Replied to #ENG818 by Kathleen Fitzgerald (kfitz)
I’m a huge advice writing nerd.
One of my favorite but secreted and very subtle bits of writing advice can be found in James Somers’ blogpost “You’re probably using the wrong dictionary“, which gains advantage by prudent counsel from John McPhee’s “Draft No. 4” (The New Yorker, April 29, 2013) along with some useful technology hacks.
Replied to Chris Rock's zettelkasten output process by thread by Chris, Andy, Sascha (Zettelkasten Forum)
Chris is going to keep insisting that any set of slips is a Zettelkasten, and Sascha is going to keep insisting that a Zettelkasten is a cohesive and coherent system.

My impression is that human brains are very much of a pattern, that under the same conditions they react in the same way, and that were it not for tradition, upbringing, accidents of circumstance, and particularly of accidental individual obsessions, we should find ourselves—since we all face the same universe—much more in agreement than is superficially  apparent. We speak different languages and dialects of thought and can even at times catch ourselves flatly contradicting one another in words while we are doing our utmost to express the same idea. How often do we see men misrepresenting one another in order to exaggerate a difference and secure the gratification of an argumentative victory!
—H. G. Wells, “The Idea of a World Encyclopedia.” Harper’s Magazine, April 1937. https://harpers.org/archive/1937/04/the-idea-of-a-world-encyclopedia/.

I’ll agree with Wells that most of our difference here is nitpicking for the sake of argument itself rather than actual meaning.

Because we’re in a holiday season, I’ll use our holiday traditions to analogize why I view things more broadly and prefer the phrase “zettelkasten traditions”. Much of Western society uses the catch-all phrase “Happy Holidays” to subsume a variety of specific holidays encompassing Christmas, Hannukah, New Years, Kwanzaa, and some even the comedically invented holiday of Festivus (“for the rest of us”). Each of these is distinct in its meaning and means of celebration, but each also represents a wide swath of ideas and means of celebration. Taking Christmas as an example: Some celebrate it in a religious framing as the birth of Christ (though, in fact, there is no solid historical attestation for the day of his birth). Some celebrate it as an admixture of Christianity and pagan mid-winter festivities which include trees, holly, mistletoe, lights, a character named Santa Claus, and even elves and reindeer which wholly have nothing to do with Jesus. Some give gifts and some don’t. Some put up displays of animals and mangers while others decorate with items from a 2003 New Line Cinema film starring Will Farrell. Some sing about a reindeer with a red nose created in 1939 as an inexpensive advertising vehicle in a coloring book. Almost everyone differs wildly in both the why and how they choose to celebrate this one particular holiday. The majority choose not to question it, though some absolutists feel that the Jesus-only perspective is what defines Christmas. 

I have only touched on the other holidays, each of which has its own distribution of ideas, beliefs, and means of celebration. And all of these we wrap up in an even broader phrase as “Happy Holidays” to inclusively capture them all. Collectively we all recognize what comprises them and defines them, generally focusing on what makes them mean something to us individually. Less frequently do we focus in on what broadly defines them in aggregate because the distribution of definitions is so spectacularly broad. Culturally trying to create one and only one definition is a losing proposition, so why bother beyond attributing the broader societal definitions, which assuredly will change and shift over time. (There was certainly a time during which Christmas was celebrated without any trees or carols, and a time after which there was.)

Zettelkasten traditions have a similar very broad set of definitions and practices, both before Herr Luhmann and after. Assuredly they will continue to evolve. One can insist their own personal definition is the “true one”, while others are sure to insist against it. Spending even a few moments reading almost anything about zettelkasten, one is sure to encounter half a dozen versions. I quite often see people (especially in the Obsidian space) say that they are keeping a zettelkasten, when on a grander scheme of distributions in the knowledge management space, what they’re practicing is far closer to a digital commonplace book than something Luhmann would recognize as something built on his own model, which itself was built on a card index version of a commonplace book, though in his case, one which prescribed a lot of menial duplication by hand. The idiosyncratic nature of the varieties of software and means of making a zettelkasten is perforce going to make a broad definition of what it is. Neither Marshall Mathers nor Chris Rock are prone to call their practices zettelkasten—primarily because they speak English—but they would both very likely recognize the method as a close variation to what they’ve been doing all along. 

Humankind has had various instantiations of sense making, knowledge keeping, and transmission over the millennia classified under variations of names from talking rocks, menhir, songlines, Tjukurpa, standing stones, massebah, henges, ars memoria, commonplaces, florilegia, commonplace books, card indexes, wikis, zettelkasten and surely thousands of other names. While they may shift about in their methods of storage, means of operation, and the amount of work both put into them as well as value taken out, they’re part of a broader tradition of human sense making, learning, memory, and creation that brings us to today. 

Perhaps it’s worth closing with a sententia from Terence‘s (161 BC), comedy Phormio (line 454)? 

