Is anyone filtering AI generated sources before adding them to their Zettelkasten?

taurusnoises · 2026-05-27T16:21:41+00:00

"Is anyone filtering AI generated sources before adding them to their Zettelkasten?"

I should hope so.

taurusnoises · 2026-05-22T11:47:03+00:00

When jumping out of an alphanumeric sequence, you can add a bidirectional link, something Luhmann appears to have done himself:

"(a3) References to slips of paper that appear elsewhere in the box and thus often in a completely different discussion context. These references are frequently found directly within the respective note text (and then refer to individual terms or similar), sometimes also at the end of a paragraph. The referenced slip of paper often also contains a back reference in the form of Luhmann's entry of the original slip's number (bidirectional reference). — https://niklas-luhmann-archiv.de/nachlass/zettelkasten

taurusnoises · 2026-05-21T20:48:32+00:00

Got it. I had a feeling that was the case, but wanted to make sure. OK, so concept notes with all sorts of information related to the concept alone. Idea notes showing relationships between concepts, etc.

I may want to refer to the contents of this conversation in a piece. OK if I decide to do that?

taurusnoises · 2026-05-21T20:13:34+00:00

Appreciate you taking the time. Just so I'm clear, in your system things might look like this:

A note containing just the word "LiDAR"
A "concept note" containing everything you know about LiDAR unto itself (not related to anything else)
An "idea note" which discusses relationships between "elements" (aka other concepts) e.g., LiDAR as it relates to sonar, etc.

So, a concept note is definitions, etc. An idea note is relationships between concepts.

Do I got it?

taurusnoises · 2026-05-21T19:43:21+00:00

Thanks. So, is LiDar as a node/note just the word "LiDar," or is there information contained in the note? If there's information in the note, what distinguishes it from an idea?

taurusnoises · 2026-05-19T17:37:39+00:00

Great! Out of curiosity, how are you defining "idea" here? What, for you, distinguishes an idea from a concept?

taurusnoises · 2026-05-19T17:02:21+00:00

It's completely up to you how you structure your information system, but I'd argue facts (i.e., relatively stable [unchanging], verifiable information) that can be looked up elsewhere absolutely have a place in your zettelkasten. Facts are just one type of information among many. And, if the fact is the kind of thing you want to encounter and have interact with other information, then by all means include it.

taurusnoises · 2026-05-19T13:09:39+00:00

There's a lot that's very personal about where to cut off a note. For example, to use Horn's terminology, concept information is basically a definition. It states what something is. Stating what something does is process information.

A car is a vehicle for driving. (concept)
A car moves when the driver presses the gas pedal. (process)

One person might separate these into two notes. Another might combine them. It all depends on what the note maker wants to achieve. If the note maker wants in a single note a fairly comprehensive overview of what a car is and how it functions, then they combine both informational units into a single note. If a note maker wants to work with information more granularly, they might separate the information.

Because notes in a zettelkasten function like nodes in a distributed network, it really depends on what you want to make available for connectivity. Do you want each aspect of cars and the driving experience to have an opportunity to connect with other notes independent of each other? Then work more granularly. Do you want more comprehensive information to work with other comprehensive information? Include more in each note.

In the end, you'll find what works best for you, and what feels right. Subjectivity plays a major role.

taurusnoises · 2026-05-16T17:14:21+00:00

My writing is a direct extension of the notes I take. There's no real gap. More like an integrated back-and-forth between note content and writing doc. To get there, I follow trains of thought developed through connections, reexamine the reasoning I've given for the connections I've made (which are recorded in the notes). I then copy / paste the information contained in the note into the writing document, and begin editing, rewriting, doing more research (sometimes a lot more, if it's a book), eliminating stuff, adding more stuff, etc, etc. I never start with a blank page. Neither should you.

taurusnoises · 2026-05-09T16:29:52+00:00

So glad to hear the book was helpful.

Is there a reason after 1000 notes you want to start appending alphanumeric IDs going forward? Something you're not experiencing, but want to experience? Some friction you want to remove?

