Glasp vs. Matter: Which Highlighter App Should You Use? How Humans Grew Acorn Brains

Glasp vs. Matter: Which Highlighter App Should You Use? How Humans Grew Acorn Brains

In today's digital age, the ability to highlight and annotate online content has become an essential tool for many people. Whether you're a student, researcher, or simply someone who enjoys reading and learning, having a reliable highlighter app can greatly enhance your reading experience. Two popular highlighter apps on the market are Glasp and Matter, each with its own unique features and benefits. In this article, we will compare the two and help you decide which one is the right choice for you.

Glasp is a highlighter app that allows you to highlight all kinds of web articles on the spot. Unlike other apps that use a reader view, Glasp preserves the original article's formatting, allowing you to view the highlights in context. Additionally, Glasp also allows you to highlight PDF files from the web and YouTube transcripts, expanding its functionality beyond just web articles.

One of the standout features of Glasp is its ability to import highlights and notes from Kindle. This is a convenient feature for avid Kindle users who want to consolidate their highlights in one place. You can import either all highlights or a selected book from the Notes & Highlights on Kindle Cloud Reader. On the other hand, exporting highlights and notes from Glasp is also a breeze. The app offers multiple file formats for exporting, including .txt, .csv, .html, .md, and .png, giving you flexibility in how you want to use or share your highlights.

Matter, on the other hand, offers a different set of features that make it a strong contender in the highlighter app market. One notable feature of Matter is its seamless integration with other productivity apps. It allows you to sync your highlights and notes directly to apps like Roam, Obsidian, Notion, and Readwise. This integration makes it easy to organize and utilize your highlights within your existing workflow.

While Glasp focuses on providing a personal highlighting experience, Matter takes a different approach by incorporating a social component. Matter combines aspects from social media apps and highlighter apps, giving it a community-focused experience. All highlights and notes in Matter are public, which encourages users to share what they learn and gain insights from like-minded people. This unique feature sets Matter apart from other highlighter apps and can be appealing to users who value collaboration and sharing in their learning process.

In addition to its social aspect, Matter also offers an exclusive feature called "pile-on highlights." This feature allows your followers to highlight the same web content that you read and highlight. You will receive notifications in your Matter feed whenever someone pile-ons your highlights. This feature creates a sense of connection and engagement within the app, making the learning experience more interactive and dynamic.

Now that we've explored the features of both Glasp and Matter, let's take a step back and examine the broader implications of highlighting apps in our digital lives. The ability to highlight and annotate content is not just a convenient tool; it also reflects our cognitive abilities and how we navigate the challenges of long-term thinking.

Humans possess two distinct cognitive abilities that play a role in our response to long-term challenges. The first is what neuroscientists refer to as the Marshmallow Brain, an ancient part of our neuroanatomy that focuses on instant rewards and immediate gratification. This part of our brain is responsible for our desire for instant gratification and can often hinder our ability to delay gratification, especially in the face of long-term crises like the climate emergency.

However, alongside the Marshmallow Brain, humans also possess a long-term Acorn Brain located in the frontal lobe. This part of our brain, which is relatively new in evolutionary terms, gives us the rare ability to think, plan, and strategize over long timeframes. It is this cognitive ability that allows us to tackle long-term challenges like the ecological crisis.

Evolutionary psychologists and archaeologists offer several explanations for how our brains evolved this remarkable cognitive ability. One explanation is the survival skill known as "wayfinding." Over millions of years, our ancestors developed the capacity to navigate physical space when they went on hunting or foraging expeditions. This ability to orient themselves in space laid the foundation for our capacity to think and plan over long timespans.

Another explanation for our long-term thinking abilities is the "grandmother effect." Research shows that the presence of grandparents, especially maternal grandmothers, is important for reducing infant and child mortality. Older post-reproductive females provide vital childcare, knowledge, and support that increase the survival chances of the young. This relationship of trust and reciprocity is woven into the fabric of mutual aid, and it works best when people know that the help they give in the present will likely be returned in the future.

The human genius for toolmaking is also a contributing factor to our ability to think long term. As our brains grew and we developed the ability to make complex tools, we also developed the capacity to plan and execute complex sequences of actions. This ability to plan for the future enabled us to engage in forward-looking actions with long time horizons, such as crop rotation or building monumental structures like pyramids.

In today's world, where instant gratification is readily available and long-term thinking is often overshadowed, it is crucial that we tap into our Acorn Brain and harness our ability to think and plan for the future. This is especially important when it comes to tackling long-term challenges like the climate emergency.

So, how can we cultivate our Acorn Brain and foster long-term thinking in our lives? Here are three actionable pieces of advice:

1. Practice delayed gratification: Train yourself to resist instant rewards and immediate gratification. Develop the discipline to delay gratification and prioritize long-term goals. This can be as simple as setting aside time each day for focused work or committing to long-term projects that align with your values.

2. Seek out diverse perspectives: Engage with a diverse range of people and ideas. Surround yourself with individuals who challenge your thinking and expose you to different viewpoints. This will help broaden your perspective and enable you to consider long-term implications from various angles.

3. Utilize technology mindfully: While highlighter apps like Glasp and Matter can enhance your reading experience, it's essential to use them mindfully. Be intentional with your highlights and annotations, focusing on capturing key insights and connections. Regularly review and revisit your highlights to reinforce learning and promote long-term retention.

In conclusion, both Glasp and Matter offer unique features and benefits that cater to different preferences and needs. Glasp provides a seamless highlighting experience with its ability to preserve original formatting and import highlights from Kindle. On the other hand, Matter offers a social component that fosters collaboration and community engagement. Ultimately, the choice between the two will depend on your specific requirements and priorities.

As we navigate the digital landscape and strive to tackle long-term challenges, it's important to recognize and nurture our Acorn Brain. By developing our capacity for long-term thinking and planning, we can become part-time residents of the future and shape a more sustainable world.

So, whether you choose Glasp or Matter, remember to utilize these highlighter apps as tools to enhance your learning journey and tap into your Acorn Brain's remarkable cognitive abilities. Happy highlighting and long-term thinking!