Scott P Scheper, page 55
When Luhmann was working on a new publication he would document and record how his thought process evolved.901 He would take on publication requests and work on articles that would later prove very useful in other areas. Over the course of producing these developments, Luhmann’s theories compounded and evolved. By moving, he created more material which proved useful for other areas of his work. His movement to constantly take on publication projects allowed him to create useful accidents which compounded his actions. It created the rich material that would form his “super theory” of society.
While accidents, and randomness are the key components we’re speaking of, the question then becomes: in what spirit of mind does one best cultivate useful accidents? That question is what we’ll answer next.
Playfulness, Curiosity, and Tinkering
Halfway through the month of June in 1749, all of Britain was buzzing with excitement. Things were especially abuzz in Surrey County, which borders London. The excitement revolved around one thing: a matchup between two of Britain’s cricket clubs, the All England and the Surrey Cricket Clubs. The cricket teams were viewed as the titans of those times. “The match excited considerable interest and was attended by a very numerous body of spectators,” wrote one who attended.902
The match between the two clubs was intense. The score was close; however in a wild upset victory, Surrey came away with the win. The best player in the match, Henry Venn, was exhausted. The other players on the team looked up to Henry. He was bold, disciplined, resolute, passionate, and very (very) intense.
After Surrey came away with the victory Henry’s teammates crowded around him. They gathered to celebrate the upset victory. Yet the excitement came to a stop and things quickly settled down. The fans stopped celebrating and fell quiet.
Everyone was looking at Henry whose face was red, as if he was angry. He threw down his bat and declared, “Whoever wants a bat, then here! Take it. I have no further occasion for it!”903
His teammates were shocked. Their hero was quitting on the spot! One of his teammates bravely asked Henry why he was quitting, and Henry replied, “Because I am to be ordained on Sunday.” Henry explained he was quitting the game of cricket for God. He feared a member of his church remarking to him, “Nice game yesterday, Reverend!”
Henry intended to be a man who was taken seriously. To his mind this meant he must take life seriously, and this meant one thing: cutting out all forms of play.
Sadly, what followed was all but fulfillment and respect for Henry. His health quickly declined by “a sudden transition from a course of most violent exercise to a life of comparative inactivity.”904 Yet Henry pushed through the health issues and stuck with a strict regimen. He would wake up at five in the morning and preach ceaselessly all day. This continued on until he had a breakdown at age forty-nine. Henry burnt himself out and was relegated to a small country parish where he lived for another twenty six years.
Two generations of protestant missionaries followed in their forebear’s footsteps. Both his son (John) and his grandson (also named Henry) became Anglican clergymen.
Yet Henry’s physical and mental breakdown hung over the family. It was an unspoken yet very present tension, a tension between work for God vs. play (in the form of cricket).
This tension was present during the upbringing of Henry Venn’s great grandson, John Venn.
John was a bright young man. Despite his strict Anglican upbringing, he became interested in mathematics and philosophy. In spite of his interests, John gave in to the religious indoctrination and ended up following in his family’s footsteps, becoming ordained as an Anglican priest in 1859.
Unlike his great grandfather, however, John didn’t wish to give up his other interests in his life. He loved cricket and outdoor activities like mountain climbing and he did not want to give his interest up as had his great grandfather.905 Instead of giving up his interests in mathematics and philosophy, John continued his studies, and, in 1883, he resigned from the clergy after concluding that his religion was incompatible with his philosophical beliefs.
John continued to pursue life with a playful spirit. His passions ranged from mathematics, probability theory, and philosophy, to tinkering with inventions and machinery. He would go on to create the first cricket machine in history. It bowled cricket balls and is said to have struck out the leading batsman of the Australian cricket club four times in a row.906
Now, the reason you probably know John Venn stems from the following diagram:
The Venn Diagram
All of John Venn’s wide-ranging interests ironically led him to create a diagram in symbolic logic. This diagram is widely used and bears his name to this day.
This breakthrough in symbolic logic was not unearthed in the same manner John’s great grandfather operated. It was not unearthed through rigid routine and workaholism. John was playful in spirit, he was a tinkerer, and he was curious.
Those who love order and structure may at first have trouble adopting the philosophy of the Antinet. In the land of binary, the world is perfectly ordered. This (0), or not this (1) underlies the language of digital systems. Binary logic makes life quite simple. But that’s not reality. There’s entropy and chaos in reality.
You must be willing to submit to randomness. You must be willing to submit to the mess of knowledge development, and to adopt and appreciate the value of randomness, embracing odd structures and surprises along the way. It involves adopting a playful mindset when working with your knowledge. Hopefully this story about John Venn will remind you of this.
To make sure I don’t forget the lesson of John Venn, I purchased a cricket ball online which I keep in my office. Whenever I see it, I’m reminded to adopt the playful tinkering mindset of John Venn. This is the spirit I believe best suited for working with an Antinet. A playful, curious spirit.
