---
up:
  - "[[Videos (OE) (Example)]]"
related: []
created: 2020-06-01
tags:
  - output/youtube☑️
premiered: 2021-01-08
URLs:
  - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ehkbLyeKuII
---

> [!Box]+ Outputs by date and location
> - output:: #output/lesson 2020-11-12 - lesson
> - output:: #output/youtube☑️ 2021-01-08 - [youtube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ehkbLyeKuII).

What is a note? 

> A note is any container of thought.

Pretty broad, huh? 

Let's think about it: "Note to Self", "Yes sir, Noted sir!"

A note could be a sticky note or scribbles on a napkin that you've kept around for years (like this..)

A note could be a single idea, or an entire library of thoughts. It can hold data about a person, or log the phases of the moon. The contents of a note are limited only by our imaginations. 

If a note is "any container of thought" then that means the internet has more notes than any one person read in their entire life a thousand times over. 

So let's tighten our definition of a note so it's more practical.

For you and me, when we talk about a note, we're really talking about containers of thought *that mean something to us.* 

That means it doesn't matter what's on the entire internet. Which is a relief. Because we don't have to be overwhelmed by all of that. What matter is what notes we've personally taken—and personally made.

Take note: 

> *A note is a container of thought that has meaning for the person who made it.*

---

### Extra Credit Rant
So it's a bit subjective. "One person's trash is another person's treasure."

And at their best, our notes are treasures.

At their worst, our notes are overwhelming distraction-riddled collections of  thoughts we've never read that actually act as this static NOISE that distracts us and discourages us from spending time with more meaningful notes.  ^0bffe4

This is the Collector's Fallacy and it's practiced by the information hoarders, so scared to lose some drop of water from the never-ending information stream, that they never have any time to actually drink from it.  ^e19640

Those people sure have a lot of notes. A lot of "containers of thoughts". It's just too bad they've never enjoyed them. ^dd5058

Instead of just hoarding information like an addict, what if we just took a bit of it—a sliver of something that is interesting or meaningful—and we chewed on it. Savored it. Digested it. to mix metaphors, what if we wrestled with it, got to know it...in such a way, that we could explain it to a friend—and they'd get it!

Information hoarders can't explain the ideas they encounter. They might be able to regurgitate them. And they would even be rewarded for it in today's world with more digital followers. But what a corrupt value system that is.  They are choosing surface-level regurgitation that deprives them of the joy that comes from thinking itself. 

They are trading a nourished soul, for applause.

---
If you've read books that meant a lot to you in the moment, but now it feels like you have nothing to show for it... If you have years of knowledge that you've either forgotten, or that you're not growing in value of over time... it's quite possible you're in the trap of note-taking instead of note-making. 

Here's a test for you: Look at the notes you've taken from 2 to 3 years ago. How many of them have you continued to grow and link to other ideas and experiences? 

If the answer is none, or if it sounds like I'm speaking a foreign language, then you might benefit from learning how to make notes and link ideas that nourish your soul now, and keep growing in value long into the future. 

There's [[The forest entrance|a workshop]] just for that. 

%% *PSA* jingle "the more you know" %% 
%% This is just another public service announcement from Linking Your Thinking! %%

---
Next: [[What are higher-order notes]]