Umberto Eco (Secker & Warburg)No piece of information is superior to any other. Power lies in having them all on file and then finding the connections. There are always connections; you have only to want to find them.
If you’re not sure how to start the first card in your zettelkasten, simply write this quote down on an index card, put a number in the corner, and go…
My absolute favorite novel. Eco was a master.
True… but Eco seems to treat this as destructive. Wasn’t it believed by the other main characters that the reason the one character from Garamond Press developed cancer was owing to his intellectual search to make connections had an corresponding ontological effect of rewriting his DNA? The web of corresponding connections Causabon makes leads to his death.
Truly, I don’t mean to poo poo the quote and your point. Just pointing out there is an irony that the quote is from a novel about a group of people being destroyed by the knowledge they uncover / connect.
I’m curious what he means by “file” in the context of the novel?
Thanks for the quote! It tells me that I should read Eco (I tried reading “The Name of the Rose” as a teenager and didn’t like, but teenagers are known to be stupid).
If you’re in software development, start your zettelkasten by documenting the step-by-step instructions to fresh install your development environment. Windows Utilities, Dev Tools, IDE, all those config options not already in your dotfiles, etc…
I promise it’ll be useful and get you started
….as long as the connections don’t turn into Wikipedia…
Thanks for sharing.
Are you scanning all your analogue note cards?