Folders are like Dungeons.

Folders were made to store information, not to retrieve it.

Information gets locked up deep inside them, and any attempt to find that information becomes a treacherous adventure:

Ok, maybe it's not that hard.

But it's mind-blowing that we have massively powerful AIs being launched with ChatGPT and Bard. Yet, in 2023 we still organize information using the same principle and structure as physical items inside boxes.

Folders are dead. Organizing information in Hierarchies is dead.

It's time for Networks.

Roam Research started the Network revolution for note-taking apps, but it has yet to arrive on your computer.

Let's explore how this will change with the power of networks and graphs.

💬 Quotes

Quote 1

“In nature, everything is connected, everything is interwoven, everything changes with everything, everything merges from one into another.”

– Gotthold Ephraim Lessing, Enlightenment philosopher

Think with me.

If everything is indeed connected:

• Why is a rigid hierarchical structure so important?
• Why do we create walls (folders) between our information?
• Why is there no way to connect information from two different documents?

We need more inspiration from nature in our lives.

Quote 2

“In the old system, the question is: Under which topic do I store this note?

In the new system, the question is: In which context will I want to stumble upon this note again?”

– Sönke Ahrens

Sönke Ahrens wrote the book How to Take Smart Notes to explain the process that Niklas Luhmann used to create notes inside his Slip-Box.

He raises the question of how to store information.

We tend to classify information by thinking:

• What is this about?
• When did this happen?
• Who I learned this from?

The focus is on how to store.

We're missing a HUGE opportunity to store information with a focus on how to retrieve.

• When will I use this?
• What is this related to?
• Who said something similar?

Quote 3

“The best way to organize your notes is to organize for action, according to the active projects you are working on right now.

Consider new information in terms of its utility, asking, “How is this going to help me move forward one of my current projects?”

– Tiago Forte

Tiago Forte, in his book Building a Second Brain, suggests a similar practice.

The Focus is the same: retrieval.

Store (organize) information by thinking about 'when you will use this information.'

Yes, you can do this with hierarchies. And Tiago teaches the PARA Method to radically improve the folders experience.

But Networks, such as Tags and Links, provide the structure to retrieve information in multiple ways. You're not limited to one single hierarchy.

Quote 4

“The more complex the network is, the more complex its pattern of interconnections, and the more resilient it will be.”

– Fritjof Capra, Physicist and systems theorist

A complex network provides more ways to find what you want.

Instead of relying on folders and searches, complex networks provide multiple paths between each item.

Some possible paths are:

• Dates
• Topic Tags
• Concepts or Keywords
• Links between Authors
• AI generated Semantic Similarity

Here is an example of what this would look like: (The folder structure will still exist in the background)

📄 Notes

Note 1. Basic Definitions: Hierarchy vs. Network

A Hierarchy is a top-down structure where every item belongs to one single place.

Hierarchies bring order and predictability. They are made to separate items according to their characteristics and provide a fixed display of everything you have.

Hierarchies are good to provide an overview, a big-picture view.

A Network is a web of items that can be connected in any given way. There is no fixed structure apart from the mathematical definition of a graph: G = (V, E).

• V = Vertices (nodes, intersections)
• E = Edges (links, relationships)

In a Network, there is no hierarchy. All items are at "ground level," and organization happens according to the links between them.

An interesting aspect of graphs is that Hierarchy is represented by a specific type of graph, the Tree.

A Tree in graph theory is a special graph with certain restrictions:

• Contains no cycles
• All nodes come from 1 parent (root) node
• Each node (item) belongs to 1 parent (folder)

Restrictions provide the structure of a file-folder system.

But they also make hierarchies more rigid. It's a trade-off.

Note 2. A Case FOR (more) Networked Organization

• Hierarchical Organization is rigid.
• Networks are (much) more flexible.
• Hierarchical Organization creates walls between topics.
• Networks create bridges (tunnels) between topics.
• Networks can reproduce Hierarchical organization of Folders and Files.
• Hierarchical Organization is about classification.
• Networked Organization is about connection.
• Hierarchies lead you to classify information by its traits.
• A Network allows you to have different classifications (paths).

Networks are necessary for a connected world.

Note 3. AI will change everything

Artificial Intelligence will bring a huge revolution to the task of organizing information.

Last week's letter mentioned this broadly. This week's letter provides the backbone of how this will work:

• Networks

2 ways AI will leverage Networks to organize information better:

1. Better Searches

Search will get insanely better with AI.

Searches usually look for exact word matches. But with AI and Natural Language Processing, you will be able to search using Prompts (similar to ChatGPT), by semantic similarity, and related topics.

This is possible because of Networks.

2. Multiple Folder Structures

AI will enable different folder structures.

Imagine that instead of having one folder organization, you can switch between different categorizations of your knowledge.

• You may use the PARA folder structure in one moment.
• Then you might categorize everything by weeks.
• Or divide ideas within topics and sub-topics.

Some version of these 2 evolutions already exists.

It's a matter of time until this becomes normal.

🔗 Links

Link 1: How to use Tags, by Tiago Forte

In this article, Tiago explains the concepts of Hierarchies and Networks. He then goes on to share how to use tags to retrieve the information later.

Tags use the graph structure and are based on Networked Organization.

A Complete Guide to Tagging for Personal Knowledge Management - Forte Labs

Personal Knowledge Management (PKM) is the practice of capturing the ideas and insights we encounter in our daily life, whether from personal experience,

Forte LabsTiago Forte

Link 2: Evernote releases Backlinks

This link is to prove a point.

Evernote, the 15-year-old juggernaut of note-taking apps, is introducing Backlinks and Network-based features in 2023.

This is a strong indicator that networks are powerful.

https://evernote.com/blog/introducing-backlinks