Using Obsidian for academic writing and creativity

Thinking in public
17 Jun 202342:44

Summary

TLDRThe video script discusses the use of Obsidian, a note-taking and knowledge management tool. The speaker shares their experience with Obsidian, highlighting its usefulness for different tasks like daily note-taking, idea generation, and writing. They explain how Obsidian's linking feature helps in making connections between ideas but also emphasize the importance of being intentional with links. The conversation touches on the challenge of turning the complex network of ideas in Obsidian into structured documents like reports or theses. The speaker also mentions the value of Obsidian for stimulating creativity and managing the chaos of daily tasks.

Takeaways

  • 😀 The user initially had a poor impression of Obsidian but after further exploration, they found it useful for creative note-taking and linking ideas.
  • 😀 The user suggests curating YouTube links for those interested in learning more about Obsidian.
  • 😀 Obsidian has a concept of 'vaults' which are like folders separated from each other within the app, allowing for organization of different types of notes.
  • 😀 The user has three separate vaults - daily notes, commonplace book for ideas, and a writing vault, to keep different types of notes and writing separate.
  • 😀 When writing, the user doesn't copy and paste from the commonplace vault but uses it for inspiration and to make connections to what they're writing about in the writing vault.
  • 😀 The user finds value in the serendipity of searching their commonplace notes, sometimes finding unexpected notes that spark new ideas.
  • 😀 The user doesn't worry too much about preemptively imagining how they'll use notes in the future, instead letting connections form more organically.
  • 😀 Obsidian is currently free and stores information locally in markdown language, which the user appreciates for its simplicity and portability.
  • 😀 The user has been using Obsidian for about a year and a half and finds it helps them manage the chaos of their work and stimulates their creative process.
  • 😀 The user feels Obsidian has helped them generate more creative ideas, though acknowledges this could also be due to spending more time thinking about things while using the app.

Q & A

  • What is the main concern the speaker has about Obsidian?

    -The speaker is concerned about whether Obsidian is worth the effort, as it creates a complex web of interconnected notes which seems to get in the way of producing a simple, linear document like a report or thesis.

  • How does the person being interviewed organize their notes in Obsidian?

    -They use three separate vaults - one for daily notes, one for a commonplace book to collect ideas, and one for writing. The notes in these vaults don't directly interact with each other.

  • What is the purpose of the commonplace vault in Obsidian for this user?

    -It's a place to dump and play around with ideas, capture literature notes from books, articles, podcasts, etc., and make connections between different concepts to stimulate creative thinking.

  • How does this user approach writing in Obsidian?

    -They write in the writing vault, and if they hit a wall or need inspiration, they query the idea vault for relevant concepts rather than trying to incorporate all the linked notes directly into their writing.

  • What is the significance of the links between notes in Obsidian for this user?

    -The links help them discover related ideas and make connections that can inspire their writing, but they don't follow every link. They selectively use the linked notes that are relevant to the specific topic they're writing about.

  • How does this user handle the potential overwhelm of the exponential increase of linked information in Obsidian?

    -They don't try to preemptively imagine how they'll use every note and link. They create notes and links intentionally, and when writing, they dip into the commonplace vault with keywords to see what comes back, sometimes finding unexpected but useful connections.

  • What is the speaker's view on the value of Obsidian for producing structured documents?

    -They don't think Obsidian is the best tool for creating inherently hierarchical and structured documents like traditional reports or books. However, it can be used for writing such documents if the internal links are used for cross-referencing rather than connecting creative ideas.

  • How does this user decide what notes to keep or discard in their Obsidian vaults?

    -They don't constantly edit or prune the notes. They leave many notes in a half-formed state or as orphans without connections, because the text is still there and might be useful in the future even if it's not currently connected to anything.

  • What is the benefit of using Obsidian for this user despite the potential overwhelm of information?

    -Obsidian helps them find useful information more efficiently than searching through unstructured notes. It also provides a sense of delight and joy when putting things in and triggers creative connections that they might not have made otherwise.

  • How does this user's use of Obsidian relate to their overall academic workflow?

