In the last article, we learned the first feature of the "Card Note Writing Method": We all know that writing is difficult, so where is the breakthrough; in this article, we learn the next two features together : In the second part, let’s talk about what the card note writing method is and what are its advantages. In the third part, let’s find out what practical suggestions the author has given us if we want to practice this method.
In the second part, let’s talk about what kind of method this is, and how does it help our brains think from the bottom up?
In the book, the author compares the card note-taking method to a shipping container. The loading and transportation of containers is very convenient. People design ships, terminals and transportation systems specifically to transport containers, and finally the whole system becomes very efficient. The author said that the same is true for the card note-taking method, which is a very efficient system. Specifically, the card note-taking method is like this. When taking notes, we usually write them in a notebook, while the card note-taking method is to write the notes on separate cards; when organizing the notes, we generally write them on a separate card. The notebooks are kept together, while the card note-taking method is to put the recorded cards in a card box.
From what I hear, this method is nothing special. Isn’t it just using cards to take notes and putting them in a box? Is there anything special about it?
First of all, the author believes that this method can save critical resources of our brain. Our brains are not good at paying attention to multiple events at the same time, and because there is limited space for writing on the card, we can only express one idea at a time, thus reducing the dissipation of attention. At the same time, every time we finish writing a card, we can have a feeling that the task has been completed. This not only reduces the pressure on short-term memory, but also gives us a sense of accomplishment, making us want to stop like a game. No need to Use your willpower to force yourself to focus.
Of course, the benefit of card note-taking is not only to save brain resources, it can also help our brains think from the bottom up.
The vast amount of information we are exposed to every day stimulates our thinking. What inspires us is not only classes or books, but also a video, a conversation, a movie, a WeChat official account, etc. We are not very good at managing these sporadic inspirations, so that some people think that this is fragmented reading, which makes people become shallow and lacks thinking.
But the author of this book believes that fragmented input itself is not a problem. The most intuitive example is that most people learn their native language slowly by relying on fragmented input, rather than relying on systematic learning of grammar. Therefore, the problem is not fragmented input, but our lack of means to manage and integrate fragmented information.
The advantages of card notes are significant in this regard. Card notes are very flexible and work well with allowing our thoughts to roam freely. Regardless of whether the content is from a movie, a conversation, or a public account, all we need to do is take out a card and write down our thoughts. Card notes are not only easy to operate, but also can visually measure our gains and growth. Because only one key point will be written on each card, how many points will be gained will be written on several cards. In this way, the number of cards accumulated becomes a progress bar for our growth.
Such growth is solid. An idea in our brain may be fleeting, but the thinking in the card box will never be forgotten, and new ideas will become new cards. This means that the results of thinking can be accumulated continuously. The longer we use the card box, the more ideas take shape inside it, and the higher the quality of our thinking results. At the same time, because the information inside is very different from each other, many ideas that seemed completely unrelated before may suddenly become linked, giving birth to unexpected and wonderful ideas.
There is a term in the financial field called the compound interest effect, which means that a small amount of money can turn into a huge wealth after continuous interest compounding over a long period of time. This effect is also true in the card note-taking method. Every time we record a card, it may promote the next thinking. In this way, the more cards we have, the easier it is for us to generate new ideas and thinking. Professor Luhmann has published 58 academic books, hundreds of papers, and accumulated 90,000 cards. But how many cards does he need to write every day on average? There are only 6 pictures. This is the power of the compound interest effect.
When Professor Luhmann applied his card-note-taking method to academic writing, he seemed to be cheating. Many scholars are still struggling to write a certain article. He has already written many papers at the same time with a large number of ideas in his card box. His scholarly output is astonishing, of high quality, and full of brilliant thinking. Someone commented that Luhmann seemed to be worried not about the insufficient number of words, but that the length of an academic paper could not accommodate so many of his wonderful thoughts. When asked why he was so prolific, Luhmann's answer seemed very modest. He said, "I didn't come up with it, it was the card box."