In my YouTube videos I teach the Antinet from my office. Using my iPhone camera, I navigate around and teach certain aspects. Some viewers have commented, asking why there’s a cricket ball sitting around. Now you know why. It’s a great reminder. Adopting playfulness, randomness, and curiosity into your knowledge workflow is something one should not forget.
Now, as we end this book, I’d like to invite you to adopt this same spirit. Take it with you into the world. The spirit of playfulness, randomness, and curiosity.
I had no idea I’d be ending this book with this seemingly random story of John Venn. His story relates to the playful intellectual human spirit. This is but another example of randomness and accidents being brought forth by the Antinet. Quite frankly, it serves as a fitting end for such a book.
I wish you enjoyment in your journey. The journey of getting in touch with that deep, internal voice inside of you. I wish you luck in your intellectual pursuits and the things you will create (with the help of your Antinet).
Please keep in touch and share your own Antinet Zettelkasten journey with me. You can keep in touch by visiting my website: https://scottscheper.com.
Stay crispy, my friend.
Afterword
what you have read in this book contains both everything and nothing you need to know about building an Antinet Zettelkasten. That’s how you know the material is true. I believe the most truthful knowledge resembles that of a paradox. It simultaneously tells you everything and nothing about the nature of something. It’s kinda like learning about Einstein’s theory of relativity. It tells you everything and nothing about how the universe works. It just is what it is.
What I’ve laid forth in this book is the theory, practice, and history of working with the Antinet. I’ve also done my best to describe the more metaphysical features of the system—the Antinet as a communication partner and second mind. Interspersed between this is the science of human memory and the science of knowledge.
However, in the end, the only right answer is: test.
To experience the power of the Antinet, you must experiment with it yourself. You must commit to it. You must invest in it. Commit yourself to the work. Commit yourself to the time and the energy required to build your own second mind.
I hope you’ve enjoyed reading this book. I’ve had a wonderful time creating it. Stewie and I have been through a lot together in the year we spent writing it. We’ve been through several lives together. We have seen our personalities change drastically throughout the process. We’ve been through many rearrangements of my office here in downtown San Diego. We’ve been through many different arrangements of my Antinet. During the writing of this book I’ve gone from a single dude with one cat (Brodus); to a single dude with two cats (Brodus and Fiona); to an engaged dude with two cats, a soul-daughter, and a pig (Garth); to an engaged dude with two cats and a soul-daughter (sorry, Garth). Throughout all phases of this journey, one thing has been the same, actually two: first, I’ve continued to be a badass (in my own mind), and second, Stewie has been by my side.
I hope you get to enjoy the fullness of creating and evolving your own thoughts using an Antinet. If you do, please share your story and experiences in our Antinet Zettelkasten community on Reddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/antinet/
Warm regards,
And always remember…
…to stay crispy, my friend.
Scott P. Scheper
Downtown San Diego, CA
Tuesday 10:12 am
Appendix A: Luhmannian Tree Structure (Zettelkasten I)
the following contains the luhmannian tree structure of his first Zettelkasten. There are 108 top-level categories, which branch internally from there. The list is translated into English and comes from the Niklas Luhmann Archive.907
Appendix B: Luhmannian Tree Structure (Zettelkasten Ii)
the following contains the luhmannian tree structure of his second Zettelkasten. There are 11 top-level categories, which branch internally from there. The list is translated into English and comes from the Niklas Luhmann Archive.908
Appendix C: Digital Antinets
sometimes people contact me and write Scott, thank you! I finally understand how the Zettelkasten is supposed to work! These reactions are typically found in the YouTube comments on my videos. Yet every so often I get people who follow up this praise with some excuse. They insist analog won’t work for them. For instance, they complain about their bad handwriting. Or they object to keeping a notebox due to their work environment.909 Naturally, they follow this up with the question of How can I implement the Antinet digitally?
In brief: you can’t.
Well, you can’t without sacrificing various benefits, that is.
But…
If you put a gun to my head and told me to build a digital Antinet, here’s what I would do:
First, I wouldn’t do it.
Now with that out of the way, we can move on to the second thing I’d do.
The second thing I would do would be to add a character limit to notes. I did a rough count of the character space on 4 x 6 inch notecards (or the equivalent, a6 paper). I estimate the character space to be roughly 825 characters.
Here’s one of my notecards, word-for-word:
When you strip away “contiguity” in the system, thus leaving a pile of leaves, you dismantle the mind of the system. You destroy the system’s memory and its unique way in understanding things. You’ve turned your communication partner into a pile of leaves! See: ‘4212/2b5’
“Shared meaning” of items that are also located nearby one another (forward associations, backward associations, and nearby associations) “play a crucial role in the function of human memory,” according to one scholar who specializes in the field.
In other words, note the important distinction: it’s the stemlinks & branchlinks which play a crucial role in how human memory works—not just remote links. Digital Zettelkastens do not possess the first two.
(Kahana, 11)
Here’s a photo of it:
This card comes out to 738 characters (excluding the card address). Also there’s some extra room at the top.
