I first heard of the mystical machine described as a Memex in 2005 from Steven Berlin Johnson's "Tool for Thought" article. [1] Steven had spent considerable time explaining his research system using the DevonThink software. I was enamored with the discussion, and I quickly turned to the software company, yelling, "take my money," only to find that DevonThink was an Apple computer owners-only program.
I copied the entirety of Steven's article onto my desktop, made some highlights, and scheduled it for systematic review every three months. The key takeaways from the essay that I still use today are one, keep note lengths in the 50 - 500 word length range. Two, transcribe books, articles, and ideas into bite-sized chunks and have them available for search. Three, I never have owned any software that allows me to search on a semantic basis, and I think this is a significant shortcoming for all the note-taking systems currently on the market. (Note: a search of the Obsidian community plug-in does not display a semantic search engine available at this time), and four, Steven's article described a Memex.
My next brush with the term Memex came years later in a satire article about the Zettelkasten entitled "Zibbaldone with it all." [2] The author at LessWrong went by the name Randomini and blasted away at the Zettelkasten until I laughed with each new barb. However, like most satire located amongst the thorns and thistles, more than a few gems of truth could shine through. Randomini states:
"What we're really missing is a tool that will take whatever random trash I throw out of my brain, figure out how it relates to historical junk I threw out of my brain, and point out the connections for me."
In other words, a Memex. In Randomini's mind, a device would remind you that you have written about a topic. " Do you want me to autofill what you already think about it?" Yeah, that would be swell.
How do we keep track of the things we've written before? Sterling W. Sill suggests that part of Ralph Waldo Emerson's success stemmed from his writing down his thoughts. Mr. Sill says of Emerson that he collected in his journal his "disjointed dreams, his mental reveries, and the fragments of all of those ideas that his mind was able to conceive." [3]
Collecting is one thing; going back, reviewing them, connecting ideas, and making improvements is something else. "Tell me, Mr. Emerson, you wrote about living within your means three years ago would you like me to autofill your thoughts on the relationship of income to outgo?" [4] Yeah, that would be swell.
I've mentioned before that a software crash caused me to experiment with the Obsidian note-taking software. I won't get into the details here as I have written weekly about my conversion from TheBrain to Obsidian. However, two weeks ago, I stumbled upon a combination of tools in Obsidian utilizing links, unlinked mentions, and the search feature.
I found that I don't need to link everything to see everything within Obsidian. All I need is the exact wording. For example, a note titled "Alaska Rank" will list every peak in Alaska (in the database) and give me the state ranking for that peak. I also realized I could create a journal entry about having lunch with my beautiful wife and, as part of the header, write Linda, Journal & Pictures 2022, no link required. Am I writing a book? I can find every frustrating journal entry instantly with a simple exact word series. Making a note about wealth, income, or the sorry tale of MC Hammer, going broke spending 30 million a year? [5] Find just the right line and fix it to describe the story.
A Memex folder can list all your decisions about important and even unimportant issues in your life. Suppose we create a folder for each problem and the solution when discovered. Keeping track of our Memex folder by notes would prevent us from repeatedly making and remaking the same decision. New Year's eve resolutions would take on a whole new meaning by putting our findings in writing. [6]
Eventually, maybe every software system will shout, "Hey, it looks like you're talking about Wittgenstein again!" [7] However, until that time, the next time you're thinking about Wittgenstein, you might want to start in your Memex folder.
Written October 16, 2022
References:
[1] Johnson, Steven. “Tool for Thought.” *Medium*, Stevenberlinjohnson, 16 Aug. 2016, stevenberlinjohnson.com/tool-for-thought-b12c170fcc24#more.
[2] Randomini. (2020, August 28). *Zibbaldone with it all*. LessWrong. Retrieved October 3, 2021, from https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/ZhGnwtEmr42WJGi9A/zibbaldone-with-it-all.
[3] Sill, S. W. (1974). The majesty of books. Salt Lake City, UT: Deseret Book. p.182.
[4] Emerson, Ralph Waldo. “Wealth.” *Ralph Waldo Emerson*, 18 Jan. 2021, emersoncentral.com/texts/the-conduct-of-life/wealth/. p.13.
[5] McGauley, Joe. “Everything MC Hammer Blew His Fortune On.” *Thrillist*, 20 Mar. 204AD, 11:44 am, www.thrillist.com/home/why-mc-hammer-went-broke-how-mc-hammer-spent-all-of-his-money.
[6] Sill, S. W. (1974). The majesty of books. Salt Lake City, UT: Deseret Book. p.115.
[7] Randomini. (2020, August 28). *Zibbaldone with it all*. LessWrong.