In 20196ya I took a course called Building a Second Brain by Tiago Forte. Throughout the course I illustrated summaries of the main concepts which you can find below.
Much like it sounds, building a “second brain” is about creating a system – outside your physical skin-and-bone bodily boundaries – for storing, organising, and eventually transforming information.
This idea is not especially new; commonplace books for storing personal knowledge have been around for centuries. Although digital mediums have made it easier and faster to capture, browse, search, and retrieve the information in these systems.
A Small Disclaimer
In the 3 years since taking the course, I’ve learned much more about the world of personal knowledge management (PKM) and its long history. Tiago’s course is a light introduction to the concept of knowledge management, but not deeply rooted in the historical literature. I’d encourage you to explore beyond it.
The price tag on the course has also blossomed since I took it, and the marketing material a bit outlandish. I don’t necessarily endorse or actively encourage anyone to take the course.
I also find the metaphor of a “second brain” troubling in that it doesn’t speak to the significance of embodied cognition and tacit knowledge in how human cognition works. Filling up a “digital brain” as if it were a filing cabinet is highly unlikely to lead to meaningful knowledge and wisdom.
Some of the content below is good, sensible advice for managing your digital information, but it is not groundbreaking or life changing. It also isn’t based in much scientific evidence for what makes people effective thinkers, writers, and creators.
As Andy Matuschak poetically pointed out , “people who write extensively about note-writing rarely have a serious context of use.”
Exercise your own discernment here.
