> [!quote] 'Your brain is for having ideas, not for holding them'
--[[Allen, David. Getting Things Done.]]
A system designed to capture and enhance knowledge. [[da Vinci, Leonardo|Leonardo da Vinci]] had a "commonplace book"; think of this as similar. [[Forte, Tiago|Tiago Forte]] may be the most famous person to call it a "Second Brain", and I'm drawn to that description over some of the others.
I have two separate systems for this, that I break up into…
- [[Long-term memory]] - [[Obsidian]] (and [[Obsidian Publish]], which you're using to read this).
- [[Short-term memory]] - [[Rocketbook]]
[[Working memory]] reserved for [[Human brain]] (and vice versa).
## Considerations
- [[A note is a unit of thought]] - in theory, I could make a separate note for "Considerations for Personal Knowledge Management", but another consideration is…
- [[Notes should be practical]] - if a note does not have a purpose, it should not exist. [[Forte, Tiago, 2022. Building a Second Brain]] says [[Save that which is useful]].
- [[Prefer specialization over generalization]] - this system is purely for notes, not to-do's, calendar items
- Journal entries and/or daily notes haven't worked well for me so far, but I plan on experimenting with the concept of making [[Daily notes function as entry notes]].
- [[Digital gardens need pruning]] - pages will appear, disappear, move, etc. Think of it like [[Decluttering]] for the brain. [[Eliminate that which does not serve a purpose]]
- [[Aurelius, Marcus. Meditations]] is a model I would like to emulate with [[50 - Permanent Notes]], though it will also include observations about society in general.
## Approaches Used
- [[Zettelkasten]] involves [[Luhmann, Niklas]]'s famous "slipbox" to create linked notes.
- [Johnny Decimal](https://johnnydecimal.com/) provides a folder cataloguing system ([[Central Hub]] will give you more details as to how I have organized this)
- [[Linking Your Thinking]] - itself influenced in some ways by [[Zettelkasten]], just updated for [[Digital age]].
## Other Examples of "Second Brains"
In no particular order:
- [Andy Matuschak's notes](https://notes.andymatuschak.org/About_these_notes)
- [Nicole van der Hoeven's notes](https://notes.nicolevanderhoeven.com/Fork+My+Brain)
- [Obsidian Community Vault](https://publish.obsidian.md/hub/)