I could not agree with this more. I have been a compulsive pen-and-paper note-taker my whole life, and while I've watched others and made attempts to take notes on laptops or other electronic devices, I always reverted to chronological paper notebooks.
Interestingly, pretty much everything I take notes on ends up later in some electronic form (anaylst research, Facebook diary posts, Substack pieces, Excel spreadsheets, etc.), so between those and my Google calendar, I can usually search out the date I took the notes and direct myself to the original pages. I did jettison almost 40 years of work-related notebooks when I retired (too much to store, needed to go to the shredder for legal reasons), but the important content had been already transcribed, and I still have everything from college and high school, as well as my retired years. I also have some small notebooks in my fishing and shooting bags, as well as ones in my classic cars to jot both minutiae (that dry fly your guide suggested that caught a lot of fish, a kind of ammunition that was especially effective, etc.) impressions as they happen.
People remark that I have a photographic memory. I don't, but can find everything in my notebooks in minutes. I also find the physical act of writing serves as a great memory-reinforcer.
When I see someone *not* taking notes, who invariably say that they're remembering everything (sort of akin to how people who say "breakfast is the most important meeting of the day" are usually fat), I view it as insulting. I once had a boss who reprimanded me "why are you always taking notes?". I never thought of him the same way after that.
By the way, every time I see Leonardo da Vinci's notebooks (pages of which I viewed in person at the Queen's Gallery in London), I always think of Doug Kenney's March 1971 parody, pp. 31-35 of this https://1drv.ms/b/c/5ed4c22a9f7768df/Ed9od58qwtQggF5I8AIAAAAB78DECCPviW2G3HuhIuOM4Q . Along with French artist Daniel Maffia, Kenney shows us the "Hulus Hoopus" that can be used to alleviate "Eccesso Obesito Del Gross Stomacchi", a rolling mousetrap on wheels, Batman's bat signal, "Una Volante Pizza"), and a heart-transplant procedure involving "mio cane Fido" or "mio stupido e gullibilio assistante Mario" as the donor.
This is such a fantastic comment—thank you for sharing it. Your system of living, breathing note-taking is a masterclass in analog discipline. I completely agree: the physical act of writing does forge a deeper memory trace. There’s something about the friction of the pen on paper that helps encode thought more lastingly than a blinking cursor ever could.
Also, the da Vinci parody is hilarious!! I hadn’t seen it before.
On a related note—no pun this time—I’m also a fishing aficionado, and there’s something about taking notes in the wilderness—a quiet magic in those handwritten moments
P.S. I noticed as I aged that when I'd go to a broker corporates conference, in group meetings I'd be seated in front of a management team at a round table in a cramped hotel room with 3-6 other 20-30-something kids all typing on iPad keyboards simultaneously, the Chicklet keyboards of which created an annoying racket and made everyone look and sound like courtroom stenographersi instead of analysts/fund managers. I'm certain I often elicited better answers because I could make better eye contact than someone staring at a screen ... with a 50% shot they were just bored and surfing the 'net!
I could not agree with this more. I have been a compulsive pen-and-paper note-taker my whole life, and while I've watched others and made attempts to take notes on laptops or other electronic devices, I always reverted to chronological paper notebooks.
Interestingly, pretty much everything I take notes on ends up later in some electronic form (anaylst research, Facebook diary posts, Substack pieces, Excel spreadsheets, etc.), so between those and my Google calendar, I can usually search out the date I took the notes and direct myself to the original pages. I did jettison almost 40 years of work-related notebooks when I retired (too much to store, needed to go to the shredder for legal reasons), but the important content had been already transcribed, and I still have everything from college and high school, as well as my retired years. I also have some small notebooks in my fishing and shooting bags, as well as ones in my classic cars to jot both minutiae (that dry fly your guide suggested that caught a lot of fish, a kind of ammunition that was especially effective, etc.) impressions as they happen.
People remark that I have a photographic memory. I don't, but can find everything in my notebooks in minutes. I also find the physical act of writing serves as a great memory-reinforcer.
When I see someone *not* taking notes, who invariably say that they're remembering everything (sort of akin to how people who say "breakfast is the most important meeting of the day" are usually fat), I view it as insulting. I once had a boss who reprimanded me "why are you always taking notes?". I never thought of him the same way after that.
By the way, every time I see Leonardo da Vinci's notebooks (pages of which I viewed in person at the Queen's Gallery in London), I always think of Doug Kenney's March 1971 parody, pp. 31-35 of this https://1drv.ms/b/c/5ed4c22a9f7768df/Ed9od58qwtQggF5I8AIAAAAB78DECCPviW2G3HuhIuOM4Q . Along with French artist Daniel Maffia, Kenney shows us the "Hulus Hoopus" that can be used to alleviate "Eccesso Obesito Del Gross Stomacchi", a rolling mousetrap on wheels, Batman's bat signal, "Una Volante Pizza"), and a heart-transplant procedure involving "mio cane Fido" or "mio stupido e gullibilio assistante Mario" as the donor.
This is such a fantastic comment—thank you for sharing it. Your system of living, breathing note-taking is a masterclass in analog discipline. I completely agree: the physical act of writing does forge a deeper memory trace. There’s something about the friction of the pen on paper that helps encode thought more lastingly than a blinking cursor ever could.
Also, the da Vinci parody is hilarious!! I hadn’t seen it before.
On a related note—no pun this time—I’m also a fishing aficionado, and there’s something about taking notes in the wilderness—a quiet magic in those handwritten moments
P.S. I noticed as I aged that when I'd go to a broker corporates conference, in group meetings I'd be seated in front of a management team at a round table in a cramped hotel room with 3-6 other 20-30-something kids all typing on iPad keyboards simultaneously, the Chicklet keyboards of which created an annoying racket and made everyone look and sound like courtroom stenographersi instead of analysts/fund managers. I'm certain I often elicited better answers because I could make better eye contact than someone staring at a screen ... with a 50% shot they were just bored and surfing the 'net!
Thanks for the compliment. I find these Rite In The Rain #954s are perfect https://www.riteintherain.com/3-5x5-soft-cover-book#374-M for the field. My everyday is just a standard ruled hardcover A4 https://www.amazon.de/Leitz-Notizbuch-Hardcover-Karierte-46640095/dp/B073QYZD5Q/ref=asc_df_B073QYZD5Q .
Fascinating read!
Thanks
Well said. I've always seen my substack as my personal notebook.
Indeed, you have the additional effect of having an audience, an external focus to bounce ideas.