number of entries

Posted by Dr Andus
Apr 14, 2014 at 10:38 AM

alexxx wrote:
I read in some place (damn I forgot to save the reference) that
>increasing the number of entries one inserts in a zettel/mind
>manager/whatever, there is a threshold beyond which we can observe some
>kind of qualitative change, in terms of what we insert vs. what we get
>out of the system.
>Meaning, I guess, that our system really starts becoming useful in
>making both store&recall; our materials, but also in letting us discover
>new links and hindsights in what we write.

It sounds like you might be referring to Manfred Kuehn’s description of Luhmann’s system of note-taking:

“When we consult this external or artificial memory, we will often be surprised by what we find. In fact, the more information we have fed into the system, the more we will be surprised.”

http://www.connectedtext.com/manfred.php

>So I wanted - just curious - to ask you the order of magnitude of the
>number of entries you inserted in your favorite mind manager (in my
>case: 620)

I recall Manfred saying somewhere that he had over a thousand or more notes in CT. I haven’t got to that point yet in mine.

Incidentally, Christian Tietze has just mentioned recently that he as over 3000 notes in his nVALT system:

http://christiantietze.de/posts/2014/04/nvalt-zettelkasten-implementation/