Joel Chan: Knowledge Synthesis, Analog Media and Zettel Questions

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3+ y ago 42:10

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In this episode, we talk with Joel Chan, Assistant Professor at the University of Maryland.

His involves the following quote: 'My research seeks to understand and create generalizable configurations of people, computing and information that augment human intelligence and creativity. I want to help create a future where any person or community can design the futures they want to live in.'

In the pursuit of his research, he has stumbled into Roam and is dedicated to seeing its possibilities. Implementing a hybrid Zettelkasten and Zettel Question system, he has designed a system to achieve knowledge synthesis which is what we will be talking about in this episode.

We covered:

Joel's workflow, how he creates notes, Zettels and Zettel Questions
Synthesis and the sum of all its parts: How do you integrate knowledge from different fields to create something new?
Charles Darwin's notebooks, and Roam's competitor
Why is analog media so powerful?

Enjoy!

Timestamps

2:49 Joel's note-taking system: Lab notebooks
4:24 Using Evernote Premium and the cabinets
5:55 Professors have their second brains in students and collaborators
8:35 Discovering [[Stian Håklev (侯爽)]]'s PhD Roam workflow
11:23 New version of Zettels: Zettel Questions
13:56 The best insights only come from a 'single mind'
16:40 Why is analog media so powerful?
18:22 Charles Darwin and Note Excision
20:06 Mixed media and Roam's challenges
23:09 Roam's biggest competitor, and Richard Feynman thinking on paper
24:38 Emulating Roam features on paper, and terrible analog media practices
27:54 The meaning of synthesis and polymathy
28:59 Engaging in greater knowledge synthesis with Roam
30:44 The manifest function and latent function of institutions
31:43 The 3 requirements for synthesis
34:36 Multiplicity and how it allows for synthesis
38:14 [[What does Roam mean to you?]]

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