From this point of view, the card note-taking method is different from our traditional notes. It is not a record of transferring knowledge to paper, but a thinking system from input to output. This system can more effectively promote our brains to perform bottom-up high-quality thinking, and completing a large number of papers easily seems more like a by-product of this efficient system.
Many people are very excited after reading this method and want to start building their own note-taking system and practice the card note-writing method. But in the process of practical operation, many people will encounter some unexpected things, so in the third part, we will take a look at how to practice the card note writing method. In this section, we will focus on three questions: What are the tips for writing a good card note? How to manage card boxes? How to generate a critical insight?
Let’s start with writing cards. This is the basic element of card note taking. We only need to write three things on each card: number, main content and source. For example, I was reading a book called "Scarcity", which mentioned that the psychological state of scarcity can change people's behavior. The psychological state of scarcity is that when people feel that time is limited or materials are limited, they will have a psychological state of cherishing, which may change their past behavior patterns. For example, if a person who likes to do various things at the same time suddenly has a task that is due immediately, he will start to concentrate on writing the manuscript and no longer do many things at the same time as before because time is very limited; for another example, a person who originally People like to order takeout, but he suddenly found that he didn't have much money left this month. He thought it would be cheaper to buy food and cook at home, so he started cooking at home. The psychological state of scarcity changes the way they behave. I find it very interesting, then I can write a card, give it a number first, such as No. 24, and write the sentence I want to record below. Scarcity forces us to think in a weighing manner. Let us do things more rationally, selectively and plannedly. At the bottom, write page 80 from the book "Scarcity". This card is complete.
Each card only expresses one meaning, so what if I still have a lot to think about and still have unfinished ideas? For example, why does this happen? Is there any relevant research to support this idea? Another example is when I think about making a shopping list when I go shopping next week, I can’t think of anything to buy. It doesn't matter. Just add another card numbered 25 behind the card number 24. If it's not enough, just keep writing.
What if I have another idea while writing card No. 24? For example, it suddenly occurred to me that in addition to the psychological state of scarcity that affects people's personal behaviors and choices, there is another state that can also affect people's personal behavior and choices. For example, some people originally eat very regularly, but when they face great pressure, they begin to overeat. , leading to obesity, does stress also affect personal behavior and choices? This idea is completely different from the direction I took in my previous notes, so what should I do? I just need to write a new card, sandwich it between numbers 24 and 25, and give it the number 24a.
By following this method of taking card notes, our card box can slowly grow and become a little helper that provides us with ideas and inspiration. However, after many people have too many cards, they feel that there are too many fragmentary and irrelevant information in them, and they cannot achieve the effects mentioned in the book. The author reminds us that we should pay attention to improving the quality of notes. Therefore, he divided his notes into three categories. The first category is the shopping list I wrote for next week, which is a special project to be done. This is called the project information category; the second category is the shopping list I wrote from " The wonderful passages in "Scarcity" were copied by hand, which belong to the literature excerpt category; the third category is the thoughts about stress and obesity that I thought of based on the excerpted passages, which belong to the idea category. The author believes that in order to improve the quality of notes, we should remove irrelevant note cards from the card box and retain only idea-type notes. The cards of literature excerpts can be placed in another literature card box to facilitate our search when writing the paper. As for the project information notes, they can all be integrated into a special folder. After the project is completed, the folder can be thrown away directly. , no need to put it in the card box.
But even if the card box contains your own thoughts and ideas, it is still not enough. The author recommends that you set up the cards you usually use to record inspiration as flash notes. You can only record them, not archive them. Write down your ideas as soon as they come up. After a while, we will come back and look at it again. Maybe we have deeper thoughts and better ideas. At this time, we only leave valuable notes, improve the ideas and expressions in the cards, and save them in the card box as permanent notes. inside. In this way, what remains in the card box is mainly the essence of your own repeated thinking. Therefore, the purity of thoughts in the card box is higher, and excellent ideas are more likely to collide, resulting in more good ideas.
