up:: [[LYT Kit]] 
tags:: #on/PKM 

# LYT FAQ

## On LYT and Zettelkasten

- **What is a zettelkasten?**
	- If you follow the principles of concise smaller notes, linked to other notes, with a unique ID, ideally re-written in your own words—then you have a zettelkasten. See more answers: [[What is a Zettelkasten - Various Answers]]
- **Is LYT a competing system to a zettelkasten?**
	- Sort of. LYT works without a true zettelkasten. But LYT can also work *on top* of a zettelkasten. It just adds an optional layer of thinking and navigating.
- **I've heard hierarchies and structures are bad.**
	- That can be true. But it's also not true.
	- Yes, a note buried deep in a series of cascading folders is harder to access. Folders act to limit a note's availability. They bury notes. This can be bad in that it reduces your potential *avenues towards note retrieval*. [^1] A note should be able to live freely and connect to as many notes as needed without restriction. 
	- That's why MOCs (Maps of Content) are magicians: *they don't limit access; they curate it* (See [[Why Categories for Your Notes are a Good Idea]]). MOCs exist in parallel with all your other notes. It's like having the ability to turn on an augmented overlay on top of your existing notes. They add context without constraint, freedom without friction. (Read more on MOCs at [[MOCs Overview]])
- **Wasn't Luhmann's zettelkasten without any categories to classify notes?** 
	- This is actually not true. Luhmann had a separate "register" of keywords to find an “entrance” into his Zettelkasten. 

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## On MOCs

- **What's the difference for you between MOC and TOC? They seem interchangeable, am I missing something there?**
	- The distinction, which serves an important purpose, is an MOC doesn’t have to follow a linear format. It can be constantly reshuffled by you to meet your needs. It’s great for compiling topic-related ideas, notes, concepts.
	- Contrast that with a Table of Contents (TOC). It has one specific and linear order. A TOC should almost always find itself tied to a specific project. 
	- So for a book project, you have the broad MOC (like a big work table with papers spread out everywhere); and you’d be building towards the specific, linear TOC, which would be the more traditional “section 2, chapter 1” or whatever.
	- On projects, I see the MOC and TOC as working in tandem more often than not.
- **So now I have to manage MOCs?**
	- Don't let the LYT, MOCs or anything become an "I have to" situation. You don't have to do anything. You don't have to make any map. Just go about your business of making notes for life. 
	- The MOC will just hang out. You don't have to tend to it. There are no tasks to manage. You could never open your home note and MOCs for a whole year and they will be fine. Then on Day 366, if you click to them, they will be just as helpful. They are your note library's friendly giant.  
	- In this way, MOCs are basically just a bunch of stuff living on top of your notes. They should never get in the way of writing/creating—in fact, they should greatly *enhance* it.
- **So how do I use the fluid frameworks in LYT on a daily basis?**
	- On a daily basis, you're just making notes, adding to notes, and not worried about having to structure things. Maybe you add a tag. Maybe a direct link to another note. That's it.
	- Don't worry about MOCs and the home note when you're doing basic writing and creation. You'll know when to make a new MOC because you start to feel a building sense of being overwhelmed. It happens when you have a lot of notes on a subject and need to structure the info.
	- The structuring is cool, but don't let the tail wag the dog :)

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## Other Questions
- **What are the origins of LYT?**
	- Nothing exciting. Just incrementally expanding on the work of others (whether that's good or bad can be debated). It's also probably a result of having different interests and professions in different industries and feeling a need to better utilize my notes—both for the moment and into the future.
- **How much friction will it take to manage this over time and how will it all fare if there are periods of time when I don't take the minimum amount of care to keep it updated?**
	- (@ryanjamurphy): There are “good” and “bad” kinds of knowledge management janitorial work. Good kinds involve discovering new insights and refining your knowledge, bad kinds involve distractions and degrade your work.
	- (@nickmilo): I can only speak from experience, but I have gone months without looking at my digital library, many times. That's actually why I craved and created the home note and MOCs: so I could immediately reconnect with my notes. Maybe it's a philosophy, but everything should just manage itself after it's set up. I don't think of it as extra tasks.

[^1]: The can be a benefit if you deliberately want to keep private notes separated and harder to access. 