Hi! I’m currently writing a couple of things about the research journal I’ve been keeping with Tinderbox, and I was wondering if you’ve ever considered inviting Scott P. Scheper to a meetup? To my knowledge, he’s not a Tinderbox user, but it seems to me that the note-taking method he’s been developing for years — an entirely paper-based method — finds its most natural counterpart in Tinderbox. I mean: when I take a note in Tinderbox, the feeling I get isn’t that different from the feeling I have when handling paper cards. Scott P. Scheper makes a very interesting point on this topic, especially in this video. In any case, I think he would be an interesting person to talk to at a meetup. What do you think?
Great idea.
Other suggestions:
• Jillian Hess (Noted, and How Romantics and Victorians Organized Information: Commonplace Books, Scrapbooks, and Albums)
• Roland Allen (The Notebook: A History of Thinking on Paper, and author page)
The Roland Allen book is excellent, isn’t it? Full of interesting ideas, well expressed.
Yes, I’ve found both the above books interesting. Allen’s book is, despite much interesting detail, light in style so easy to dip in and out of.
The video (first post above) was interesting and confirmed my suspicions about the cargo cult around zettelkästen†. As explained in the video’s commentary/critique a much simpler and more compelling narrative emerges. It’s not about filling boxes so much as ingraining one’s knowledge. I find my 20+ years use of Tinderbox has done similar, in terms of shaping my thinking. I think in a Tinderbox manner as much as I take actual notes in it. Essentially, I’ve freed myself of the narrow school-learned singular narrative: other more discursive approaches are possible and often offer more traction to problems whose form has yet to coalesce.
†. For English monoglots like me: it is one zettelkasten, many zettelkästen. I feel Scott Scheper would like us to get that right.
Do you know them? Can you invite them? I’ve already reached out to Scott.
I am stymied with Jillian Hess, whose contact information I haven’t found. I haven’t made contact with Allen.
Just something to consider: I followed his posts at first, too and he was/is (?) quite active on Reddit regarding that topic of ZK-note-taking. However, there has been some criticism to his methodological approach and marketing/monetisation strategies to which (the critics) he reacted very rude and aggressively. That was the time when I decided to distance myself from the general discourse. I don’t know about any of his recent posts/activities (if there are any). If you want to invite someone regarding Zettelkasten and writing, there is also Bob Doto, who I find much more knowledgable in terms of methodology, writing practices etc. His book on connected notes is a nice and coherent read.
This is a resonant phrase for me. “Thinking in…” is powerful, something you either feel immediately or develop through study and use. It’s the way I felt about Roam at once, and continue to feel. I simply think in Roam now (not 24/7! just in terms of reading and notetaking). It’s what I try to do with Tinderbox, and I’ve made strides over the last few years. And when I recollect any/all software I’ve loved, it fits nicely within the scope of that phrase: “thinking in….” I used to think in Freehand, I used to think in Photoshop, etc. (I still do think in Logic, Wavelab, and others. By contrast, I find it very difficult to “think in” Affinity.)
Thanks for this, Mark.
Speaking of which has the book version of Thinking In Tinderbox come out yet?
The e-book has: Tinderbox: Thinking With Tinderbox
The paper book has been delayed by one of the most extraordinary periods of research I have experienced. It won’t be long, but it won’t be before the end of this month and might be a few weeks later.