    -Obsidian is integrated into their workflow for managing daily tasks, capturing interesting ideas, and supporting their writing process. It helps them structure their day with daily notes, stimulates creativity with the commonplace vault, and provides a writing environment with the writing vault, while also connecting to their Zotero library for research references.

Outlines

00:00

😀 Introduction to Obsidian and Its Challenges

The speaker introduces the topic of Obsidian, a note-taking and knowledge management tool. They share their initial impressions and the challenges they've faced while using it. They mention how Obsidian is often discussed in terms of its creative aspects, such as writing notes, making links, and building a complex matrix of ideas. However, the speaker expresses concern about how to effectively use this matrix to produce linear, two-dimensional outputs like reports or theses. They also talk about the concept of 'vaults' in Obsidian, which are like folders that can be used to separate different types of notes.

05:00

😀 Using Obsidian for Daily Notes, Ideas, and Writing

The speaker explains their personal setup in Obsidian, which includes three separate vaults for daily notes, a commonplace book for ideas, and a writing vault. They discuss how they use daily notes for tracking tasks and meetings, and how the commonplace vault is a place to dump and connect ideas. The writing vault is used for actual writing projects, where they can draw inspiration from the commonplace vault without being overwhelmed by too much information. The speaker also mentions how they use Obsidian's features like local graph to visualize connections within the commonplace vault.

10:00

😀 Linking and Filtering Notes in Obsidian

The conversation focuses on how to link and filter notes in Obsidian to aid in writing. The speaker gives an example of a note about robots adapting to human norms and discusses how they would explore related notes to find inspiration and make connections for their writing. They emphasize that not all links are necessary to follow and that the key is to be intentional about which links are relevant to the writing topic. The speaker also talks about the potential for information overload and how to manage it.

15:05

😀 Evolution of Note-taking and Writing Process in Obsidian

The speaker shares their evolution in using Obsidian, from initially having a single vault to separating daily notes and commonplace notes into different vaults to improve their writing process. They discuss how they used to write in other apps but now prefer Obsidian's simplicity and markdown support. The speaker also touches on the idea of serendipity in note-taking, where unexpected connections can lead to new ideas. They mention that notes are constantly being edited and adapted, but they try not to be too prescriptive about how they build links.

20:06

😀 Obsidian's Features and Personal Workflow

The speaker talks about various features of Obsidian, such as its support for markdown language, local storage of notes, and the ability to edit plain text. They mention that while Obsidian is not open source, it is currently free and they are not worried about potential monetization. The speaker also discusses their personal workflow, including how they use Obsidian to manage their academic work, such as extracting useful information from past articles and presentations. They mention that Obsidian helps them find information more efficiently, but also acknowledge the challenge of managing a growing number of notes.

25:07

😀 Balancing Creativity and Productivity in Obsidian

The speaker reflects on whether Obsidian is more suited for creative, unstructured thinking or for productive, structured writing. They mention that Obsidian can be used for both, but it requires different mindsets and approaches. For creative work, the commonplace vault is used to collect and connect interesting ideas. For writing, the writing vault is used to develop arguments and produce structured documents. The speaker also discusses the challenge of turning a three-dimensional knowledge map into a two-dimensional document and whether the effort put into Obsidian is worth it for different types of projects.

30:09

😀 Differentiating Vault Usage in Obsidian

The speaker differentiates between the usage of various vaults in Obsidian. They explain that the commonplace vault is for capturing interesting things that bring them joy, while the writing vault is for structured writing tasks. The daily notes vault is used for managing the administrative part of their job, providing structure and helping them plan their day, week, and month. The speaker also talks about how they extract passages from articles and add them to the commonplace vault with personal notes and links to other ideas, stimulating their creative process.

35:11

😀 Obsidian's Impact on Creativity and Note-taking

The speaker shares their experience with Obsidian, stating that it has brought them a sense of delight and joy. They feel that they have come up with more creative ideas since using Obsidian, although they acknowledge that this could also be due to spending more time thinking about things. The speaker mentions that they have been searching for a tool like Obsidian for over 10 years and feels that it has solved their note-taking and knowledge management needs. They also discuss how they used to write in different apps but now prefer Obsidian's simplicity.

