How to Make a Complete Map of Every Thought you Think | Page 4

the notebook. Things such as "How do I lay out a page?", the concept of "Late Binding" and how it applies to the notebooks. "Out cards." The use of color. Partitioning strategy. Writing quality. Psychology. General mapping principles. Important stuff, but not specific to a particular position in the hierarchy.
Theory of Notebooks: Why use notebooks at all? (Partly talked about in the introduction.) How does this work? Observations about how subjects gestate. How information flows, becomes knowledge, then becomes wisdom as it integrates into our life. How thoughts integrate. How the speeds grow. And a theory of (conscious) thinking. Many things to talk about.
Finally, the Question of Computers. My least favorite subject, because people can get so damn irrational about computers.
I don't know HOW many times I've seen people twiddling about with their little palm pilots, convinced that because they have "technology" on "their side", that they are being more effective than a man holding a piece of paper and a pen. The absurdity of these devices is astounding.
I know that there are legitimate uses for these things. I see doctors carrying them around with up-to-date info dictionaries and what not, I know that they use them, yadda yadda yadda. And yet the simple fact is, 99% of the general public using these devices have no need for them. They'd be much better served with a small pad of paper that they keep with them, and a pen.
There are exceptions to this: You can argue a good case for using them to play games (though I'd rather use a Game Boy Advance), or for using them to use as an addr book. Great. I love it.
But for the Love Of God, if you live within the time period of 2003-2005 at the very least, do NOT try to use one of these devices to keep your notes!
This extends further to computers.
Now: All this will change. IN THE FUTURE, computers will be the way to go. But we are not there yet, NOR will we be there in the next 3-5 years. Remember: Even if the computer is fast, you still need software that won't get in your way.
I will address this subject again, later in the book. Feel free to skip it, if you plan to use paper. But if you are one of the "I paid big money for this thing, and it's high tech, and it's sooo cyber, that it must be better than anything pen and paper can give me," please give serious thought to what I have to say.
I'm positioning it later in the book, so that you can have already have read about maps. I mean, maps right there- these little devices, and even my big computer, doesn't get maps right. But you'll see how this works as we read- no need for me to go off the deep end now.
SO.
In Summary.
* Intra-subj * Extra-subj * Materials * The ? of Computers * Theory of Notebooks * General Principles
That's what I'm going to be talking about now.
Here, let's put that in order:
1) Materials 2) General Principles 3) Intra-subj 4) Extra-subj 5) Theory of Notebooks 6) The Question of Computers
By the way- in case I hurt your feelings about computers- I want to add two things:
1) I am an experienced programmer. I've been programming computers since I was 7 years old, typing in BASICA programs by hand on my mom's COMPAQ 8088. I formatted her hard drive by accidently going into low level format instructions using "debug", experimenting with assembly language, when I was about 10. I am now 25. I love computers. I just happen to recognize the limitations of where we are at right now, that's all. 2) Computers will be the SALVATION of this whole system I am describing right now. So if you feel offended knowing that I am dumping on them right now, know that that's not going to be the case for long. Paper is unwieldy, large, requires storage, and a host of other ills. Copying from page to page to page is just a nightmare. It is a necessary nightmare, right now, but it is a nightmare. Computers will save us from it. 3) Hah! I'm sneaking in a #3. (Part of my "no-edit policy" when spitting stuff out. Apologies.) I WILL DESCRIBE, if I DO NOT FORGET, just WHAT steps you can take NOW, IF YOU ARE INTERESTED, to "get the ball rolling". There are some easy programs that you can make right now that would make this system AWESOME. I just don't have the time to code them up right now. But I will describe them, and if you like, you can code them up. Hell, I'll even throw in a description of the ideal computer notebook system- assuming I have "magic paper"- and how it will