System of note taking where notes link to other notes. This creates a network of information that is connected much in the same way your brain is connected, since you make the notes and connect them in a way that makes sense to you.
Created by Niklas Luhmann, a German sociologist in the 20th century.
My current system consists of Fleeting Notes, Literature Notes, and Permanent Notes. This may change.
The key idea behind Zettelkasten is that you don’t impose an artificial structure on the system. You don’t create folders to separate the topics. Instead, you put everything into one place and let the structure emerge by itself through interconnections.
Don’t worry about creating an organizational structure right from the start — this will only force you into limiting your thoughts and ideas into pre-existing buckets. Let your notes create their own structure by just jotting them down and allowing the topics and words you mention to create their own links across notes.
Its structure is emergent.