40:12

😀 Personal Anecdote and Conclusion

The speaker shares a personal anecdote about a 3D printed figure they saw in a museum in Bologna, which they think could increase productivity. They conclude the conversation by expressing their enjoyment of the discussion and invite further questions about Obsidian.

Mindmap

Keywords

💡Obsidian

Obsidian is a note-taking and knowledge management application discussed extensively in the script. It's central to the video's theme as the entire conversation revolves around its usage and features. The speakers talk about how Obsidian allows users to create notes, form links between them, and visualize these connections, which is a core aspect of the app. For example, one speaker mentions using Obsidian to manage daily notes, a commonplace book of ideas, and a separate writing vault, highlighting the app's versatility in organizing different types of information.

💡Vaults

Vaults in Obsidian refer to separate folders that contain notes and are isolated from other vaults. This concept is crucial as it helps users compartmentalize their notes for different purposes. In the script, the speaker explains having three distinct vaults - daily notes, commonplace book, and writing vault. The daily notes vault is used for recording daily activities and meetings, the commonplace book vault is for collecting and connecting ideas, and the writing vault is for composing structured writings. This separation allows the user to focus on specific tasks without the clutter of unrelated notes from other vaults.

💡Linking

Linking is the process of creating connections between notes in Obsidian. It's a key feature that enables the formation of a knowledge graph, which is a visual representation of how different pieces of information are related. The script discusses how linking can be both a strength and a potential obstacle. On one hand, it facilitates the discovery of new connections and ideas, as illustrated when the speaker talks about using links to find inspiration for writing. On the other hand, the exponential growth of linked information can become overwhelming, making it difficult to filter through and extract useful content for a specific purpose, such as writing a linear report.

💡Commonplace book

A commonplace book is a collection of ideas, notes, and observations. In the context of the script, the commonplace book vault in Obsidian serves as a repository for the user's diverse thoughts and insights. The speaker mentions dumping ideas, literature notes, and other interesting findings into this vault. It's a place for free-form association and idea generation, where the user can play around with different concepts and see how they connect. For instance, the speaker talks about pulling out passages from articles that resonate with them and linking these to other notes in the commonplace book to stimulate creative thinking.

💡Writing process

The writing process is a significant theme in the script, as the speakers discuss how Obsidian fits into their writing workflows. They mention that while Obsidian is great for idea generation and note-taking, they often use separate applications or vaults for the actual writing of structured documents like reports or theses. The speaker explains that when writing, they focus on moving an argument from point A to point B and may refer to the commonplace book for inspiration but mostly rely on Zotero for supporting arguments. This highlights the distinction between the creative, unstructured aspect of idea generation in Obsidian and the more linear, structured nature of the writing process.

💡Knowledge management

Knowledge management is the overarching theme of the script, as it deals with how individuals organize, store, and retrieve information. Obsidian is presented as a tool for effective knowledge management, allowing users to create a personal knowledge base through note-taking and linking. The speakers discuss the challenges of managing a large volume of notes and information, and how Obsidian can help in finding relevant content more efficiently. For example, the idea of turning a 3D knowledge map in Obsidian into a 2D linear document for a review or report touches on the complexities of knowledge management and the need to balance creative, interconnected thinking with the practical requirements of producing structured outputs.

💡Markdown

Markdown is a lightweight markup language used for formatting text in Obsidian. It's mentioned in the script as one of the advantages of using Obsidian, as it allows users to edit notes in plain text without the need for complex formatting tools. The speaker demonstrates how simple keyboard shortcuts and markdown syntax can be used to create links, headings, and other formatting elements. This relates to the video's theme by showing how Obsidian leverages markdown to provide a flexible and user-friendly note-taking experience, making it accessible to users who prefer plain text editing.

💡Serendipity

Serendipity refers to the occurrence of events by chance in a happy or beneficial way. In the context of the script, the speaker talks about the serendipitous nature of discovering unexpected notes and connections in the commonplace book vault of Obsidian. This concept is important as it highlights one of the creative aspects of using Obsidian - the ability to stumble upon ideas that may not have been initially considered but can lead to new insights and directions in thinking. For example, the speaker mentions that sometimes the commonplace vault returns unexpected notes that have proven to be useful in generating recent ideas.

