> [!infobox] <s class="aside-in"><em>mentioned in 1 topic, 10 evergreens</em></s> #### [[The fragility of information in knowledge management]] In our [[memory]], if something is irrelevant it will slowly fade, but in our [[second brain]] nothing disappears. Rather, it becomes fragile, cluttering and distracting until it is destroyed. [^1] This is why the second brain needs help from the first, to remove clutter and to provide strong connections. [^1]: This is because [[Deleting a note in a web of thought can have unforeseen consequences]] and the metadata of nodes connect them to others. Even when you delete a note, the metadata of that note remains explicitly in the vault This is why:: [[Evergreen notes should be updated over time]] and [[Evergreen notes help us bridge the gap between knowledge and understanding]] are so important. We may never be able to keep up with every new piece of [[information]], but if we organize conceptually, we can easily integrate new information as it becomes available to us. Additionally, even if our [[knowledge]] becomes stale, our [[understanding]] can grow as we create new and more accurate notes. This understanding will help us update old notes even if we don't have access to new [[information]]. This is part of:: why [[Often the best editing tool is time]] and how [[Your second brain should be frictionless access to a curated base of knowledge]] ##### What notes do we need to update [[Source notes]] are the most fragile because we interact with them the least. New studies come out, new books are published, the tide of public opinion turns and suddenly your source is no longer relevant. Sources become obsolete over time, but the [[knowledge]] we glean from them grows over time, which is why we place it in [[evergreen notes]]. [[topic notes|Topics]] rarely become irrelevant but can easily become clutter. Any simple idea can have large affects on the world, but that does not mean they will all have large effects in our mind specifically. I treat [[topic notes]] like Wikipedia pages. Meaning they should be the most stable, [[objective]] [[information]] about a subject. This allows for easy access to general [[knowledge]] while my [[understanding]] is growing in [[evergreen notes]]. [[evergreen notes|Evergreens]] are the [[conceptual notes|concepts]] that our brain's latch onto. ^[[[A second brain should mirror how we think]]] Each one provides context and receives context from others, but can still stand on their own. [[Evergreen notes organize knowledge so that it can grow]] and thus are the most free form. There are more subcategorizations that provide clarification on what a node will do: - **Techniques** are evergreen in that they can always be refined or always show us how we failed. - **Questions** are evergreen in that they prompt us to answer them or forever ponder them. - **Tools** are topics in that classify knowledge and techniques ### <hr class="footnote"/> **Status**:: #EVER/GREEN *edited 7:35 AM - July 08, 2022* **Topics**:: [[note writing]], [[knowledge management]], [[information]]