We can’t circumvent the work needed to train our minds

The Scam Called “You Don't Have to Remember Anything” Dear Zettlers, This scam is decades old now and it is quite surprising that people still fall for it. The search engines, old note-taking apps (you know, those with an elephant icon and the like) and AI have something in common: They claim that the effort of remembering things is outdated like using a candle in the age of electric light. The following is, by the way, from my Zettelkasten (2016): To find what you need online, you require a solid general education and, above all, prior knowledge in the area related to your search. Original in German: Was man braucht, um im Netz fündig zu werden, ist eine solide Grundbildung und vor allem Vorwissen in dem Bereich, in dem sich die Suche bewegt. —Manfred Spitzer, Digitale Demenz Culturally, it is increasingly the case that the first step is to go online, search for the a desired end result of a thinking process instead of engaging in learning. This means that we are using the internet less and less to our advantage, because we have less and less prior knowledge: We detrain ourselves out of the ability to access the quality of the information and turn it into actual knowledge. Rowlands et al. wrote about the so called “digital natives” that they lack the critical and analytical thinking skills to evaluate the information they find on the internet. We need a fully developed mental map of the subject in order to derive value from the results of an internet search. In short: You need a trained brain to actually benefit from the internet. The advertised benefits of all these tools come with a specific hidden cost: Your ability to think. Let’t take a closer look at the digital natives, since this issue is more accessible. They put themselves in a situation in which there is a vastly reduced incentive structure to evaluate the information critically. They use surface level indicators if the information matches the request. This behaviour has some obvious effects (in hindsight): The reduced engagement with the material reduces the emotional weight of the whole line of action. You mind is an engine that is fuelled by emotion. Without any emotion, you don’t think. Rather, you try to imitate thinking efficiently. The more you interact with information being emotionally disengaged and keeping it on the surface level, the more you develop the habit to engage with information in a way that it doesn’t change your brain. So the more you work in a superficial way, the more brittle the knowledge foundation in your mind will be on which you base your cognitive actions. This drives us to one of the most important conclusions of the entire field of note-taking, knowledge work, critical thinking and alike: You, not AI, not your PKM or whatever need to build the knowledge because only then it is in your brain and you can go the next step. Let me try to give you a demonstration of the issue: I asked ChatGPT to design an optimal weekly training schedule for health span and fitness. This is the answer: Here’s a table outlining the optimal weekly workout schedule for health span and longevity based on the assumption that you should focus on aerobic capacity, muscle strength, mobility/flexibility, and neuromuscular coordination: Day Workout Type Focus Duration Details Monday Full-Body Strength Training Muscle mass, metabolic health 45–60 min Warm-up: Dynamic stretches (5 min) - Squats, Deadlifts, Push-ups, Pull-ups (3x 8–12 reps) - Core: Plank (3x 30–60 sec) - Cool-down: Static stretches (5 min) Tuesday Low-Intensity Cardio & Mobility Heart health, joint function 30–60 min Brisk walking, cycling, or swimming (30–45 min) - Yoga or joint mobility exercises (15 min) Wednesday High-Intensity Interval Training (HIIT) Cardiovascular fitness, metabolism 20–30 min Warm-up: Light jogging (5 min) - 30 sec sprint / 90 sec walk (15–20 min) OR Bodyweight circuit (40 sec on/20 sec rest) - Cool-down: Stretching (5 min) Thursday Active Recovery & Balance Recovery, neuromuscular coordination 30–45 min Easy yoga, tai chi, or a nature walk (20–30 min) - Balance drills: Single-leg stands, heel-to-toe walking (10–15 min) Friday Upper-Body Strength & Core Upper-body strength, core stability 45–60 min Warm-up: Arm/shoulder stretches (5 min) - Overhead Press, Pull-ups, Push-ups, Rows (3x 8–12 reps) - Core: Russian twists or bird-dogs (3 sets) - Cool-down: Static stretches (5 min) Saturday Moderate-Intensity Cardio Endurance, cardiovascular health 45–60 min Steady activity: Jogging, cycling, swimming, rowing, or hiking (60–70% max heart rate) - Cool-down: Easy pace and stretches (5 min) Sunday Mobility & Flexibility Recovery, flexibility 30–60 min Yoga session focusing on stretching major muscle groups - Foam rolling or myofascial release Looks good alright? Or does it? How do you know? You can’t if you don’t have sufficient background knowledge. Here is a little quiz if you have the sufficient background knowledge: How do volume and intensity factor in strength gains? What is the difference between aerobic capacity and aerobic power? How do you weigh each minute spend on flexibility against the minutes spent on aerobic capacity and strength? If you can’t produce a comprehensive answer with confidence and on the whim the second you read the question, you don’t have the sufficient background knowledge. “I just ask ChatGPT for that, too!”, the AI generation might ask. Ok, and then what? How can you assess the answers to those three questions (which represent only a fraction of needed knowledge!)? What is going wrong? You are taking on an impossible task, because you can’t use enough of your brain for your cognitive operations. Assuming that you have no comprehensive knowledge in health and fitness, terms like “aerobic capacity” or “core stability” only activate some superficial level associations. But if you are deeply involved with the topic the term “aerobic capacity” activates way more. Here are some examples (just a small fraction): Two discussions of Olaf Alexander Bu on the difference between capacity and power numbers in measuring endurance performances. A mental map on the aerobic metabolism. The tension between peripheral endurance improvements (like mitochondrial biogenesis) central improvements (like improved cardiac output) and their connection (like angiogenesis) The still ongoing discussion between low intensity exercise and high intensity exercise as the best tool to build aerobic capacity for the non-professional athlete. The differences between running, cycling, rowing and all the other movements to build aerobic capacity. An open task to review a paper on interval length that you found in “Textbook of Work Physiology” by Astrand and Rodahl. This is a small fraction of what I can observe in my mind and there is a lot more going on unconsciously. Now consider that I might be very well-read in the domain of health and fitness. But multiply this by a factor of 100 if you replace me with an expert like Olaf Alexander Bu when it comes to the term “aerobic capacity”. In knowledge work the bottleneck is not the external availability of information. It is the internal bandwidth of processing power which is determined by your innate abilities and the training status of your mind. So, coming back to the initial starting point that “you don’t have to remember anything”. The opposite is true. You have to remember EVERYTHING. Only then you can perform the cognitive tasks necessary to perform meaningful knowledge work. The way you train your mind is the way your mind can perform. Simple tools like spaced repetition allow your mind to perform simple tasks, complex tools like the Zettelkasten Method allow your mind to master complex tasks. Remember my mantra of depth of processing? Perhaps, you can rephrase it to train your mind for depth. The field of knowledge work will not advance if we don’t come to terms that we can’t circumvent the work needed to train our minds. Live long and prosper Sascha