Why note-taking apps don’t make us smarter and the equity equation

Why note-taking apps don’t make us smarter and the equity equation

Note-taking apps have become a popular tool for storing information and ideas. However, they often fall short when it comes to helping us generate insights and connections. These apps are designed primarily for storage, lacking the ability to spark meaningful insights. While AI-powered link databases have perfect memories, they still lack a usable chat interface that would make them effective research assistants.

One of the key issues with relying on AI tools to summarize information is the lack of trust in the summary itself. To truly understand and digest the content, one must read all the relevant documents themselves, which defeats the purpose of seeking a summary in the first place. Note-taking is not an isolated activity; it takes place alongside numerous other apps and distractions such as email, messaging platforms, and social networks. The constant switching between these apps challenges our ability to build knowledge and draw connections.

It seems that what we truly need is a database that can be interacted with through conversation. A chat interface would allow for seamless communication and exploration of ideas, making it a next-generation note-taking tool. However, it may be a mistake to expect software to improve our thinking. Even with the most efficient data collection and organization tools, thinking remains an active pursuit that requires uninterrupted contemplation and reflection. Staring into space and pondering, followed by bursts of writing, is where connections are made and insights are formed. This process resists automation.

Andy Matuschak, a researcher known for his deep insights into notes and note-taking, highlights that note-taking apps tend to prioritize displaying and manipulating notes rather than facilitating sense-making between them. He emphasizes that the goal should not be solely to take notes, but to think effectively. This raises questions about the practices that can reliably develop insights over time and how to effectively shepherd our attention.

In a separate topic, the equity equation sheds light on the value of trading ownership in a company. According to the equation, giving up a certain percentage of your company is worthwhile if what you receive in return improves the average outcome enough that the remaining percentage is worth more than the entire company before the trade. Mathematically, if n represents the fraction of the company given up, the deal is favorable if it increases the company's worth to more than 1/(1 - n).

This equation demonstrates that accepting funding from a top venture capital firm can be a financially sound decision. The same principle applies when granting stock to employees, but in reverse. If the addition of a new employee increases the average outcome for the company, then they are worth a percentage n such that i = 1/(1 - n), where i represents the average outcome. By calculating n using this formula, it is possible to determine the percentage of the company that should be traded for the new hire.