💡Zotero

Zotero is a reference management software mentioned in the script as a tool used alongside Obsidian. The speaker explains that while Obsidian is used for note-taking and idea generation, Zotero is preferred for managing their academic library. This distinction is relevant to the video's theme as it shows how different tools can be integrated into a knowledge management workflow. The speaker mentions referring to Zotero when writing to find support for arguments, indicating that while Obsidian is great for creative and unstructured thinking, Zotero serves a more structured and research-focused purpose in their workflow.

💡Threshold concept

Threshold concept is a term used in the script to describe the point at which the user starts to question the practicality of using Obsidian. The speaker mentions that while they love the idea of making connections and creating a knowledge graph in Obsidian, they encounter a threshold concept when it comes to turning this interconnected mass of information into a productive output like a linear report. This concept is central to the video's theme as it addresses the challenge of balancing the creative, expansive nature of Obsidian with the need to produce structured, focused work. It raises the question of whether the effort put into building a complex knowledge graph in Obsidian is worth it when it comes to extracting useful content for traditional academic or professional outputs.

Highlights

The speaker discusses their initial impression of Obsidian and its potential for creative note-taking and linking ideas.

Mention of Ingo and Jason's podcast and how it influenced the speaker's understanding of Obsidian's use in academic settings.

The concept of 'threshold concept' is introduced as a barrier to using Obsidian effectively for productive output.

Explanation of the different 'vaults' in Obsidian and their separation for specific purposes like daily notes, commonplace book, and writing.

Demonstration of how daily notes are used for organizing tasks and meetings.

Description of the commonplace vault as a place for dumping and connecting ideas.

Discussion on how the writing vault is used separately from the idea-generating vault to avoid information overload.

The role of Zotero in managing the speaker's library and how it complements Obsidian.

Illustration of how to draw material from the commonplace vault into the writing process without copying and pasting.

The challenge of managing the exponential increase of linked information in Obsidian and maintaining focus.

The importance of not being too prescriptive when creating links and notes to allow for future serendipitous connections.

The speaker's preference for using separate vaults and the process of moving notes between them intentionally.

Reflection on the use of Obsidian for writing structured documents and the limitations of its hierarchical structure.

The speaker's experience with Obsidian as a tool for both creative and productive academic work, fitting in multiple places on the creativity to productivity scale.

Discussion on the value of Obsidian for personal knowledge management and the potential for increased creativity.

The speaker's personal journey with Obsidian and how it has become an integral part of their daily academic practice.

The mention of a 3D printed figure as a metaphor for productivity and the personal motivation it provides.