Quot homines tot sententiae: suo’ quoique mos.

Translation: “There are as many opinions as there are people who hold them: each has his own correct way.” Given the limitations of the Latin and the related meanings of sententiae, one could almost be forgiven for translating it as “zettelkasten”… Perhaps we should consult the zettelkasten that is represented by the Thesaurus Linguae Latinae?

Replied to a post by Aaron DavisAaron Davis (https://collect.readwriterespond.com/)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Videodrome
I had never seen Videodrome. It felt like a film that leaves many questions. It made me want to dig back into Deleuze and the body without organs. The concept of the body without organs was mainly defined by Deleuze and Guattari in the two volumes of their work Capitalism and Schizophrenia, Anti-Oedipus and A Thousand Plateaus.[11] In both books, the abstract body is defined as a self-regulating process—created by the relation between an abstract machine and a machinic assemblage “Assemblage (philosophy)”)—that maintains itself through processes of homeostasis and simultaneously limits the possible activities of its constituent parts, or organs.[12] The body without organs is the sum total intensive and affective activity of the full potential for the body and its constituent parts.[13] Source: Body Without Organs by Wikipedia
ᔥ “Jim Groom” in AI106: Long Live the New Flesh | bavatuesdays (01/01/2024 21:36:56)
I keep running into references of Deleuze lately myself, so it may be time to pull some of his works off the shelf.
https://hypothes.is/users/chrisaldrich?q=tag%3A%22Gilles+Deleuze%22
Replied to Micro.blog Analog Tools Meetup by cygnoircygnoir (cygnoir.net)
Nearly two years later, I’m reviving the idea of a Micro.blog meetup for analog tools like paper and notebooks, pens and ink, pencils, stationery, planners and journals, typewriters, index cards, etc. Thirteen intrepid fans of analog tools filled out the survey last time, and the majority thought a one-hour Zoom meeting each month would be the best way to start. Timing is everything, in so many realms, and this one is no different. I’m available to host this meetup every third Saturday of the month from 9-10 a.m. PST. That would make our first meetup on Saturday, January 20th.
Typed index card that reads: "@cygnoir:
I'm all in for this! Let me know the zoom details when it's set.
Thanks for taking the initiative for setting this up for the community.
Bestest, @chrisaldrich" 
Followed by a signature . On top of the index card is a demonstrator fountain pen.
Replied to a post by PratikPratik (microblog.pratikmhatre.com)
One more use for ChatGPT - enter all ingredients, including the type of alcohol you currently have, and ask it to suggest cocktails. Reply by email Also on Micro.blog Reply on Mastodon
🗃️ 🍸🥃 I have a section in my card index for that functionality: 

Column of index cards displaying tabs for cocktails and cocktail ingredients and sample cards showing for various ingredients (aperol, bourbon, brandy, vermouth) and related drinks one could make with them (dry martini, old fashioned).

Replied to IndieWeb Camp San Diego Day 2 by Joe CrawfordJoe Crawford (artlung.com)

IndieWeb Camp San Diego [1] [2] has been a blast. Great bunch of people and great ideas in a terrific outdoor context.

A group of IndieWebCampers sitting around a low table at an outdoor coffee shop working on laptops.
Yes, that was me, the weirdo on the right at IndiWebCamp working on a nested platform of typewriter, laptop, and cell phone. It was totally worth it to see Tantek’s expression when he realized I had actually typed one of my earlier responses.
Replied to Reading by Tracy DurnellTracy Durnell (tracydurnell.com)

Braiding Sweetgrass
by Robin Kimmerer
(non-fiction, philosophy)
Started July 2022
32% – stuck on a boring chapter

Seeing that you’ve stalled on Braiding Sweetgrass (one of my favorites), if you’ll allow me, I’ll make a recommendation that worked out incredibly well for me when I read it.

I came to it at a time when I was doing a lot of reading on Indigenous ways of knowing and the idea of orality. As a result, in addition to buying a physical copy, I got an audiobook version from the library. My first reading was actually a listening. There was something more intriguing, poetic, and authentic about hearing it. Listening also give more power to her voice as a storyteller. Once I’d finished, I revisited some of my favorite parts to re-read and make some notes.

The book also has some benefit in that while it is somewhat linear, the chapters could be read out of order or even skipped without destroying the whole. 

I hope you ultimately find it as beautiful as I did. 

 

Replied to A good reason not to write in books by Richard Carter (Richard Carter)
I spend a lot of time making notes from my reading. I’ve even made notes from my reading of books about making notes from one’s reading. Have I lost you yet? Many people who write or otherwise opine about making notes from your reading say you should underline or highlight favourite or key passa...
That book annotating monster Adler indicated that if he read books second and subsequent times that he would generally purchase a new copy and mark it up afresh. Doublemonster!

See: How to Read a Book. Los Angeles: KCET Los Angeles, 1975. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y_rizr8bb0c. It was one of the later episodes as I recall.

