> [!infobox] <s class="aside-in"><em>mentioned in 2 topics, 19 evergreens, 1 source</em></s> #### [[Evergreen notes organize knowledge so that it can grow]] Knowledge changes over time and so do we, so why do we expect our notes to stay the same forever. It is impossible to know everything about anything, so how can we expect that of ourselves when we are writing. If you want to have a [[knowledge management|knowledge management system]] full of complex thought, you need to start with the seeds. When first [[learning]] about a subject, you are actually likely to make notes about the largest and most general concepts first, because experts in those subjects are likely to share their conclusions without requiring you to understand the mechanics behind them. Then if we decide we do want to further our [[understanding]], ideas that may have just been a sentence two at first, slowly become large enough in your mind to become their own notes. Instead of splitting your initial note into much smaller pieces, you can take advantage of [[Conceptual notes vary in size and scope]]. Make this note an entry point leading to the smaller concepts within in it. [[Note titles should be abstractions of the note content]], makes this incredibly easy. You can often just take sentences and slightly refactor them into links to reflect your deeper understanding. > [!example] > [[Your anxiety is telling you everything that could go wrong, not what will go wrong]] was one > of my first notes, created in June 2021. > Every note linked out from that note was either created after or at the same time, and most of the notes created after are actually explanations for that trait not results. > Despite that, the note title has never changed, and the scope has stayed relatively the same, but my [[understanding]] has gotten much deeper. > Over time I was able to change sentences into links, and add causes to observations. - part of:: [[Write your notes like you're planting an evergreen forest]] - works with:: [[Evergreen notes should be updated over time]] What if our learning works the opposite way, and we actually can't even begin to understand the conclusions until we know the basics? Well the process works just as well in the other direction. We write small in concept, but highly technical notes to develop our intuition, and as we learn more we connect those notes together to create of [[web of thought]]. Suddenly we have a springboard to launch us into making powerful insights, and we have a place to fall back to if we get struck by confusion. This note counters:: [[Evergreen notes don't allow for new ideas]]. Previous writing is just fertilizer for [[evergreen notes]], and writing evergreen notes is just practice for future thought. ### <hr class="footnote"/> **Status**:: #EVER/GREEN *edited 7:35 AM - July 08, 2022* **Topics**:: [[evergreen notes]], [[knowledge management]], [[note writing]]