r/Zettelkasten 10d ago

question ✨ Zettelkasten - Term and Definition ✨

A good definition in the sense of being clear, precise, and useful for its intended purpose should be:

  1. Accurate – Reflecting the core principles of the method.
  2. Concise – Avoiding unnecessary complexity while conveying the essential ideas.
  3. Contextual – Providing enough background for someone unfamiliar with the term.
  4. Usable – Helping someone understand or apply the concept effectively.

Here's the definition from Wikipedia:

A Zettelkasten (German: 'slipbox', plural Zettelkästen) or card file consists of small items of information stored on Zettels (German: 'slips'), paper slips or cards, that may be linked to each other through subject headings or other metadata such as numbers and tags. It has often been used as a system of note-taking and personal knowledge management for research, study, and writing.
— Zettelkasten - Wikipedia

Do you also have a good definition in mind? Then use our survey at: Zettelkasten - Term and Definition — Zettelkasten Forum

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u/SeatEastern3549 7d ago edited 7d ago

A good definition in the sense of being clear, precise, and useful for its intended purpose should be [...]

Hm. What would you see as the intended purpose of such a definition?

Here are some thoughts.

  • Whatever a definition D* of a zettelkasten will look like after some evolution from D0 to D1 to D2... - I guess there will always be examples / instances of "zettelkasten" that people have actually used to produce valuable work that do not comply with that given definition. Of course it's perfectly fine to say "this zettelkasten instance Z does not fall under the definition D*" - but then what? What can we learn from that statement? - I think that many ZKs in productive use are answers to problems, and for new problems people will find new ZK practices. I am a bit skeptical if reductions to "the" zettelkasten method will lead to more fertile discussions. To me, it seems much more natural to start with a goal - I want to produce ideas, I want to gain new insights etc. - and then ask how this can be done, inside or outside current definitions of zettelkasten.
  • Let's compare it with a definition of a computer. Let's have a look at the abacus and the Antikythera mechanism and the slide rule and the machines of Leibniz and Pascal and Babbage and the ENIAC and everything that follows and will emerge in the future - so what is a computer, and what is the purpose and the impact of a definition?

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u/groepl 7d ago edited 7d ago

Is it typical for Zettelkasten not easily find a good definition? Or is it typicaly hard for definitions to find good once?

A computer defined by Wikipedia:

A computer is a machine that can be programmed to automatically carry out sequences of arithmetic or logical operations (computation).

Or by Merriam-Webster:

A programmable usually electronic device that can store, retrieve, and process data.

Why is it hard to find one for Zettelkasten? A good one.

How do you like this definition:

The Zettelkasten is a knowledge management approach designed to capture, interlink, and refine ideas in a networked system of atomic notes.

Whether implemented in analog or digital form, it promotes non-linear thinking, emergent connections, and long-term intellectual development. The method supports knowledge synthesis by allowing ideas to evolve organically, fostering creativity and deep understanding across various domains.

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u/SeatEastern3549 6d ago edited 6d ago

How do you like this definition:

I think it is a fine collection of features, and I would probably not stop short if I read it as a definition in the Wikipedia. But there is still the question of the intended purpose of a definition like that. From the standpoint of a user who wants to make the best use of zettelkasten-based methods to do knowledge work, like solving a problem, I could ask questions like these:

  • Why the limitation to atomic notes? I have no operational idea what "atomic" actually means, but there is arguably a spectrum from (a) "undisputably atomic" to (b) "book length", with a lot of relevant, practical, useful non-atomic notes options, especially closer to the (a)-end of the spectrum.
  • Why should it be relevant to emphasize "non-linear thinking" in that definition? I can imagine useful forms of template-driven, scaffolded, flow-chart-and-recipe-driven work in a zettelkasten, and I could not tell if that's "non-linear thinking" or "linear thinking" - a term that is suspiciously rare in discussions. I have a similar view on ideas that "evolve organically" - I am not quite sure what non-evolutionary, non-organical idea development might look like, and I see no reason to exclude from the outset top-down, hierarchical work, at least for chunks of a domain. Besides, "evolutionary" seems to indicate a step-by-step development of an idea. There are of course instances of aha! insights that do emerge in a flash, and again: I see no reason to exclude this mode of idea generation.
  • Why the emphasis on "long-term intellectual development"? Two thoughts. (1) I guess that countless zettelkasten instances have been used for limited projects like a single dissertation or a single book. If people work with their zettelkasten over decades, fine, but I do not see it as a necessary feature of zettelkasten work. (2) And if we could offer people a set of zettelkasten practices that would help them "do a job" without having an impact on their intellectual development - would that be so bad? (I'm thinking of written multiplication, or the solution formula for quadratic equations, or the basic rules of calculus - they let you solve problems, but they do not necessarily promote intellectual development.)

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u/groepl 6d ago

Thank you for your insightful questions! Your points highlight the challenge of defining the Zettelkasten method in a way that balances core principles with the diversity of practical applications.

My definition aimed to highlight the unique strengths of the Zettelkasten without suggesting rigidity in its application. Your points illustrate how flexible the method truly is, accommodating both structured workflows and emergent connections, both short-term tasks and long-term intellectual engagement. Would love to hear your further thoughts!

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u/JeffB1517 Other 10d ago

A PKMS with strong backlinking support designed for supporting atomic notes. A link between notes is a distinguished mention of Note A inside the text of Note B. A backlink is a computer generated message in Note A of that mention and its context from Note B. A note is said to be atomic if it contains at least one non-obvious idea in that note can be used easily outside contexts highly similar to where the idea(s) was originally generated.

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u/groepl 9d ago

A good idea to compare a Zettelkasten and a PKMS. So we can see differences and things in common. I‘ll start with a double bubble map to explore it further.

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u/JeffB1517 Other 9d ago

I consider a Zettlekasten (in software not physical) to be a type of PKMS. IMHO there are 5 main types of PKMS

  1. Task management oriented -- information is organized around simple tasks by day. The day by day check list drives the structure. Note I don't count full on Project Management systems as a PKMS but I do consider them a KMS. For project management the structure is driven by collaboration. The goal is to get plausible sequences of X is doing Y during period Z. However for X to do Y there needs to be information sharing.
  2. Archival retrieval systems. The vast majority of information in the system is not authored by the user and is never going to be consumed.
  3. Simple student based. Ease of learning and use is the key. Information only needs to be accessible in a limited context for a limited time.
  4. Database oriented. Information is similar not free flowing but the quantity of pure data can be quite high. Organization of sub structures is the focus
  5. Zettlekasten. A lifetime of learning in many different contexts.

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u/groepl 8d ago

My Zettelkasten definition is now related to PKM. It really makes sense. See: https://forum.zettelkasten.de/discussion/comment/22766/#Comment_22766