> [!infobox] <s class="aside-in"><em>mentioned in 2 topics, 14 evergreens, 1 source</em></s> #### [[Prioritize understanding over organization or categorization]] > When you think in categories, you underestimate how different two facts are when they fall in the same category. When you think in categories, you overestimate how different they are when there happens to be a boundary in between them. And when you pay attention to categorical boundaries, you don't see big pictures. > ^[[[course - Human Behavioral Biology]]] > > <cite>[[Robert M. Sapolsky]]</cite> ^962fba Especially when starting [[knowledge management|personal knowledge management]], you want to steer away from categorization, until you have an understanding of both what [[information]] you're dealing with and how your note system works. See [[Only categorize as much as your data requires]], for what your first kinds of categorization should be. It's also true that you should [[Only organize as much as your data requires]], so when you start, you shouldn't need much overarching organization. For me, a combination of [[spaced repetition]] and [[networked thinking]] got me to 1500 notes before I felt the need to seriously organize. ^[This is partially a lie, as I did *feel* the need to organize before this, and acted on that feeling, and felt good about it, **BUT** I don't think that organization ever meaningfully helped me. Spaced repetition greatly increased my ability to hold the structure of my vault in my head, and [[Densely linked webs of thought provide intuitive access to knowledge]]. This is really the core [[knowledge management]], with organization and categorization being what we have to do because there is just too much [[information]] in the world] At the very least try to not spend all your time organizing or categorizing because:: [[Classifying something will almost never add value to it]] In the end:: [[Productivity tools are often most useful in how much work they inspire you to do]]. If organizing or categorizing pushes you to perform meaningful work then that is not going to be a bad thing. The real problem comes when we over emphasize categories and they start to impact our [[understanding]]. [[The way systems work can create cognitive bias]], and if your system forces you into highly specific categorization it is going to impact your ability to make connections. ^[This may be the root of many problems in modern day academia. [[Experts are often far too confident in the effectiveness of their theories]] because they are pushed into highly specific sub-categories in order to be relevant] part of:: [[Your second brain should be an inspirational hub of creativity]] ### <hr class="footnote"/> **Status**:: #EVER/GREEN *edited 7:35 AM - July 08, 2022* **Topics**:: [[knowledge management]], [[My TIM]], [[understanding]]