In Episode 5, I mentioned that magic happens in the "Threads" section of the daily note structure. I probably should have said that "making connections between disjointed thought and ideas is magic." Niklas Luhmann, the creator of the Zettelkasten methodology, referred to this magic as serendipity. The very definition of serendipity is surprise or chance. [1] The exciting discovery of new or unexpected insights. Stephen King said it best (of course):

"There is no Idea Dump, no Story Central, no Island of the Buried Bestsellers; good story ideas seem to come quite literally from nowhere, sailing at you right out of the empty sky: two previously unrelated ideas come together and make something new under the sun. Your job isn't to find these ideas but to recognize them when they show up." [2]

We'll start with "hard links" and work through the list. The list can be limitless; however, here are a few ways I've found hard links beneficial. Remember, although TheBrain was created essentially as a mind mapping tool, hard links are not always the best way to proceed and can restrict the very insights you are trying to make.

Parent/Child Links

The classic use case for hard links occurs in the parent/child hierarchical system of connecting thoughts. By definition, these thoughts are already strict by nature. Some examples that I use are:

Daily notes and Journal. Strict parent/child hierarchical use of hard links between Year - Month - Day allows for easy transition from thought to thought. There is little reasoning to allow for the ambiguous flow of dates within the database.

Geographical locations. As someone who likes to hike, climb, and stand on mountain summits, I keep track of the place for trailheads or mountain peaks by a strict parent/child hierarchy. Geographical locations are divided by Continent - Country - State - County - Quadrangle. The child thoughts of Quadrangle data can be cities, towns, roads, trailheads, mountain peaks, hot springs, slot canyons, etc., The child thoughts of cities can be restaurants, city parks, libraries, and camping.

“County (Iron) - Quadrangle (Brian Head) + Peaks, Hikes, Ski Resort, US-143” copyright BrickBarnBlog2022

Family members. Keeping track of family in the strict parent/child structure helps keep the peace and provides resources to track birthdays, addresses, and phone numbers, along with journal entries and a picture inventory.

Books. Using the original hierarchical system of chapters keeps the author's intended relationship between thoughts. However, tracking your notes on those relationships best suits using search links.

Jump Links

I often use the case for jump links between two or more hierarchical systems above. For example, suppose I hike a trail, read a book, or climb a mountain peak. Then, the mountain, path, and text become linked to the accomplishment date.

“Lady Mountain has 5 journal entries and is mentioned in two books” copyright BrickBarnBlog2022

Hyperlinks (soft links)

My use of hyperlinks grows more infrequent as the damage that can be done to thought strings when a link breaks can be time-consuming to repair. And in some cases, difficult, if not impossible, to restore. As a result, my only use case for hyperlinks is between a note and an independent self-sustaining thought such as a blog article.

Search (UID)

Currently, the most reliable method I have found for links between thoughts is the search feature and a Unique Identification number assigned to the idea you are hoping to find. Therefore, create UIDs liberally. I mentioned in Episode 5 that I prefer the simple YYYYMMDDTTTT format to capture the date and time I made the thought. Here are some examples from July 26, 2022.

Note that each entry title is in the headline format. The use of headline formats enables the Table of Content to pick it out and include it in summary. Second and critical for our discussion is the UID. After creating every headline, I glance at the clock and type out the UID. I do this regardless of whether I'm working in the threads section of daily notes. Or I am capturing some thoughts from the chapter in a book. When taking notes from a book, I capture all views in one long text file separated by title and UID. If I'm reading a white paper, article, or PDF, especially if I have the entire article on file, I will make my notes directly to the text file again, separated by title and UID.

“Taking note internally.” Partial reprint of Progressive Summarization: A Practical Technique for Designing Discoverable Notes by Tiago Forte

The pros of using a unique identifier and the search feature over and above a hyperlink are:

No link to accidentally break.
Easy to insert anywhere in a document.
The related search will lead directly to the exact location within the document.
Every minute, a new UID is available for use. Every second, if you want to expand the UID to include seconds.

The only con I've run up against when using the search feature versus hyperlink is:

No automatic backlink is created.

It would be best if you created backlinks manually. I have not found this a problem as I have already found the thought I wish to link to and the corresponding UID. Creating the backlink at this time is accessible and concise. Generally, I insert a “Related to” entry and note the UID. I only need to search for the related UID number to find the information I feel is related. Also, I am looking to see if other existing links occur on the same thought I am currently trying to connect.

“Example of Search Links ‘Related to’” copyright BrickBarnBlog2022

If the note is a continuation of a thought, project, idea, or conversation you are having with yourself, use either Next, meaning the conversation continues at the next search link, or Continue to illustrate where to search to continue reading the thought string.

“Use ‘Continue’ when directing thought strings to the next thought in the chain” copyright BrickBarnBlog2022

In Episode 7, we will explore ways to use TheBrain for research, including some starting points for how the Zettelkasten method using TheBrain might assist fate (serendipity) formation.

Written: August 1, 2022

References:

[1] [serendipity definition - Search (bing.com)](https://www.bing.com/search?q=serendipity+definition&form=ANNTH1&refig=af5cf363458f4edcb9095f7e9f1b47b3)

[2] [Knowledge Processing System for Marketers, Creators & Knowledge Workers](https://tinylittlebusinesses.com/zettelkasten-method/)