The zettlekasten (slip box) is a method of note taking designed by Niklas Luhman Private or Broken Links
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in the 1950s and 60s. While his system was done by hand on index cards using a linking system to connect cards to other cards, many contemporary scholars and note takers have adapted his system to digital ecosystems- which allow for easy and flexible linking and search capabilities.
The primary principal of the slipbox was one of non-hierarchacal information organization. Each note was to be atomic, and automonous and thuse could be linked freely to any other note in the system. Every note must be linked to at least one other. What begins to develop over time is a network of linked ideas.
Some rules to follow when developing a slipbox:
- Notes are atomic: they contain one idea
- Notes are Autonomous: they are self contained and require no context
- All notes are linked: all links should be explained
- Notes are written by me- they should be my understanding of the information
- Include References
- No structure: When adding a new note, simply connect it to another
- Connection Notes: Notes that link act as a bridge between ideas
- Outline Notes: Once ideas begin to coalesce into themes, note the theme and a list of all related notes
- never delete: Just create a new note explaining why previous note was wrong
- be fearless: focus on information I find novel or interesting without thinking about its future use or audience
The slipbox was meant to be a communication partner. A presupposition of communication is that partners can mutually surprise each otherA presupposition of communication is that partners can mutually surprise each other
Communication presupposes the ability to be surprised- it implies that we are receiving information that we did not previously have or in a context we would not have seen were it not for the other ... . And so the slipbox is able to produce novel ideas- to surprise the user even though they made the tool. To achieve this- Ideas must be deeply linked so that when searching for one idea new connected threads emerge. It begins to take on its own "beingness". In this way The Zettelkasten is a magical objectThe Zettelkasten is a magical object
The Slipbox note taking method, or Zettelkasten method, is designed to create a sort of automated conversation partner. Luhman was very explicit in this use of the slip box as a sort of automat..., it is a sort of conversational Golem.
References
[A Beginner's Guide to the Zettelkasten Method](https://zenkit.com/en/blog/a-beginners-guide-to-the-zettelkasten-method/](https://zenkit.com/en/blog/a-beginners-guide-to-the-zettelkasten-method/)
Niklas Luhmann is the brain behind the system. The german sociologist is the founder of the smart note-taking and knowledge management system, the Zettelkasten method. He was extremely productive in his career, writing 70 books and more than 400 scholarly articles!
As a researcher, Luhmann was constantly reading and learning. In order to build upon his existing knowledge, he developed the systems theory we know of as Zettelkasten today. Luhmann focused on understanding the information he read and making connections to existing information. For this, he used a paper-based system to categorize all the information he read and collected.
# Zettelkasten — How One German Scholar Was So Freakishly Productive