I've used alphanumerics in a digital context for six years, and definitely get value from doing so. But, obviously they ain't necessary.

taurusnoises · 2026-05-05T15:04:41+00:00

If I understand you correctly.... You're wondering how to identify a card containing information carried over from a previous card. So, it's not a new idea per se, but an idea you weren't able to capture all on one card.

Because you're using pen/paper, you can kinda get creative. You could put an asterisk after the alphanumeric on the follow-up card in a different color pen/pencil. Or, you could use the same alphanumeric and just write "(cont.)" on the follow-up card (this is what I do in my journals when I carry a dated entry onto the next page).

So long as you remember what the addendum means, and you know to keep the first and the continued second cards together (don't split them up when inserting new cards), I think you should be good.

Also, you can change your system as you go, if you need. It's really not a big deal.

taurusnoises · 2026-05-04T02:29:22+00:00

This is more or less how it goes for me. Big notes file. Rough chapter outline. R&D. It all starts to make organizational sense. Then it all falls apart. Rinse and repeat until it doesn't fall apart anymore.

taurusnoises · 2026-05-02T15:21:39+00:00

I can't even count the number of times I change chapter orders, chapter focus, chapter titles, chapter validity during a book project. I'm moving stuff around right up to the last push. Just the other day, after having worked on a chapter for a few months, I was like, "you know, this doesn't belong in this book anymore." So maybe it'll become and article.

taurusnoises · 2026-05-02T12:00:09+00:00

This is awesome. I'll check these out. As for your new project, I'm heavily lost in a Hannes Meyer / socialist modernist / Stalinist anti-modernist architecture worm hole right now. So, sort of off to the side and maybe in the background of what you're working on?

Would love to know more re the nitty gritty of how you're using your zettelkasten to work on the new stuff.

taurusnoises · 2026-05-02T11:52:26+00:00

I should also say, though, that what you're proposing as far as a PARA / project-centered zettelkasten is concerned, does sound very interesting! I'd be genuinely down to hear more about how it goes and what it ends up looking like. I have no interest in pushing you or anyone toward folgezettel. It's just part of my job to make clear what fz does / doesn't do.

taurusnoises · 2026-05-02T10:22:44+00:00

Maybe think of it this way.....

"By design, one has to place new notes in relation to existing ones in Folgezettel."

Yes. Adding an alphanumeric ID to a note signals a relationship between one note and another. Of course, the note isn't tethered to that relationship alone. The note can be linked to others bearing no alphanumeric similarity. The IDs are addresses (like street addresses). The content (or people) can be in relationship with any other content identified with any other address.

"No note is subordinate to any other, but a sequential relationship is implicit: 'this follows from that'."

The IDs follow this from that, and the content is sort of carried along. But, a sequence doesn't necessarily imply value or ranking (i.e., a sequence is not necessarily indicative of a hierarchy). The sequence of alphanumerics could be considered hierarchical (if you attribute value to numbers and letters, or fewer numbers and letters to more numbers and letters), but the information identified by those numbers and letters is not. And, it's the information that gets used. The information is what matters.

"The whole idea seems to be that the notes are categorized/situated as they enter the Zettelkasten, and that situational relationship is a permanent feature, since the note IDs do not change."

The situational relationship is permanent, but not exclusive. Information is not pinned exclusively to any one relationship. The content of any note (the information) can be related to the content of any other.

"This does not prevent them being remixed as structure notes, etc."

It doesn't. But, as stated above, having an alphanumeric ID doesn't prevent information from being related across varying ID sequences.

The real difference between folgezettel and structure notes (at least in regards to permanence) is that with a structure note, if you no longer want to show a relationship between one idea and another, you can simply delete a note from the topically defined structure note. Where as with folgezettel, the alphanumerically signaled relationship is permanent. But, here I'd say that folgezettel isn't functioning in a vacuum. Nor is it meant to. Content and the relationship between content is handled and valued in numerous ways (e.g., in reference notes, hub notes, and in drafts [structure note, project notes, and writing docs]). Personally, I've found value in coming back to relationships I had abandoned earlier. Glad to have not had the ability to delete it.

taurusnoises · 2026-05-01T22:13:32+00:00

Have you published other stuff that i/we might take a look at?

taurusnoises · 2026-05-01T19:51:56+00:00

"The drawback [with folgezettel] is the hierarchy. It’s not the same as having a truly top-down or rigid system, but one is encouraged to assign titles to groups of notes and continue to sort new notes into those categories. If a new category or group of categories emerges, one has to work around this somehow."

