Summarizing the Card Note Writing Method

In the last article, we learned the first feature of the Card Note Writing Method: we all know that writing is hard, so where is the breakthrough; in this article, we will learn the next two features: in the second part, we will talk about what the Card Note Writing Method is, and what is so good about it, and in the third part, we will find out what practical advice the author gives if we want to practise this method. The second part of the book is about what the card note writing method is and what makes it good.

In the second part, we'll talk about what it is and how it helps our brains to think from the bottom up.

In the book, the author compares the card-notes method to a shipping container. Containers are so easy to load and transport that people design ships, terminals, and transportation systems specifically to transport containers, and eventually the whole system becomes very efficient. The author says that the same is true for the Card Note Method, which is a very efficient system. Specifically, the card note method is like this, in note-taking, we usually write in a notebook, while the card note method is to write the notes on a separate card; in organizing the notes, we usually put a notebook together, while the card note method is to put the recorded cards in a card box.

It sounds like this method is not that big of a deal, it's just taking notes on cards and putting them in a box. What's so special about it?

First of all, the authors argue that this method saves critical resources in our brains. Our brains aren't good at focusing on multiple events at once, and because there's only a limited amount of space on the cards to write, we can only express one thing at a time, thus reducing the dissipation of attention. At the same time, writing each card gives us a sense that the task has been completed, which not only reduces the pressure on short-term memory, but also gives us a sense of accomplishment, like a game that we can't stop playing, without having to use our willpower to force ourselves to focus.

Of course, the benefits of card notes don't stop at saving brain resources; they also help our brains to think from the bottom up.

The amount of information we are exposed to every day stimulates our thinking. It's not just a classroom or a book that inspires us, it can be a video, a conversation, a movie, a WeChat post, and so on. We're not very good at managing these bits and pieces of inspiration, so much so that some people think of it as fragmented reading that makes people shallow and lacking in thought.

But the authors of this book argue that fragmented input is not a problem in itself. The most intuitive example of this is that most people acquire their native language slowly, relying on fragmented input, rather than relying on systematic learning of grammar. Thus, the problem is not fragmented input, but our lack of means to manage and integrate fragmented information.

Card notes have a significant advantage in this regard. Card notes are very flexible and work well with our minds to roam freely. Whether the content received is from a movie, a conversation, or a public number, all we need to do is to take out a card and write down our thoughts. Not only are card notes easy to use, but they also provide a visual measure of our gains and growth. Since there will only be one key point written on each card, there are a few takeaways, and a few cards will be written. 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 is never forgotten, and new ideas become a new card. This means that the fruits of thinking are cumulative. The longer we use the card box, the more ideas take shape in it, and the higher the quality of the results of our thinking. At the same time, because the information in the box is so different from each other, many ideas that seemed completely unrelated before can suddenly become linked, giving rise to unexpected and marvelous ideas.

In the financial field, there is a term called the compound interest effect, which refers to the fact that a small amount of money can be turned into a huge amount of wealth after a long period of continuous interest. This effect also holds true in the card note method. Each time we record a card, it may drive the next thought. In this way, the more cards we have, the more likely we are to generate new ideas and thoughts. Prof. Luhmann published 58 scholarly books, hundreds of papers, and accumulated 90,000 cards, but how many cards did he need to write per day on average? Only six. This is the power of the compound interest effect.

When Prof. Luhrmann applied his card note method to academic writing, he seemed to open up. Many academics were still fretting about writing a particular article, and he was already writing many papers at once with the vast number of ideas in his card box. His scholarly output was phenomenal, as well as high quality and filled with extremely brilliant thinking. It has been remarked about Luhrmann that his concern seems to be not so much about not having enough words, but rather that the length of an academic paper can't hold so much of his brilliant thinking. When asked why he was so prolific, Luhrmann's answer seemed modest, saying, "I didn't come up with it, the card box did."