Organized in this way, the card box can become a powerful weapon for us to generate new ideas. But new ideas don’t fall from the sky. We need to summarize and discover them while rummaging through the card box.
So are there any tips for finding new ideas? The author recommends two methods in the book, namely, looking for uncommon connections and looking for discrepant explanations.
Let’s look at the less common connections first. What we generally refer to as creativity is actually the discovery of new combinations that others have not thought of. Just like the printing press invented by Gutenberg was an epoch-making invention, two of the key inventions were the letter molds mass-produced from alloys, and the other was the screw press that pressed the ink-coated type plates onto the paper. But in fact, Gutenberg's job for a long time was as a goldsmith, which required the production of metal mirrors in batches. His craftsmanship in making typefaces actually comes from the skills he accumulated while making mirrors. In addition, his hometown of Mainz is rich in wine, and there is already a machine that can be used to press grapes. Gutenberg simply modified this machine and used it to press words on paper. Therefore, Gutenberg's key invention did not come out of thin air, but he found a new combination that others did not realize and migrated existing technologies to new fields. The author said that when we are looking for cards, we can boldly go to areas that seem to have no connection at all. Seemingly unrelated cards often have many unexpected gains.
New ideas can come not only from unrelated information, but also from information that is particularly close but different. The author said that a particularly quick way to generate a new idea is to construct opposites, that is, to find completely different or even opposite viewpoints on the same problem. This is not to argue, but to create artificial differences. If there are differences, we must see where the two are most similar, where they are different, what they say makes sense, and why they are different. In particular, the author reminds us that if we are looking through the card box and find that we have two cards saying the same concept or the same thing, but the words are slightly different, then quickly take them out and put them together to compare. What's the difference? It's easy for us to come up with new ideas at this time.
Finally, let’s go back to the scene at the beginning. How should a person who is completely new to the fitness industry write an insightful investigative report? Regarding fitness, although many office workers apply for fitness cards, they rarely stick to it. why is that? Is the gym too far from work and home? Are people lazy? Do you need to develop a fitness habit first? If we want to write an investigation report in this area, we try to use the card note method. I started to look through the card note box and saw a note I took when I read "Scarcity", which said that people's psychological state will also change in a state of scarcity. For example, when I have to complete a task within a few days, I won’t want to go to the gym if I don’t have time; then, I found an idea on a card, saying that people will change their regular schedule under great pressure. . Based on these two notes, I thought of a less common idea: people have a fitness card but often don’t go to the gym. Is it possible that the work intensity is too high and time has become scarce, so they have changed their schedule? Is it possible that working overtime and ensuring sleep always come before fitness, so I always find reasons for myself not to exercise?
In this way, I used the card note-taking method to find a few ideas, and then I could start writing a market report on fitness.
Summary: The author believes that the real difficulty in writing is not to determine a fixed process, but that we lack a management method for the bottom-up operation of the brain. The card note writing method is a good solution. On the one hand, it is because it can save key resources of the brain, and on the other hand, it is because it can more effectively support us to input information in fragments, and to digest and integrate information. In actual operation, we must pay attention to only putting card notes related to ideas in the card box, and at the same time improve the quality of input to ensure the concentration of thoughts in our card box. In the section on how to generate ideas, the author suggests that we can look for connections between seemingly unrelated cards, and we can also compare similarities and differences in different interpretations, which can add many new ideas.
Finally, I would like to tell you some of my own thoughts. Buffett's partner Charlie Munger believes that if we want to deal with this complex world, we need to master different core concepts from multiple disciplines, integrate them into our own thinking, combine them with our experience, constantly revise, and gain cross-disciplinary insights. Wisdom across disciplines in time and space. The method introduced in this "Card Note Writing Method" is a growth tool for extensively absorbing knowledge and experience in different fields, integrating it, and continuously developing ideas. All our efforts, gains, and ideas can be accumulated in the card box, revisited, and grown. Let us face this complicated world with an inch of progress and an inch of joy.