Notes
- What are transformative tools for thought?
- Pedagogical ideas, theories, approaches, methods, and activities that challenge you to develop your praxis further
- “Tools for thought” is a phrase commonly used in apps/programs promoting PKM practices → buzzword?
- From the essay: “a context in which the user can have new kinds of thought… that were formerly impossible for them”
- EX: a guy from the Middle Ages wouldn’t have thoughts about computers simply bc they didn’t exist back then → introducing a computer to him would introduce new thoughts not really formulated before
- EX: computers as tools for thought – or a medium?
- Medium vs tools:
- “Tools” as a word feels restrictive, makes you think of things like hammers, wrenches, etc.
- “Medium” → “Adobe Illustrator is essentially different from any of the individual tools it contains”
- Sum of its parts vs individual parts?
- “The range of expressive thoughts possible in such a medium is an emergent property of the elementary objects and actions in that medium”
- What you can do in a medium depends on the tools provided to you by the medium
- “The range of expressive thoughts possible in such a medium is an emergent property of the elementary objects and actions in that medium”
- Sum of its parts vs individual parts?
- Learning can be difficult bc you’re basically learning a new language at the same time
- Nursing school lol
- “Mnemonic medium” as a tool for thought to answer the question “how could you build a medium to better support a person’s memory of what they read?”
- Combining spaced repetition with an essay was their prototype
- Spaced repetition → “as we are repeatedly tested on a question, our memory of the answer gets stronger, and we are likely to retain it for longer”
- “Exponential returns for increased effort”
- Forcing yourself to remember something with a shorter time period and then slowly extending that time period = going from your short term to your long term memory
- Delayed benefits vs instant gratification, sort of
- Spaced repetition → “as we are repeatedly tested on a question, our memory of the answer gets stronger, and we are likely to retain it for longer”
- Combining spaced repetition with an essay was their prototype
Thoughts
This essay really delves into the nitty gritty of effective development of tools for thought. It was a good way to learn about the origin, definition, and examples of what makes a tool for thought, well, a tool for thought, but the rest of it I feel does not exactly pertain to what I want to learn about; that’s why the rest of the essay is left unread and I’ll consider this read mostly finished. I’ll also go ahead and transcribe my annotations down below for easier reading and access.
How exactly does this information pertain to myself? It certainly makes me think of my relationship with my belongings, specifically ones that have a variety of functions, such as my PC, phone, and tablet. What do I use them for, and how exactly do I use them for such purposes? Are they merely sources of entertainment, or can they be something more than that?
I kind of go over how technology’s prevalence in my life with thoughts on the cozy web and thoughtdump on whatever this is idk i forgot (rip sweet prince you’ll forever be a wip bc I forgot my train of thought there) but I haven’t really thought about it as a way to think of new things. Technically, what I do can be done on paper but with a bit more difficulty, since Obsidian allows for the linking of notes while writing notes down on paper doesn’t really. The best you might get analog-wise is to slap your notes on a board and connect them together with string. In that way, by looking at the connections that you actively make in Obsidian while also having a visual of it while, at the same time, looking back at your notes and revising them as needed, I suppose new thoughts can form. I still feel like you can still do the same thing with written notes; Obsidian just makes the whole process more convenient and easier to do. Everything on pen and paper just seems so permanent and therefore unrevisable, you know? I’m sure there’s ways to do so that I can’t really think of at the moment, but the sentiment is there.
I think, when I go back to school, this will have more relevance to me. The mnemonic medium might also aid in any future studying I do, since I already have spaced repetition added to my studying routine. But right now, while evaluating my relationship with technology and whatnot, I’ll have to chalk up my current use of Obsidian as a “tool for thought” as “a cool thing that lets me take notes faster than I can write, with even cooler bonuses on top of it.” (Although, without it, I suppose I never would have considered such thoughts in the first place? Dun dun dunnn)