Replied to a thread by Donna Yates and Shawn Graham (archaeo.social)
For the past few weeks I've been working hard to bring a modified #Zettelkasten system into my academic life via #Obsidian. Obsidian (or knowledge management) tips, tricks, plugins, etc very welcome.
@Drdonnayates I'd say, ignore the temptation to install all the plugins, until you get the feel of things. And even then, keep it minimal. Otherwise I at least get distracted in pursuit of The One True System instead of just using the damned thing. You might find some use in the materials re Obsidian I use with my students, https://shawngraham.github.io/hist1900
@electricarchaeo OH do I so want the one true system...I want it.
@Drdonnayates @electricarchaeo
Shawn’s admonition to keep things simple is valuable. I’m hoping to go through his excellent looking class materials shortly.

I rely heavily on Hypothes.is for digital annotation and transport it all into Obsidian using https://boffosocko.com/2021/07/08/hypothes-is-obsidian-hypothesidian-for-easier-note-taking-and-formatting/

@natalie recently wrote up an excellent overview for dovetailing with Zotero, which I’d done previously and love: https://nataliekraneiss.com/your-academic-reading-list-in-obsidian/

If you really want to go down the rabbit hole: https://boffosocko.com/research/zettelkasten-commonplace-books-and-note-taking-collection/

If it provides some reassurance, though I’ve not gotten into the specifics I’m reasonably certain that Marcel Mauss and Claude Lévi-Strauss, among many others, had significant practices.

If you go beyond basic notes, I’ll have something on to do list functionality shortly, but our friend @kfitz had something here recently: https://kfitz.info/tasks-matter/

If you’ve not found it yet, Obsidian has a Discord with a specific channel for academia.

Replied to a post by Romain LarueRomain Larue (Piaille)
Nous avons tous pris des notes durant nos cours, nos réunions ou pendant la lecture d’un livre. Mais que deviennent ces notes ? Est-ce qu’il n’existe pas un moyen de les rendre durable dans le temps et surtout de les utiliser de façon efficace? Cette méthode c’est le ZETTELKASTEN, une technique inventée par NIKLAS LUHMANN pour organiser ses notes et ses observations pour en faire des livres et des articles denses et riches. https://youtu.be/1ycG6ojNPq8 #zettelkasten #efficacité #organisation #ecrire
@ctietze @romainlarue
Pourquoi ne pas utiliser la méthode des fiches de Roland Barthes? 😁 #FichierBoîte
https://hypothes.is/users/chrisaldrich?q=tag%3A%27fichier+bo%C3%AEte%27
Replied to a post by Natalie (hcommons.social)
I started the second week of "Programming 101: An Introduction to #Python for Educators" on #FutureLearn and wrote a small quiz about Arabic verbs: https://github.com/kranatalie/Introduction-to-Python/blob/main/arabic-quiz-bot.py It was fun again and I'm actually a little proud! Would really like to recommend the course again. It's the perfect gentle introduction for me that doesn't overwhelm but still teaches enough to get an idea of what's possible. Looking forward to the final challenge this week: Building commands into your bot. Let's try this! https://www.futurelearn.com/courses/programming-101
@natalie, Thanks for the recommendation, this looks great! It looks like it may be a good companion to the Santa Fe Institute’s (free) Foundations & Applications of Humanities Analytics https://www.complexityexplorer.org/courses/162-foundations-applications-of-humanities-analytics which starts on Jan 17. #DigitalHumanities 

 

Replied to Return to Blogging by Christopher Long (cplong.org)
A new year brings new calls for a return to personal blogging as an antidote to the toxic and extractive systems of social media.
@cplong @sramsay
IndieWeb, blogging, fountain pens?!? I almost hate to mention it for the rabbit hole it may become, but you’ll get a bit of all three here: https://micro.blog/discover/pens. Happy New Year!
Replied to How to Set up and Maintain Your Academic Reading List in Obsidian by Natalie Kraneiss (Field Notes)
The combination of Zotero (with the Better BibTeX plugin) and Obsidian with the Citation and Projects plugins are the perfect way for me as a PhD student to keep track of the literature to be read and already read.
This is excellent! I’d already had the majority of it set up and I was going to spend some time this week to write some custom code with Dataview to do this, but apparently there’s a reasonably flexible plugin that will get me 95% of what I’m sure to want without any work! Thanks Natalie.

Incidentally, I spent a chunk of yesterday looking at S.D. Goitein’s note taking process (zettelkasten) in his work on the Cairo Geniza, specifically with respect to:

Zinger, Oded. “Finding a Fragment in a Pile of Geniza: A Practical Guide to Collections, Editions, and Resources.” Jewish History 32, no. 2 (December 1, 2019): 279–309. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10835-019-09314-6.
 
Princeton Geniza Lab. “Goitein’s Index Cards,” 2022. https://genizalab.princeton.edu/resources/goiteins-index-cards.