Atomic thoughts
From Atomic Thoughts (Matt Gemmell):
Keeping track of our thoughts in that regard can be tricky, but there’s a single principle which will absolutely make it easier: that of atomicity. A thought has to be graspable in one brief session, otherwise it might as well not be there at all.
This aligns well with the way I’m building out my collection of notes.
The way to achieve this is to ensure that there’s nothing else you can possibly take away from it: make it irreducible.
This I don’t really agree with. The “make it irreducible” in particular is tricky: any thought can be reduced to a point where it stops being meaningful.
A response in Upgrade Atomic Thinking to Holistic Thinking:
Too much focus on the analytical way leads to a narrow and incomplete view. This tunnel vision leads to false assumptions about the world. And those who act on false assumptions will be punished.
Whoa, punished? Maybe a bit too strong. But the response makes sense.
This made me think about two things:
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Can functions be too short? — breaking down thoughts into smaller and smaller ones is often possible, even when it makes no more sense.