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03
Digital
Cognition

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Intention of the Unit

To understand how digital note-taking

programs can support and enhance
creative output

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The 3 pillars

CAPTURE ORGANIZE RETRIEVE

Progressive Summarization P.A.R.A. Just-in-Time Project Mgmt
Practice

Unit 4 Unit 2 Unit 6

Progressive Summarization Organizing for Insight Workflow & Retrieval
Theory

Unit 5 Unit 7
Unit 3
Maximizing Just-In-Time
Digital Cognition
Return-on-Attention Project Management

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What functions do we need in a digital note-taking tool 


to enhance and support our creative output?

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Functions of a digital note-taking tool

Promote unusual
associations
between pieces of Create visual
information artifacts

Incubate ideas over

long periods of time Provide the raw
material for unique
interpretations and
perspectives

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Functions of a digital note-taking tool

#1 Promote unusual
associations
between pieces of Create visual
information artifacts

Incubate ideas over

long periods of time Provide the raw
material for unique
interpretations and
perspectives

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“…creative people are better at

recognizing relationships, making
associations and connections…”

56 Eddie Opera, The Atlantic

56MARK02 presentation
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“…increased sensitivity to unusual

associations is another important
contributor to creativity.””

Scott Barry Kauffman, Harvard Business Review

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Promoting unusual associations

handwritten notes

text screenshots

files
book notes

paper
voice memos documents photos webpages
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Functions of a digital note-taking tool

Promote unusual
associations
between pieces of #2 Create visual
information artifacts

Incubate ideas over

long periods of time Provide the raw
material for unique
interpretations and
perspectives

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“…the basic functioning mode of the

human mind is not reasoning and planning,
but interacting via perception and action
with the environment.”

Francis Heylighen and Clément Vidal,

60 Free University of Brussels
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Visual artifacts

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Functions of a digital note-taking tool

Promote unusual
associations
between pieces of Create visual
information artifacts

#3 Incubate ideas over

long periods of time Provide the raw
material for unique
interpretations and
perspectives

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HeAVy lifts

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the slow burn

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“You have to keep a dozen of your favorite problems constantly

present in your mind, although by and large they will lay in a
dormant state. Every time you hear or read a new trick or a new
result, test it against each of your twelve problems to see
whether it helps. Every once in a while there will be a hit, and
people will say, “How did he do it? He must be a genius!”

Richard Feynman, Nobel Prize-winning physicist

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Reuse and recycle

intellectual
information capital projects

knowledge
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Functions of a digital note-taking tool

Promote unusual
associations
between pieces of Create visual
information artifacts

Incubate ideas over

long periods of time #4 Provide the raw
material for unique
interpretations and
perspectives

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“…the ability to convey not just information but a

particular interpretation of information.”

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“‘Point of view’ is that quintessentially human solution to

information overload, an intuitive process of reducing
things to an essential relevant and manageable
minimum. . . . In a world of hyper-abundant content, point
of view will become the scarcest of resources.”

Paul Saffo
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Ammunition

examples illustrations screenshots statistics

71 mindmaps diagrams book notes quotes

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Durable
Backed up in the cloud and on your computer

Universal
Stores any type of file, works on many devices

Centralized
Keeps everything in one place

Transparent
Exposes information visually, instead of hiding it
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Up next…

04
Progressive
Summarization
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