Author
notes.andymatuschak.org
Category
articles
Date Created
Jul 15, 2021 7:58 PM
Full Title
Collecting Material Feels More Useful Than It Usually Is
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1
Last Edited
Jul 15, 2021 9:17 PM
Last Highlighted
July 15, 2021 4:49 PM (GMT+3)
Last Synced
July 15, 2021 10:58 PM (GMT+3)
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Collecting material feels more useful than it usually isAccumulating tabs, saving PDFs, and making bookmarks feels like progress, but we systematically overrate its value. Understanding requires effortful engagement; you are not likely to draw much understanding from a folder of barely-skimmed PDFs.We collect material because it’s easy, and because it quells the anxiety that we’ll never find what we’re looking at again. But really, we’re often just making things worse, burying important materials in tons of secondary matter we just “don’t want to lose.” This notion is in contrast to Knowledge work should accrete.