Transcripts

00:02

right I've got I've got a very specific

00:08

we've got a list all right excellent a

00:11

little list because I wanted to

00:14

um I wanted to ask you about this first

00:17

before we crack into obsidian in in some

00:19

depth

00:20

I wondered if we could frame the

00:22

conversation just a little bit

00:25

and so I'm gonna I'm gonna pitch this

00:27

idea to you and see what you think

00:30

so

00:32

I'm coming at this

00:35

from a position of well

00:39

a bit of background you told me about

00:41

obsidian

00:43

months ago and you said go and have a

00:45

look and I went and had a look and did a

00:48

poor job of having a look tester he said

00:51

but my immediate impression was

00:53

has actually persisted

00:56

since I've been doing more work on it so

00:58

I come to the conversation today with

01:00

quite a specific question

01:03

now I I wonder whether it's not

01:05

worthwhile if we're going to distribute

01:07

this message out to people to say there

01:10

are resources to go and look at on

01:12

YouTube and maybe we can curate some

01:14

links for people if you just want to get

01:16

a flavor of what obsidian is and when

01:18

you see the screen share that hopefully

01:20

you're going to see from you

01:22

it'll make a bit more sense but we can

01:24

do a bit of background stuff but rather

01:26

than getting into the background stuff

01:27

because the problem that I've had with

01:29

obsidian so far

01:31

is everything I've heard about has been

01:33

about what I think is probably the first

01:35

half of obsidian which is maybe in

01:38

simple terms the kind of creative part

01:40

of writing notes and making links and

01:44

then seeing those links

01:47

grow

01:48

and this enormous Matrix built

01:52

around all of these kind of ideas that

01:54

you might have

01:55

I listened to Ingo and Jason's podcast

01:58

you know on the rig

02:00

which is a great podcast series although

02:02

the last episode I think is two and a

02:04

half hours long

02:06

yeah so I mean there's quite a bit of

02:09

chat in the first half there about

02:11

what's going on in their lives which you

02:12

can kind of I think you can skip through

02:14

I do yes yes nice but but

02:18

in Jason's case he was he's a real

02:21

obsidian evangelist it seems he's come

02:23

to it and he loves it and the example he

02:26

gave was a great example of

02:28

doing in Australia what's called a Texa

02:31

review which is I think if you work in

02:32

higher ed every five or six years your

02:35

whole university gets reviewed for its

02:37

academic quality so it's everything from

02:39

the highest level governance right down

02:41

to the delivery of individual courses

02:43

and all the minutiae so he's taken on

02:46

this project for his university and it's

02:48

an enormous piece of work and I've known

02:51

people spend three or four years at the

02:54

very high level building up rooms full

02:56

of documentation to support one of these

02:58

reviews

02:59

so he's using obsidian

03:02

to

03:03

find all of the material that he's going

03:06

to need for this review but not just do

03:09

it in a traditional kind of filing

03:10

structure it seems but to create a 3D

03:12

Matrix a map

03:14

of the links between things so this is

03:17

the point where I get to and I think

03:18

yeah this is great

03:21

although nagging in the back of my mind

03:23

is this constant question about

03:26

is this going to be worth it

03:30

what happens then is where I start to

03:33

become interested and where I think my

03:35

barrier my obstacle is this is the

03:37

threshold concept for me

03:40

I love the idea that you can make all

03:42

these connections it sounds really

03:43

creative that you can make these notes

03:45

and you can pull all these things

03:46

together it seems to me at that point

03:48

then the whole project Falls over

03:50

because instead of having something

03:52

simple to turn into what's going to have

03:54

to be a two-dimensional linear

03:57

report for Texa or a PhD thesis or a

04:01

book or something like that you've now

04:03

got this overwhelming mass of swirling

04:06

stuff with multiple networks and nodes

04:08

and that seems to me to be exactly

04:11

getting in the way of actually doing

04:13

something productive with it right so

04:15

the conversation I would love to have

04:17

with you today

04:18

is about what you use it for and how you

04:21

actually use this Matrix once you've

04:23

built it yeah yeah that's how you filter

04:26

through everything to make something

04:28

actually useful to it

04:30

so

04:31

I think that's fine and I think the

04:34

to start off with I would say that in

04:37

obsidian you have the concept of volts

04:39

which is it's like a folder

04:42

um but it's a folder that's separated

04:44

from other vaults within obsidian and so

04:47

what a lot of people

04:49

tend to do when I've seen people using

04:51

obsidian is they combine all of these

04:53

things together so I have three

04:55

different vaults for obsidian the one is

04:57

called daily notes the one is called

05:00

commonplace like a commonplace book

05:02

which is the collection of ideas and

05:04

then I have a writing Vault and those