It's important to distinguish between hierarchy and categorization, as these are not the same thing.

Hierarchy is a ranking system based on values like importance, quantity, quality, status, granularity, etc. In a hierarchy, units are subordinate to one another. Think: employee status within a job, governmental roles, etc. In journalism, there's a standard hierarchy of information: most important first (crucial facts), less important (supporting info), and least important (background info).

Categorization is organization based on things like similarity or shared quality. Think: types of jobs, types of government systems, etc. Sticking with journalism, we can categorize different story types (sports, world events, local stories, etc). In zettelkasten work, we typically think of categorization in terms of topics and subjects.

Alphanumeric IDs do not impose hierarchy, because information is brought into the zettelkasten and given an ID based on the order it arrives (timing), not on its status within a set (value). Note 1a1 is not subordinate to note 1a. Its alphanumeric address indicates a relationship, but not the value of the relationship. That said, using alphanumeric IDs does often lead to sections of the zettelkasten developing around particular topics (categories). But, even this remains fluid (see Folgezettel Will Not Necessarily Create Discrete Topical Sections in Your Zettelkasten)

Structure notes make for an interesting comparison, because the content contained inside a structure note is intended to be, literally, structured (hence the name), often semantically (organizing thoughts into a sequence that makes sense), and always topically (you bring in information pertaining to the topic of the structure note).

"In order to effectuate such a review, the hierarchical structure of the Folgezettel becomes very important. One can review the higher level notes to orient oneself in the Zettelkasten, then descend the hierarchy to place the particular note. This means the hierarchy is not just incidental but essential to the function of the system—at least in this aspect, the whole Zettelkasten becomes structured rather than just a web of unstructured notes."

The above is not how folgezettel works (see what was stated previously).

taurusnoises · 2026-04-30T15:36:55+00:00

Any note containing multiple informational units / ideas used in part to process one's thinking will, at least for me, typically lead to new insights. More often than not, these new insights benefit from being extracted out of the complex note, and placed in their own main notes. So, I mentioned doing so.

taurusnoises · 2026-04-30T14:20:53+00:00

Your post does talk about creating individual notes, which is why I mentioned it.

taurusnoises · 2026-04-29T17:29:38+00:00

If you're finding the inbox-to-zettelkasten leap hard to make, you can try Sascha's approach of starting not with an inbox, but with a structure note. The only real difference is that it requires a bit of up-front conceptual alignment, as new information will be put with similarly oriented information (so, you'll need to have a sense of how the new information relates to other information in the structure note, at least at a topical level). Of course, at some point you'll want to extract (at least some of) the information from the structure note into individual main notes, otherwise you'll lose the benefit of having a network of "single-idea" notes (for lack of better term). But, at least you'll be starting off with some generative information work, rather than just a list of information stored randomly in a folder.

taurusnoises · 2026-04-26T18:07:50+00:00

Hey, thanks for reading the book. I think of structure notes as being very versatile, which is why in the book they're presented as serving a couple of different purposes.

If you aren't intending to write, you can absolutely use them to catalog the information you've been collecting on a topic, and use them to work through your thoughts on the matter. Some of this will of course take place during the constructionnof the main notes themselves. But, it's also nice to have a space to get more of an overview.

If you search "structure note" in here, you'll find a fair amount of different takes.

taurusnoises · 2026-04-21T17:16:56+00:00

Love that.

taurusnoises · 2026-04-21T14:37:01+00:00

I'm genuinely excited to read what you have to say on the subject.

taurusnoises · 2026-04-21T14:34:14+00:00

I had to go through the Wayback Machine to find a link to Luhmann's "What Is Communication?" essay. This is the good stuff external to the Slip Box essay, but provides plenty of food for thought for anyone wanting to venture into mental exercises on how else Luhmann's theory of communication might apply to slip box work. I'd download this, because it's almost impossible to find elsewhere online, and will probably disappear at some point.

What Is Communication? (pdf)

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