In this way, it seems that the card note method is different from our traditional notes, it is not a record of moving knowledge to paper, but a system of thinking from input to output. This system can more efficiently propel our brain into bottom-up, high-quality thinking, and the ease of completing a large number of papers seems to be more of a by-product of this efficient system.

There are many people who are excited after reading this method and want to start building their own note-taking system and practicing the card note writing method. But in the process of doing so, many people will encounter some unexpected so in part three, we'll look at how to practice the card note writing method . In this part, we will focus on three questions, they are what is the trick to write a good card notes? How to manage a card box? How to generate a key insight?

Let's start with writing a card. This is the basic element of a card note. There are only three things we need to write on each card: the number, the main point, and the source . For example, I'm reading a book called Scarcity, which talks about how the psychological state of scarcity can change the way people behave. The psychological state of scarcity is that when people feel limited in time or limited in materials, it creates a psychological state of feeling cherished, and this psychological state may change their previous behavioral patterns. For example, a person who likes to do all kinds of things at the same time, suddenly there is a task of immediately handing in a manuscript, he began to focus on writing the manuscript, no longer like before to do a lot of things at the same time, because the time is very limited; Another example, originally a person likes to order takeout, but he suddenly found that since this month, he has little money left, he thought about their own food to buy food at home to cook food is more cost-effective, and then began to cook and eat at home. This psychological state of scarcity changes the way they behave. I find it very interesting, then I can write a card and give it a number first, like 24, and underneath it write the sentence I want to record, Scarcity forces us to develop trade-off thinking . It makes us more rational, more selective, and more planned. At the bottom, I'd write, "Scarcity is from page 80 of the book Scarcity. This card is complete.

Each card only expresses a meaning, so if I think further there are many, not yet finished? For example, why does this phenomenon occur? Is there any relevant research to back up this idea? And then I think about the fact that I need to make a shopping list when I go shopping next week, and I can't just buy whatever comes to mind. It doesn't matter, on the back of card number 24 just now, an additional card, number 25 will do, and then not enough to continue to write down.

So what if I had another idea when I wrote card number 24? For example, it occurred to me that in addition to the psychological state of scarcity, which affects one's personal behavior and choices, there is another state that does as well, for example, originally some people eat regularly, but when they are under great stress, they begin to overeat, which leads to obesity, so doesn't stress also affect one's personal behavior and choices? This idea is completely different from the direction of my previous notes, so what to do? All I had to do was write another new card, sandwich it between 24 and 25, and number it 24a.

By following this method of taking card notes, our box of cards can slowly grow into a little helper that provides us with ideas and inspiration. But many people, after they have more cards, will feel that there is too much fragmented and irrelevant information in it, and it does not make the effect that the book says. The author reminds us that we need to pay attention to improving the quality of our notes. Therefore, he divides the notes into three categories, the first one is the shopping list I wrote for the next week's purchases, which is to be done specifically for a certain project, which is called the project information category; the second category is the wonderful passages in it that I copied down by hand when I was reading Scarcity, which belongs to the category of literature excerpts; and the third category is the ideas I came up with based on the excerpts on stress and obesity, which belongs to the category of ideas. The authors believe that in order to improve the quality of the notes, we should remove the irrelevant note cards from the card box and keep only the idea notes. Literature excerpts can be placed in a separate literature card box to make them easier to find when we write our papers, and project information notes can all be consolidated in a special folder, which can be thrown away at the end of the project without being placed in the card box.

But even if the box is full of your thoughts and ideas, it's still not enough. The author suggests setting up a flash drive with the cards that you normally use to record your inspiration, so that you can record, not file, your thoughts as they come to you. After some time we come back to look, maybe we have deeper thinking, and better ideas, then we only leave the valuable notes, improve the ideas and expressions in the card, as a permanent note saved in the card box. In this way, the card box to stay in the main after repeated reflection on the essence of the card box, so the card box in the purity of thought is higher, excellent ideas more likely to collide, resulting in more good ideas.