Here’s one of Luhmann’s notecards, word-for-word:
Im Grunde führt also die Als-Struktur des Erkennens auf das System. Denn etwas kann nur erkannt werden durch Hinweis auf ein anderes, das wiederum in weiteren Zusammenhängen bedeutsam ist. Und das Gewicht, das die Feststellung von etwas als etwas hat, empfängt sie von diesen anderen Zusammenhängen her, auf die sie verweist. Sobald solches Feststellen begrifflich wird, wird es daher auch systematisch.
Vgl. auch Schlick, S. 62: “Das Erkenntnisurteil ist einen neue Kombination von lauter alten Begriffen. Die letzteren kommen in zahllosen anderen Urteilen vor, von denen uns einige (z.B. ihre Definitionen) schon vorher bekannt sein mussten; sie bilden die Verbindungsglieder, durch die das Neue in das grosse System der bekannten Urteile eingeordnet wird, welches den Bestand unserer Erfahrungen
Here’s a picture of this card:
photo credit: “Niklas Luhmann-Archiv,” accessed May 5, 2022, https://niklas-luhmann-archiv.de/bestand/zettelkasten/zettel/ZK_1_NB_8-5-1_V.
This comes out to 797 characters.
Again, there’s some white space in both of these cards. Plus, I’m not counting the card addresses. For these reasons, I think a character limit of 825 is a good guesstimate.
If I were forced to build a digital Antinet, the third thing I’d do is this: I’d disable editing and deleting. Once a note is created it should not be edited or deleted. Yet, appending other ideas onto the note is fine. Such additions can be in the form of adding text to any blank space. For example, adding ‘See Also’-cardlinks. This would be like a pop-up bubble seen when hovering your mouse over an image. For instance, there are design collaboration apps that allow designers to add pop-out text over areas of the design as a comment bubble over the image.
The fourth thing I’d do if forced to build a digital Antinet relates to the directory structure. There would be three top level structures, corresponding to the three boxes of an Antinet: (1) Bibliography Box, (2) Index Box, and (3) Main Box). It would be look like this:
The fifth thing I would do if forced to build a digital Antinet would be to eliminate the ability to copy and paste.
The sixth thing I would do would be to delete tags and backlinks from the system.
The seventh thing I would do is delete the search box. This forces users to deliberately create keyterms in the index. It also forces one to navigate the Antinet in a more exploratory way.
The final thing I would do would be to delete the whole digital repository and get back to creating knowledge the analog way!
Ironically, one of the individuals who, early on, claimed analog wasn’t an option for them ended up changing their stance. They tried building out the Antinet the right way (the analog way), and they’ve since come to see the light.
I believe the majority of those who claim that analog isn’t for them simply possess false beliefs. If they would only test it first themselves, they’d come to realize the advantages of analog.
Still, everyone’s different. I’m not some analog luddite. Try both for yourself. If you decide analog doesn’t do it for you, then hopefully the guidelines I’ve laid forth in this section will be of service to you.
Oh, and one last thing: don’t do digital.
Glossary
Analog Knowledge Development (“AKD”): A term for those who develop knowledge using analog tools. Knowledge development refers to four phases: (1) selecting sources of knowledge and the material within those sources; (2) extracting interesting thoughts from books, podcasts, videos, and other media; (3) creating notes that elaborate on the thoughts one extracts from knowledge sources; (4) installing those thoughts into a long-term storage structure so that the thoughts may evolve (the Antinet Zettelkasten being the ultimate storage structure).
Antinet: A notebox containing four core properties (or principles): Analog, Numeric-Alpha Card Addresses, a Tree Structure, and an Index. Together, these four principles create a cybernetic thinking network. Variant terms: Antinet Zettelkasten, Analog Zettelkasten, Luhmannian Zettelkasten.
Antinetter: Those who develop knowledge using the Antinet. These are the crazy ones, the crazy few. Those who know, deep-down, that developing their thoughts using analog tools (and specifically the Antinet Zettelkasten) is the most magical, powerful, intimate way of creating meaningful output.
Bibliography Box (“Bib Box”): A box in the Antinet which stores all of your bibcards (notes from the books you read). These bibcards are stored alphabetically by author’s last name.
Bibliography Card (“Bibcard”): A 4 x 6 inch notecard oriented vertically. This card is used to store observational thoughts with a corresponding page number while reading (or engaging with other sources like podcasts, videos, lectures, etc.). Also useful as a bookmark. Variant terms: Staging Card, Literature Notes.
Bibliography Notes (“Bib Notes”): These are short, observational notes from readings (or other media), which are placed on bibcards. They begin with a page number, and then a very brief observation or thought. The bib notes are then transformed into more in-depth notes (called main notes).
Bubble Graph Boiz: Digitally-obsessed PKM individuals who spend their days majoring in the minor. These folks obsess over metadata tags, and creating interesting templates for creating notes. The one thing they do not prioritize is knowledge development. Nor do they prioritize output. You can find these individuals hanging out in your favorite PKM software’s forums. Variant terms: Workflow Warriors, Digital notetaking Junkies, Hotkey Addicts, Plugin Perverts.
