Luhmann’s Zettelkasten 2.0

Building A Second Brain Worthy Of Its Name

Zettel…, Zettelkas…, Zettelkasten

How strange that such a complicated German word, is becoming a household name in the knowledge management niche.

Basically, the Zettelkasten is a system for managing information created by the German sociologist Niklas Luhmann. If we translate this name into English, Zettelkasten would simply mean slip or note box.

This makes the concept clearer for non-german speakers. At its core, it’s a note-taking methodology.

But reducing it to this definition wouldn’t do justice to the Zettelkasten.

If we look at a Zettelkasten we would see a box (analog or digital) that is full of notes. Every note is atomic which means that it contains a single idea. The huge innovation of this methode is that eventually, every single idea you put into a Zettelkasten will receive multiple connections.

After a while, the notes start forming a web of knowledge.

This makes the Zettelkasten a creativity machine that helps authors, researchers , and students come up with better ideas.

Because creativity is simply the art of connecting different things and creating something new out of those connections.