Comment by themodelplumber
8 years ago
Thank you for sharing. I have a system that is kind of like this. Except it's not meant for memory as much as analysis. And I don't consider the entries "articles" but rather refer to them as "models" as in mental models. Like a real life model, say a toy car, I try to cover enough bases that it--metaphorically--at least _resembles_ a car at first. Then as I identify needed leverage points in the model, I refine my analysis and expand the model. So maybe at that point it has a hood you can open, and an engine you can see, so to speak.
I think I'm at or near around 800 of these, and many are very short. But no matter how short they are, they are all there because they provided me or continue to provide me with needed leverage.
I keep the bulk of the information in markdown in a Dropbox folder and also occasionally try new methods. For example, for topics that will quickly benefit from hyperlinks, I developed a LibreOffice web template and a companion PHP script that indexes these files and inserts additional CSS, variables, JS, etc. when they are served up. For searching I like Regexxer a lot, but I also use grep quite a bit :-)
On my XFCE desktop are buttons for opening a random one of these files, and for opening a random journal entry to try to harvest new models, so to speak.
And there's some paper involved here too... Can't get away from it, because paper has its own special leverage points...
I'm not concerned about memory, knowing it's a special weakness of mine. If I'm working in a context where memory is super important, my energy is best spent moving to a more sustainable context. :-) Memory is a hobby for me, a side gig for memorizing pi, that kind of simple and fun thing.
I have no idea what it means for a piece of text to have "leverage points" or a hood you can open.
A model has leverage points if there are parts of it that can be useful for solving a problem. For example, a website-building model might provide useful links to software that can be used to build different kinds of websites. Those links are important leverage points.
Each model has different leverage points. Your comment, taken as part of a model of your psychology, provides leverage for understanding that part of my text was not well received by your psychology.
Regarding the hood, look at it this way: If you don't know much about cars, you might look at a simple toy car _without an opening hood_ and make assumptions about what happens in the front of the car. When you get a car where the hood opens, maybe all of a sudden you make a huge leap: There is stuff under here, and it does something. So at this point, maybe you start working on (by asking around, or reading), or building, a model with a working engine. Or even just a working dipstick, who knows. As the parts are revealed, the model gains leverage. Pretty soon you are able to run more advanced simulations and predict traffic dynamics, things like that. Or you change models and learn the leverage points of the tractor, or motorcycle. You begin to learn why a motorcycle is helpful and even necessary in some circumstances. Texts work the same way as they unfold. And there are also various text-creation methods that expose different leverage points. Reliance on charts and graphs, or emotive graphics, etc. All of it is helpful in some way, and maybe--like my original comment--low-leverage in other ways and for other people.
Anyway I hope that helps, but I know I'm still couching this in metaphor which isn't a high-leverage communications method for everyone. YMMV, which is what makes human psychology so cool.