What is the future of notetaking?
Journey through the history of recording knowledge and passing it to the next generations
Today we will explore the evolution of notetaking and how technology has impacted the way we record and share knowledge. In addition, we will look at current trends in notetaking and discuss potential future developments.
First thing to say, notes have always played a critical role in the advancement of civilization by allowing individuals and societies to document and share their knowledge, experiences, and ideas.
Past
As you know, it all started with cave paintings that our ancient ancestors used to spread message to their compatriots about their successes or losses on hunt. They recorded their observations on what animals they’ve seen.
In ancient times, notetaking was primarily used for religious and administrative purposes, as seen in the hieroglyphics of ancient Egypt and cuneiform writing of Mesopotamia. These early forms of notetaking were used to record prayers, first laws, and government records.
The earliest form of writing, not drawing, a cuneiform tablet – was discovered dating back at 3200 BCE.
As civilization progressed, so did the methods of recording knowledge. Prior to the invention of paper, writing materials were made from materials such as papyrus, parchment, and silk. These materials were expensive and difficult to produce, limiting the dissemination of knowledge.
Obviously, every piece of writing was extremely valuable those days. It was like an art, because it required lots of hard work and dedication. And has anything changed? I will give my opinion later.
The invention of paper in 105 A.D. by the Chinese, made from plant fibres such as hemp and mulberry, made it possible to produce writing materials at a much lower cost and on a much larger scale.
Famous works that were recorded on that paper include "The Diamond Sutra," one of the oldest known printed texts, which was printed in China in 868 A.D. This Buddhist scripture is considered an important example of Chinese religious and cultural history.
The invention of the printing press in 1440 by Johannes Gutenberg was a major milestone in the history of notetaking. It revolutionized the way books were produced. One of the first books printed using Gutenberg's press was the Gutenberg Bible, a Latin version of the Bible that was printed in 1455.
While previously books were hand-copied by monks and scribes, which was a time-consuming and labor-intensive process, the printing press made it possible to produce books on a much larger scale and at a much lower cost. This has motivated more writers and scientists to publish their works and spread their knowledge to much wider audience. What’s more, it played a crucial role in the Renaissance, Reformation, and the Scientific Revolution.
Almost at that time, first Zettelkastens appeared. It is an information management system based on linked index cards. Each card holds a single belief or succinct statement, a unique number or code, and links to its source references and any related cards.
Index cards as a format were invented by Carl Linnaeus for organising scientific knowledge. After three decades of using traditional notebooks, he started to experiment with a different method of organizing information by recording it on separate sheets of paper. He eventually switched to using small, thick sheets of paper that could be easily handled, sorted through, and arranged in a flat, two-dimensional layout, similar to a deck of cards.
While making notes more atomic, you overcome a problem of finding something in a long scientific article that you wrote some time ago. It is much easier and more productive. Furthermore, it allows you to see whole picture and form a system of your knowledge. This, as we will discover later, greatly influenced what current notetaking techniques are like.
The next key events in the history of recording information and spreading it were inventions of telegraph, telephone and Internet. This emerged into the Information Age, in which we all are living now. And notetaking has always been a valuable tool for scientists, philosophers, writers, and everyday individuals alike, whether for recording observations and ideas or for keeping personal diaries.
Present
As you can see, information has become more and more durable and accessible through centuries. From personal art that required great effort to digital articles like the one you are reading now, we have an impressive evolution that was driven by simple human desire to share wisdom and teach others. It is one of our key characteristics that set us apart from animals.
We should definitely value it and support people who have their own thoughts to spread and help others. But there is another point in all this evolution.
After Internet’s invention we have faced an increased pace of life. Now we need to cope with much more information than our ancestors did. You can find everything just by typing your request in search bar or even in chat with GPT, and this freedom has lead to almost leaving no time for us to read and fully absorb long-form content, like fiction literature. We have less time to admire real art with deep meanings created by other people. Mass-oriented, easy digestible content is trendy.
Our brains are familiar with much slower rhythm where we have time to reflect on what we have read. To protect ourselves from overload, we have begun to consume summaries and short-form content to save resources. As a result, our attention becomes more scattered and we can be more easily twisted around little finger.
This is where notetaking can help. Now it is not only the way of spreading knowledge, but your way of documenting life observations, no matter what they are - conversations, read content, your own thoughts and assumptions, for you in particular, to increase understanding and guide through this complex world of infinite knowledge. See your diary with notes like your life guide which keeps everything and allows you to free your head to get more space for new insights. Having many diaries is great for recording and storing knowledge, but retrieval can be difficult. And this part is the most important one.
On the whole, this new paradigm has evolved into new market of tools for thought and constant life optimization instead of the focus on more connected and conscious life vision. All of us want to be as productive as PCs do, again, because we live in a much faster pace.
As written by Matthew Guay, now we take notes not to remember something, we take them to forget and leave free space in our heads. This is happening because we have wrong goals and believe in what apps promise to us - making you a productivity monster, helping to accomplish your goals, tasks, become rich and successful. But you are a human, creative being. Not a robot. While having too much responsibility, urgent news and many other things, we have left almost no space for mindful contemplations and complete design of our own lives as we want to see them in the near future.
Notetaking apps are outliners, usually being constructors of your own workflows, working with Markdown, different views, methods, functions, features, blah blah blah. How to make sense of all these things? And what’s more, do we really need them? How have we moved from regular diaries to such complex concepts? Knowledge management has become a separate work that you voluntarily agree to do. But the main priority is not this work, it’s the content. The message. The meaning. Your understanding.
Obviously, I find playing with blocks and different visualizations very fun, as an enthusiast, but it does require extra effort on our part. We try to procrastinate while tweaking our app again and again to just change the visual picture, not the main message. It’s like designing your Instagram profile - yes, it’s interesting, but is it meaningful? Does it make you feel flow state or sudden insights? Does it inspire you? If yes, I won’t argue with you. Tastes differ, and I prefer not to make strict assumptions. I respect people who like to develop their own templates, systems and what’s more - I am like you! But I care about other people who need help. Who are stuck in information overload and have many things they saved for later and can’t find any time to just look at them. What to say about building their own workflows!
I believe that instead, we need an easy and intuitive instrument that will focus on the text, not the format. I think that our ancestors would be very surprised if they had ever looked at our digital footprints. Such a ton of knowledge could have never be compared to even big libraries of some Victorian British scientists. We simply don’t have enough powers to keep all these things in mind. Our understanding is based on sudden triggers that are activated randomly. So, while reading this article, you could have remembered some things you’d read in the past, but not everything that you could. For instance, if you read it again, new thoughts can emerge. Very different ones.
Where to find such a magic pill that will give us enough power? NZT-48? No. It’s AI. The next step in notetaking evolution is an AI-based knowledge workflow, where information is processed by both your brain and computer. You see your own associations, leave comments, write down ideas, and AI performs analysis, searches relevant things and links your thoughts. Everyone in this symbiosis - both AI and a human, operator, do their duties and help each other.
Text has become not analogue, but digital. And this new form should be processed with even more attention.
We need to save more time and leave free space in our heads not to be more productive, instead, to focus on what truly matters. On self-exploration, inspirational work, creativity and our dreams.
To accomplish this goal, I’m building a much easier and transparent notetaker — Locus, which is inspired by the conscious approach to the information as an art, as we’ve seen throughout the history and discussed before. This is the future I see.
Let’s take a deep breath and regain free space and time for more mindful interaction with the world around us.
Feel free to leave any thoughts in the comments below!
If I’m incorrect about anything, I’m always open and grateful for any advice and corrections.
If you feel that my vision resonates with you and you want to help me in my mission, reach out!