Notes

I only note¹ things worth knowing, never those worth understanding².

Like my auntie's birthday.

Valuable ideas require deep interconnected understanding, and a pretty note doesn't get you there. You have to get your hands dirty. I want to avoid confusing "I wrote it" or "I know it" with "I understand it".

While taking long-term notes might lead to more knowledge, I believe it negatively impacts understanding. Why?

At 13 I moved to England knowing basic English and quickly got confronted with the fact that I didn't really understand it. I realised studying the dictionary and memorising grammar rules (like we did in Poland) wasn't enough. I made friends, learned programming, studied maths, everything I did during the day involved the English language. Couple years later, it feels natural to use it. I attribute my success to trusting that pieces of the (language) puzzle will eventually start clicking (understanding), and the only reason I persisted was because I enjoyed the process and never forgot how important it was.

PS:

• this article would've cost me $15 to translate.