# General Principles **Covers**:: **Source**:: [General Principles](https://users.speakeasy.net/~lion/nb/html/doc006.html) **Creator**:: [[users.speakeasy.net]] # Highlights ##### ^270304512 Goto: https://users.speakeasy.net/~lion/nb/html/doc006.html?__readwiseLocation=0%2F172%3A0%2C0%2F179%3A286#:~:text=Finally%2C%20%60%60Divide%20when%20Big.''%0A%0ASometimes%20a%2Cto%20understand%20your%0Amind%20and%20thoughts. ###### ^270304512q Finally, ``Divide when Big.'' Sometimes a subject gets BIG. REALLY BIG. And as it grows, you start to see dissimilarities where before you didn't. It's a little like Mozart or symphony music. One symphony sounds pretty much like another symphony, if you don't listen to them a whole lot. ``Oh, there's some classical music playing.'' But then, as you start to listen, and think about what you are listening to, you'll start to notice distinctions and connections, where you didn't notice them before. And as you do so, you'll see this new structure. That same exact thing happens with the musical stream of thoughts going through your head. The most dramatic example in my case was the fate of two subjects: ``Society'' and ``Metaphysics''. I now laughed thinking that I had them as just singular buckets. But I can't really blame myself, because: How should I have divided them? The subjects are not logically arranged, by some sort of cosmic organization. They are arranged subjectively, by their own connections in our lives. The process of keeping these notebooks exposes the connections in your mind. They give you a MIRROR to understand your mind and thoughts. ^270304512 ##### ^270305326 Goto: https://users.speakeasy.net/~lion/nb/html/doc006.html?__readwiseLocation=0%2F194%3A0%2C0%2F194%3A748#:~:text=A%20long%20time%20ago%2C%20I%2Cpaste%20or%20something.%20Terrible.)%20Any%0Aways. ###### ^270305326q A long time ago, I stored all of my thoughts in a computer text file. It was actually an AWESOME system. The computer has so many advantages that the paper world doesn't. For example, you don't have to put a thought in just ONE place- you can easily put it into 5 different places! I call it ``Multi-cat'' or ``Multiple Categorization.'' It's easy- just put tags. (It baffles me to this day why people who make computer notebooks DO NOT do this more frequently..! There's all this notebook software out there, and you STILL have to put a thought in one place, and one place only..! They just have a single category tree, and you have to put a thought in a single place. To do otherwise, you have to copy and paste or something. Terrible.) Any ways. ^270305326 ##### ^270306584 Goto: https://users.speakeasy.net/~lion/nb/html/doc006.html?__readwiseLocation=0%2F202%3A0%2C0%2F203%3A551#:~:text=And%20look%3A%20there%20are%20ADVANTAGES%2Cthis%20telegraphing%2C%20disappears%20on%20the%0Acomputer. ###### ^270306584q And look: there are ADVANTAGES to having SLOPPY TEXT. It tells you something about the development of your thoughts. When you see sloppy text, that means "This is just a quick idea I spat out.`` When you see regular solid text, that means ''This is something I thought over for a while." You have your own writing style, and it communicates to you things that are important to you, though you may not consciously register it. (Actually, that's good: Unconscious communication is far stronger, and doesn't get in the way of your thinking.) All of this, all of this telegraphing, disappears on the computer. ^270306584 ##### ^270306743 Goto: https://users.speakeasy.net/~lion/nb/html/doc006.html?__readwiseLocation=0%2F213%3A0%2C0%2F224%3A201#:~:text=Here's%20my%20associations%3A%0A%0A%0ARED%3A%20%20%2Cgo%20get%20your%20backup%20pen. ###### ^270306743q Here's my associations: RED: Error, Warning, Correction BLUE: Structure, Diagram, Picture, Links, Keys (in key-value pairs) GREEN: Meta, Definition, Naming, Brief Annotation, Glyphs BLACK: Main Content I also use green to clarify sloppy writing later on. Blue is for Keys, Black is for values. I hope that's self-explanatory. If you make a correction, put it in red. Page numbers are blue. If you draw a diagram, make it blue. Main content in black. Suppose you make a diagram: Start with a big blue box. Put the diagram in the box. (Or the other way around- make the diagram, than the box around it.) Put some highlighted content in black. Want to define a word? Use a green callout. Oops- there's a problem in the drawing- X it out in red, followed by the correction, in red. Some times, I use black and blue to alternate emphasis. Black and blue are the easiest to see. If I'm annotating some text in the future, and the text is black, I'll switch to using blue for content. Or vise versa. Some annotations are red, if they are major corrections. Always remember: Tolerate errors. If your black has run out, and you don't want to get up right away to fetch your backup pen, then just switch to blue. When the thoughts out, go get your backup pen. ^270306743 ##### ^270306875 Goto: https://users.speakeasy.net/~lion/nb/html/doc006.html?__readwiseLocation=0%2F230%3A0%2C0%2F230%3A302#:~:text=Being%20Excited%3A%20Be%20excited%20about%2Cthat%0Ayou%20have%20NEVER%20seen%20before. ###### ^270306875q Being Excited: Be excited about keeping your notes. Imagine what can come of it! Experience the vision. You are building CLARITY. You are organizing all of your thoughts together, and seeing what it adds up to. The results *WILL* surprise you, and you *WILL* see things that you have NEVER seen before. ^270306875 ##### ^270307202 Goto: https://users.speakeasy.net/~lion/nb/html/doc006.html?__readwiseLocation=0%2F273%3A67%2C0%2F273%3A104 ###### ^270307202q http://speakeasy.org/ lion/weird.html ^270307202 ##### ^270382487 Goto: https://users.speakeasy.net/~lion/nb/html/doc006.html?__readwiseLocation=0%2F279%3A0%2C0%2F4%2F281%3A28#:~:text=Maps%20are%20better%20than%20TOCs%2Ccannot.%0AThey%20enable%20Strategy.%0AIncredible%20(useful)%20Subtlety ###### ^270382487q Maps are better than TOCs because: • They are mentally uncoersive. • They reveal structure in ways MOCs cannot. • They enable Strategy. • Incredible (useful) Subtlety ^270382487 ##### ^270313995 Goto: https://users.speakeasy.net/~lion/nb/html/doc006.html?__readwiseLocation=0%2F302%3A0%2C0%2F303%3A584#:~:text=Next%3A%20Maps%20enable%20Strategy.%0A%0AYou%20can%2Cread%2C%20or%20what%20to%20write. ###### ^270313995q Next: Maps enable Strategy. You can zoom in on precisely what you want to read. To be STRATEGIC, you need CONTEXT. Without context, you cannot make strategic decisions. With a TOC, you are limited to TWO pieces of context: What's above, and what's below. (Actually, you also get to go back an indentation level, and you can also look at children of a super-topic. So that's two more.) So you are confined to a grid. But we don't want that. We want to be able to go every which way, in order to more fully see the context, the terrain, so that we can make strategic decisions about what to read, or what to write. ^270313995 ##### ^270382714 Goto: https://users.speakeasy.net/~lion/nb/html/doc006.html?__readwiseLocation=0%2F311%3A0%2C0%2F313%3A105#:~:text=When%20you%20create%20a%20map%2C%2Chard%0Acontent.%20They%20build%20your%20structure. ###### ^270382714q When you create a map, as per my system, you have two basic types of ``materials''. You have your LINKS, ``Hard content'': That is, your speeds, your POI, your References, your whatever. Even other maps. Every thing you keep in your subject, appears as ``Hard content'' on your map. Then you have your MAGNETS. These are words that ``pull'' on the hard content. They build your structure. ^270382714