if it helps us with our own thinking, gaps with arguments in the final script only can be obvious when we make a draft from the relevant notes from our zettelkasten
-
as our zettelkasten is not a book we don’t need to have an overview of it but instead we need to navigate through it - in digital format, it’s even easier - via index and the links between the notes, parent links and deeper links this can connect you more to the argument and the train of thought these sequence are the cluster where order emerge from complexity as we extract info from different linear thoughts and mix them until new patterns and ideas emerge
Niklas Luhmann set four types of cross-references only two of them are relevant for digital zettelkasten
- the first type of links are those on notes to give you the overview of an idea, these are notes directly referenced from the index, they don’t have to be written in one go as links can be added over time
- not relevant for digital zk - notes that helps you to locate other notes in your physical zk and tell you which physical compartment your note lives in.
- again not relevant for digital zk those links that indicate the note to which the current note is a follow-up and those links indicate the note that follows on the current note.
- the most common form of reference is plain note-to-note links, this is linking two related notes regardless of where they are within the slip-box.
these links can help us to find surprising connections and similarities between seemingly unrelated topics.
patterns might not become visible at the beginning but they might start to emerge after multiple note-to-note links.
It’s not a coincidence that one of the main features of Niklas Luhmann theory is the discovery of structural patterns that could be found in very different part of the society
It’s important to understand that the making of these links is not a chore. the search for meaningful connection is a crucial part of the thinking process towards the finished manuscript
As we are making these connections we build up the internal structure of the zettelkasten which is shaped with our thinking while this builds up externally and independently of our limited memory it will in return shape our thinking as well help us to think more structured way