Terminologies are schemata that make life easier
In the PKM-community many people use terminologies and frameworks to add meaningful information about a note.
Often times analogies of plants with their evolving states are being used to describe the degree of elaboration/ completion. Some people are calling their new notes “seedlings”, while elaborated ones are called “Forest” or “Evergreen”.
I like nature, but I am really not a plant person. The only plant which I managed not to kill is my beloved monstera.
So, I wanted something which suits my passion, so I named and built my system on the analogy of physical particles.
Types of notes / content
DONT DO THIS AT HOME
This is my terminology, I am sharing it for inspiration on ways to categorize your notes – in case you are curious.
Dont make the mistake in copying those for yourself. I mean you are allowed if you want, but I really cant reccomend it. Do the thing that feels intuitive to your brain and your way of thinking
Everything starts with a QUANTUM, which is a fluctuating thought I wrote down. Either they get linked to other notes, grow and persist, or they die - like a seedling that is not watered - or like the synaptic connection between two neurons that is not being used.
My inbox is structured similarly to the Hot-cool Inbox from the LYT-framework. That way I keep track of older Quanta and can decide how to proceed with these notes.
Since the obsidian community calls their small Notes “Atomic notes” and the Index notes MOCs (Map of Content) I wanted to stick with this methodology, so that people can relate to it more easily.
So, a small note is called an ATOM, many ATOMS linked together form a MOC (Molecule) and many molecules together form SPACE.
The only thing I added, was a DOC, which has a different purpose than all the other type of notes.
| TYPE | Description | Examples |
|---|---|---|
| SPACE | Area / Topic Your life happens in between different environments / spaces (both mental & physical). A SPACEs organises these different categories or areas of your Life. Spaces-MOCs are Dashboards, which add a new layer in order to structure related MOCs. Every space has its own folder (root directory - chinese wall) and its accompanying Hashtag. Files are automatically sorted into the right folders via their tags. | Work, Side Hussle, Personal Areas |
| MOC | Molecule - Structure of linked DOCs, ATOMs and QUANTAs. Its an INDEX note aka. a “Map Of Content” | Projects, Concepts, Constructs |
| DOC | Documents with a definied purpose and structure. Important stuff which need safe keeping Documentations, bureaucracy related stuff etc. | Bureaucracy Docs, Documentation, Formal Letters |
| ATOM | Atoms Smallest unit of information that has value on its own (self-contained, isolated Knowledge ) | Wiki-Notes, Article, Tutorial |
| QUANTA | Virtual particles Small fluctuating Information (zettels) with unclear goal; thinking on paper. Ideas which spontaneously emerge behave like fragile synapses searching new connections. Such neural networks are getting annihilated over time if they dont interact with another “System”, strengthening the synapses. If its is not being linked / incorporated over time, it will be deleted. | IDEA, Thinking on Paper, “The idea I had when I drank my coffee - dont know what to do with it yet” |
highlighted Graph
SPACEs are shown in Yellow,
MOCs are pink,
ATOMS are Blue/turquoise.