2020-04-30

Reply: On Wikis, Blogs and Note Taking – Interdependent Thoughts

Really great to read your thoughts on this, Ton! 15 years is a lot of experience. I also came across a post from Lilia Efimova related to the [[wiki/blog combo]] from a BlogWalk salon from 2004(!) - My dream wiki/weblog tool.

I feel both hemmed in by how my blog in its setup puts flow above stock, and how a wiki assumes stock more than flow.

I think you are right and that perhaps we are restricted by thinking about this in terms of wikis and blogs, because there is a lot of preconceptions associated with each of those. Perhaps thinking at the level of values/requirements, about something which can help us produce both stock and flow, can help us think about the process first, and then later comes the thinking about what tool or combo of tools can support us with that.

I often struggle with the assumed path of small elements to slightly more reworked content to articles.

I really like the ideas of patterns, constellations, Gestalts. Constellations is naturally quite close to the idea of [[connecting the dots]]! For my wikiblog to help me learn and grow my ideas, it definitely needs to help me see these constellations. I do sometimes wonder about the merits of making every concept as small as possible. Perhaps in the right context, yes, but I don't feel that doing it dogmatically will always be helpful.

visualisations may point to novel constellations for me, emerging from the collection and jumble of stuff in the wiki. That I think is powerful.

I am hoping to explore a bit more how some of the mapping and bi-directional links in org-roam might help me with this.

Perhaps the ultimate requirement is for something that helps us see the constellations of our thoughts? I think for me this will be part stream (for sharing/receiving ideas from others), part note-taking tool, part garden, part visualisation.

Plus plenty of staring out of the window, away from tools!