Upon encountering a new piece of interesting information, I want to be able to understand how it relates with my current ideas. What ideas does it change? What ideas does it agree with? Which ideas does it contradict? How does it fit into my general framework of understanding?
When I encounter something new (even assuming that I’m able to make a connection to something), it generally is a very superficial connection. For example, if I was learning about Nick Sleep’s investment process and how it’s long-term oriented, I might find that it is very similar to Buffett’s process; at most, I’d make a quick mental note of that, and move on. What connection that might exist is a weak, ephemeral first-order connection. However, what I actually want is to not only realize that Nick Sleep’s investment process is similar to Buffett’s (the first person who popped into my mind), but also see what other individuals have had similar ideas? What are the similarities? What are the differences? Furthermore, I want to generate understanding of second-order connections, and an existing linked structure of notes makes this discovery much easier.
The evergreen note-taking method (borrowed this name from Andy Matuschak) takes this implicit process and makes it explicit, while also furthering the reach. Effectively, you are forced to integrate each new piece of information immediately, and it lives on.
It takes effort (it’s simple, but not easy), but it is the closest match of any system that I’ve seen to the natural learning process.