Organized this way, the card box can be a powerful weapon for generating new ideas. But new ideas don't just fall out of the sky, they need to be summarized and discovered in the process of looking through the card box. So is there any trick to find new ideas? The authors recommend two methods in the book, which are, looking for uncommon connections, and looking for explanations with differences.

Let's start with uncommon connections. When we talk about creativity in general, it's really about finding new combinations that no one else has thought of. Just as Gutenberg's invention of the printing press was an epoch-making invention, two of the key inventions were the letter molds made in bulk from alloys, and the other was the screw press that pressed ink-coated letter boards onto paper. But Gutenberg actually worked for a long time as a goldsmith and needed to make metal mirrors in bulk. His craftsmanship in making word molds actually came from the craftsmanship he had accumulated in making mirrors. In addition, his hometown of Mainz, where wine is produced, already had a machine that could be used to press the grapes. Gutenberg simply adapted this machine and used it to press words onto paper. So Gutenberg's key invention didn't come out of nowhere, but rather he found a new combination that no one else realized was possible, migrating existing technology into new areas. The authors say that when we rummage through the cards, we can boldly go to areas that seem to have absolutely no connection, and that seemingly unrelated cards often have a lot to offer that we don't expect.

New ideas can come not only from unrelated information, but also from information that is particularly close but different. The authors say that one particularly quick way to generate a new idea is to construct opposites, that is, to look for very different or even opposing points of view on the same issue. This is not to raise a stink, but to create artificial differences. There are differences, and we have to look to see where the two are ****ing the same, where they say different things, where they make sense, and why they are different. In particular, the author warns that if we are rummaging through the box of cards and realize that we have two cards that are talking about the same concept or the same thing, but saying it slightly differently, then quickly pull them out and put them together to compare them and see what is different, and this is the time when we can easily come up with new ideas.

Finally, let's go back to the scene at the beginning. How can a person who is completely new to the fitness industry write an insightful research report? On the matter of fitness, many office workers will get a gym card, but rarely stick to it. Why is this? Is it that the gym is too far from the company and home? Is it that people are lazy? Should we develop a fitness habit first? If we want to write a survey report in this area, let's try to do it with the card notes method. I started to look for the card notes box and saw a note when I read Scarcity, which said that people's mental state will also change in a state of scarcity, for example, when they have to complete a task within a few days, they won't want to go to the gym if they don't have the time; and then I found another card with an idea, which said that people will change their regular work and rest routines when they are under great pressure. their regular routine. Based on these two notes, I came up with a not-so-common thought: is it possible that people who have a gym card and often don't go to the gym change their schedules because their work is so intense that time becomes scarce? Is it possible that it's because working overtime and getting sleep are always prioritized ahead of working out, so they're always giving themselves reasons not to work out?

With that, I utilized the card note method and found a few ideas to start writing a market report on fitness.

To summarize: the author argues that the real difficulty with writing is not in identifying some fixed process, but rather our lack of a method of managing the way our brains work from the bottom up. The card note writing method is a good solution. Partly because it saves key resources in the brain, and partly because it supports us more effectively in fragmenting our input and digesting and integrating the information. In practice, we need to be careful to only put card notes in the card box that are relevant to the idea, as well as to improve the quality of input to ensure that we have the concentration of ideas in our card box. In the section on how to generate ideas, the authors suggest that we can look for connections between seemingly unrelated cards, as well as compare similarities and differences in different interpretations, which can add many new ideas.

Finally, I'd like to tell you a little bit about myself. Charlie Munger, Warren Buffett's partner, believes that if we want to cope with this complex world, we need to master different core concepts from multiple disciplines, integrate them into our own thinking, combine them with our experiences, and keep revising them to gain wisdom across time and space and across disciplines. The method presented in this book, "Card Note Writing Method", is exactly a growth tool to absorb knowledge and experience from different fields extensively, to integrate them, and to develop ideas continuously. All our efforts, gains, and ideas can be accumulated, revisited, and grown with the card box. Let us in the face of this complex world, into an inch, there is an inch of joy .