TOP CONCEPTS slip card A single note card serving as the atomic unit of a slip-box; the fundamental indivisible element that carries
knowledge management The practice of systematically capturing, organizing, distilling, and expressing information to build a reusab
permanent notes Atomic notes in Zettelkasten that exist independently of their source material; connected to other notes via e
slip box Another name for Zettelkasten; emphasizes the slip-box metaphor of individual cards that can be recombined fre
zettelkasten A note-taking system using atomic, interconnected notes that forms a web of ideas; developed by sociologist Ni
capturing The act of quickly recording any idea, insight, or information before it is lost; the first phase in the CODE
second brain A methodology and digital system for capturing, organizing, and retrieving knowledge externally so the biologi
te organizing The structuring operation that transforms captured material into a retrievable system; grouping related conten
external memory The second brain as an extension of biological memory; shifts the brain from storage organ to synthesis engine
handwritten slip A physical card with handwritten notes; the original material form Luhmann used for his 90,000-card box.
mental models Conceptual frameworks for understanding the world; a key category of knowledge to capture and connect in a sec
te distilling The process of extracting essential insights from source material through progressive summarization; a compres
bidirectional links Links that work in both directions automatically; if note A links to note B, note B sees a backlink to A witho
cognitive offload Transferring mental tasks to external systems to free working memory for higher-order thinking; second brain i
compounding knowledge The exponential effect where each new note becomes more valuable because it can connect to and leverage the en
distilling Extracting essential insights from source material through progressive summarization; making information dense
evergreen notes Notes written as atomic, concept-oriented assertions that are meant to evolve over time and connect to other n
knowledge retrieval The ability to find relevant information when needed; the payoff that makes all PKM investment worthwhile.
literature notes Notes that summarize and reflect on source material in your own words; intermediate step before permanent note
te capturing The first phase of the CODE framework where information is quickly captured before it fades from working memor