05:07

three things are separate and those

05:09

notes don't talk to each other and

05:11

they're not aware of each other so your

05:13

question about how do you write and not

05:16

have all those things get in the way of

05:17

it well I write in a writing Vault

05:20

that's completely separate to the idea

05:22

generating vault

05:24

so

05:26

I

05:28

just start sharing my screen

05:31

are you happy for me to interject the

05:33

questions or do you want me to just let

05:34

you flow for a while no you stop it what

05:37

would you prefer anything you want can

05:39

you just okay can you see my screen I

05:42

can see me

05:44

can you see that now yeah there you go

05:47

right okay so straight away I've got a

05:49

question which is that the stuff that

05:51

goes into your daily notes

05:53

if you then want to

05:57

write with it you've just said that that

05:59

vault is completely separate and doesn't

06:01

talk to the writing box so presumably

06:04

you have to move it from one into the

06:05

other no

06:06

no because I'm writing so I'll write and

06:09

I'll just write and then if I hit

06:13

if I come up against the wall and I

06:15

don't know what to write anymore then

06:16

I'll go to my idea Vault and I'll query

06:18

something from the idea Vault I'll go to

06:20

the idea Vault for ideas not to write

06:25

so what are you writing about if not

06:28

ideas

06:29

so

06:31

I feel like I need to show you

06:34

um yeah

06:35

um

06:36

all right so okay so what you're looking

06:38

at now this is my daily notes fault so

06:40

just to give you an example I'll start a

06:42

new note and I'll start it here on

06:43

Monday the 21st

06:45

says the file does not exist you want to

06:47

create it so this is my daily note

06:50

template so yeah because it's text you

06:53

can create your own templates and these

06:56

are all the things that I'm going to be

06:57

doing for the day and I use this to um

07:00

like if I have a meeting then I create

07:03

links to meeting notes and and blah blah

07:05

blah so this is the kind of just every

07:08

day I make notes in this vault

07:12

but also have this commonplace vault

07:15

and that's obviously just from

07:17

commonplace book and this is a place

07:20

where I just dump ideas and you'll see

07:23

it kind of looks the same here but it's

07:25

a little bit different so I've set up

07:26

the tabs

07:28

um on this side the panels on the right

07:30

and the left side a little bit

07:31

differently

07:32

so if I pick this one then you can see

07:36

that the local graph displays here so

07:38

immediately I can get a sense of how

07:40

many other things this note is connected

07:42

to but that's only within the

07:45

commonplace Vault this is only within

07:47

commonplace so these notes are all very

07:49

short they you know tags I connect to

07:52

other notes I can see incoming links I

07:55

can see outgoing links I can see

07:56

unlinked mentions

07:58

this is where I capture all of my

08:00

literature notes so if I'm reading a

08:02

book

08:03

um like at the moment I'm reading this

08:04

book on embodied Computing as I'm

08:07

reading all of this content everything

08:10

that I highlight and annotate in that

08:12

book gets pulled into these literature

08:14

notes so that's all an automated process

08:17

same thing happens with articles

08:18

podcasts tweets

08:21

um

08:21

I've got conference notes going back 10

08:24

years those are all in here and this is

08:27

just a place for me to play around with

08:29

ideas I'll go through these notes I'll

08:31

link to other notes and and so on so you

08:34

feel

08:35

fairly good with how that works and then

08:37

I have a writing vault

08:41

and

08:44

if I want to

08:46

I don't know there's a little thing on

08:48

citizen science this is for a course

08:50

that I'm running at the moment so this

08:52

is where I'll just write

08:54

um and if I need to draw from an idea

08:58

well then I'll go to my commonplace

09:01

notes and I don't think I have anything

09:03

on citizen science

09:10

no so I've got no notes

09:13

yeah so that might say to me okay well

09:17

before I can start writing about citizen

09:19

science I should go and do some reading

09:20

on citizen science then I might go to my

09:23

library which I use zotero for some

09:25

people will pull their Library into

09:26

obsidian and I feel like you can get to

09:30

a point where

09:31

obsidian becomes this Hammer that you're

09:34

going to use to hit everything with

09:37

um and I feel like the the library

09:40

um I think it can work

09:42

and I think some people have made it

09:44

work

09:45

I prefer to use zotero for my library

09:48

so I'll go to zotero and that's where I

09:50

track everything that I want to follow

09:52

up on and read and

09:54

you haven't got anything on citizen

09:56

science but let's say you were going to

09:58

do a piece of writing on artificial

10:00

intelligence now I know you'll have tons

10:02

of stuff so if you opened up a writing

10:04

note

10:07

um

10:09

on artificial intelligence yeah

10:13

show me how you'd go about drawing back

10:16

on your

10:18

um

10:20

I suppose your commonplace folder or

10:22

