parents: Writing Principles, My PKM Practice
- The primary goal of a personal knowledge system is utility, not theoretical elegance.
- Utility is driven by how easily you can find, connect, and retrieve information.
- A system that is perfectly organized but difficult to use is a failed system.
- This principle in practice:
- Embrace multiple parents.
- A note should appear in every context where it is relevant.
- For example,
[[My Note System (2025.8)]]belongs to both[[My Systems]]and[[My PKM Practice]]. - This prioritizes practical access over a single, “pure” taxonomical hierarchy.
- Prefer shallower structures.
- Deep, rigid hierarchies hide information and create friction.
- A note should be one or two clicks away from a major hub, not buried five levels deep.
- Maps of Content (MOCs) create a flexible, explorable network, which is better than a deep file cabinet.
- Use links and tags liberally.
- The formal structure (
parents,type) is the skeleton. - Links and tags are the nervous system, creating associative pathways.
- They allow for thematic discovery that cuts across the primary structure.
- The formal structure (
- Embrace multiple parents.