"Explain Like I'm Five": Zettelkasten

Posted by zoe
Apr 23, 2015 at 04:26 PM

(A note on this post’s title: there is a sub-forum of Reddit called “Explain Like I’m Five,” where posters ask to have ideas explained to them in as simple terms as possible.)

I’ve seen a lot of discussion here, and on other blogs, about the Zettelkasten approach to information gathering and outlining. However, I am having a great deal of trouble understanding how it’s supposed to work in practice. Here is what I *think* I understand so far:

- each card (or digital note) is given a unique ID, typically a number or number/letter combination.
- the numbering is based upon branching out or relatedness of concepts. So, a card about poodles might be numbered 27, and a card about poodle haircuts might end up being 27b2, because the writer started with 27, added additional cards on this topic which he/she numbered 27a, 27b, 27c, and then expanded upon the content of 27b with another card descending from 27b, which is numbered 27b2. (Do I have it right so far?)
- direct references to other cards are indicated by writing that card’s unique ID on another card.

Here’s what I don’t get:

How is this all indexed? If I start a new card about squids, how will I know what to number it without going through all the cards to find the thread of numbers that relates to sea creatures? How can I find older information if I don’t remember the number of the card?

I like the notion of organically expanding categories, but I don’t understand how to retrieve information in this setup.

Please help!