your or your what you call your daily

10:24

notes folder how would you pull that

10:26

material into what you're then going to

10:28

be writing about I don't

10:31

um so maybe this isn't a good example

10:34

because it's uh it's just a simple

10:35

definition so let me

10:38

look for

10:41

robots must adapt to Norms around

10:43

interaction so this is a more detailed

10:45

note

10:46

right

10:47

um so

10:50

I might look at this and the the concept

10:52

here is that we need to have robots

10:54

adapt to human Norms around interaction

10:56

and in order to do that we are really

10:59

going to have people who are building

11:00

robots who are familiar with human

11:02

psychology and sociology and all of

11:04

these ideas about how humans interact

11:06

because those are going to be the the

11:08

social and cultural norms that influence

11:11

the way that robots should behave what

11:13

we're seeing is that

11:15

um humans are adapting their behavior to

11:18

fit around what robots are capable of so

11:22

what I'm getting from this note isn't so

11:24

much the content but it's this idea so

11:27

I'm trying to capture an idea which is

11:29

that you know we need to design robots

11:31

that adapt to our behavior and our

11:34

sociology

11:35

um when I'm writing I'm not looking to

11:38

copy and paste information from this

11:40

note

11:41

I'm trying to find ideas within the

11:45

commonplace collection of notes that

11:48

give me inspiration or motivation or

11:51

that help me make connections to

11:53

whatever I'm writing about in the

11:56

writing vault

11:57

right but herein lies the Crux of the

12:00

issue because of course you could do

12:02

that in any form you could do that in a

12:04

Word document you could do that in a

12:05

traditional file system you could do

12:07

that in Evernote you could do that in

12:09

Ulysses you've got many places you could

12:11

do that in the point about obsidian is

12:14

not that you want to look you're

12:15

interested in that note but I look at

12:17

the bottom for instance at the green

12:19

related text yeah and the tags you've

12:22

got that little icon seems to suggest

12:25

that there are three four five six seven

12:27

eight additional notes that are related

12:29

to that theme and each one of those

12:31

might have eight additional notes

12:33

related to them and each one of those

12:35

might have it and it becomes exponential

12:37

right so if you're talking about this

12:40

just purely from a note by note basis

12:42

then I don't see obsidian as being any

12:44

different so how do you stop the Mania

12:48

of

12:50

the exponential increase information

12:52

you've got linked all together here and

12:55

then actually write something about how

12:57

robots must relate to human Norms well

13:00

because these ideas at the bottom here

13:02

with their link they're related but

13:05

if I'm thinking about the way that

13:08

um robots should relate to

13:10

um to us to groups of human beings some

13:13

of this is like yeah educational AI must

13:15

adapt to learning science that's a

13:17

related idea because it's talking about

13:18

how technology needs to adapt to

13:21

something that we value so learning

13:24

science it's a related idea but it's not

13:27

it's not going to be a part of what I'm

13:29

writing about with robots so first of

13:32

all not all of the links are necessary

13:35

for me to follow

13:37

um types of robots in clinical practice

13:39

you can you know I can without going

13:42

into the notes I can just pull it up

13:43

here and look at it well you know this

13:46

also isn't really relevant this is a

13:48

list of types of robot form factors and

13:52

um not behaviors but the kinds of tasks

13:55

that these kinds of robots might be

13:57

called to do this also wouldn't really

13:59

be useful for the article that I'm

14:01

writing about you know robots and and

14:03

human behavior

14:05

um this might be interesting social and

14:07

cultural norms dictate what information

14:09

is appropriate so

14:11

the point isn't just that I'm randomly

14:13

following all of these links I might

14:16

look at this

14:17

and say okay social and cultural norms

14:21

dictate what information is appropriate

14:22

to share with other people okay so how

14:24

does this relate to my idea around

14:26

robots adapting to our Norms

14:30

um so I'm going to pause with with the

14:32

note and say

14:34

you know really reflect on it does this

14:36

help me

14:38

take my writing in a different direction

14:40

does this spoken idea that I maybe

14:43

wouldn't have got to if I was just

14:45

writing

14:47

um so I think for me the linking of the

14:51

notes

14:52

um

14:53

if I just

14:54

come here to edit again

14:57

um while I'm reading this

15:00

um I don't know I'm just uh

15:05

virtual Norm so if I come back here

15:09

um

15:12

it's suggesting our social network

15:14

Theory

15:15

is that something that I need to look at

15:17

is social network analysis something

15:19

that I need to look at do I need to

15:21

because now that I've seen this maybe

15:23

it's boxed the idea that you know what

15:25

the thing that I'm writing about robots

15:27

what it lacks at the moment is some kind