What is Zettelkasten Note-Taking? 📝 Why It Works & Knowledge Theory 🧠

Hi Friends, my name is Callum aka wanderloots. In this video, I walk through an intro & deep dive to the Zettelkasten Note-Taking Method by Niklas Luhmann. I also show you how I modified my Zettelkasten system into digitized "molecular notes" in Obsidian.

Using my modified Zettelkasten - Molecular Zettelkasten - has helped me publish over 150,000 words, or ~3 non-fiction books' worth of published writing in the last year 🤯 It's an incredible way to keep external knowledge separate from internal ideas, helping augment my personal knowledge management system.

Zettelkasten can be confusing to both people coming across it for the first time and people who have spent hours learning it. This video aims to help simplify the process by breaking down Zettelkasten into two systems: Internal & External, and three major elements: READ, THINK, WRITE.

I also go into depth on various knowledge theories, including:
1. DIKW (data information knowledge wisdom)
2. Bloom's Taxonomy
3. Continuum of Understanding
4. CODE System (Capture Organize Distill Express)

This video is part 1, the theory of why Zettelkasten works as a note-taking system to help us reduce information overload while building a knowledge base. In part 2, I get into the practical steps of templating my Molecular Zettelkasten system in Obsidian so that you can see how the system is set up from scratch.

I hope you enjoy! ✨

P.S. I greatly appreciate any feedback, please let me know what you think or if you have any questions 😊

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Timestamps:
00:00 Intro
01:03 From Physical To Digital
01:40 Intro to Zettelkasten
02:30 Simplifying To 3 Steps
03:14 Today's Outline
04:32 What is Zettelkasten?
06:03 The 3 Note Types
09:04 Zettelkasten Simplified: External vs Internal Systems
10:17 Reducing Information Overload
12:18 Brief Overview of Part 2
13:02 Key Principles & Benefits of Zettelkasten
15:58 Digitizing: My Molecular Zettelkasten
18:19 Mapping Zettelkasten In Obsidian Canvas
20:14 CODE Note-Taking
22:59 Digital Gardening Analogy
23:30 Mapping Zettelkasten Primitives
26:18 Zettelkasten & CODE
26:41 Updating To Molecular Zettelkasten
29:36 Revisiting CODE With Updated System
30:34 Workflow Example: Reading A Book
30:59 Outlining The Goals of Zettelkasten
35:43 Knowledge Management Theory
44:17 Idea Cores & Intellectual Property
45:07 Simplifying Molecular Zettelkasten: Internal & External
46:05 Knowledge Feedback Loop (Applied PKM)
49:12 Cal's 8 Laws of Note-Taking
53:08 A Challenge Before Starting Templates In Video 2
54:23 Other Resources

WATCH NEXT
🌱 Obsidian & Digital Gardens    • Obsidian, Digital Gardening, & PKM  
🧭 Recalibrating (Main Storyline)    • Recalibrating 🧠 🧭 My Philosophy  

References:
1. https://obsidian.md
1. https://www.gapingvoid.com/want-to-kn...
2. https://www.valamis.com/hub/blooms-ta...
3. By Universitätsarchiv St.Gallen | HSGH 022/000941 | CC-BY-SA 4.0, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index...
4. https://jarche.com/wp-content/uploads...

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📝 [Obsidian](https://obsidian.md/) (decentralized note-taking)
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