Lessons from Andy Matuschak

Andy Matuschak, a software engineer, designer, and researcher, has shared a wealth of insights on learning, knowledge work, and tools for thought. His work challenges traditional methods of learning and offers practical strategies for deep and lasting understanding.

On Evergreen Notes and Better Thinking

The concept of "evergreen notes" is central to Matuschak's philosophy on thinking and writing. These are not just notes for remembering, but for developing insights over time.

The Goal is Effective Thinking, Not Note-Taking. "The goal is not to take notes—the goal is to think effectively." [1]
Evergreen Notes Evolve. "Evergreen notes are written and organized to evolve, contribute, and accumulate over time, across projects." [1][2]
Atomic Notes. A core principle of evergreen notes is that they should be "atomic," meaning each note should focus on a single idea or concept. [2][3] This makes them easier to link and build upon.
Concept-Oriented Notes. Notes should be centered around concepts rather than specific books or sources. This allows for a more interconnected web of knowledge. [2][3]
Densely Linked Notes. "Evergreen notes should be densely linked" to create a network of ideas that can spark new connections and insights. [1]
Write for Yourself First. "Write notes for yourself by default, disregarding audience." [1] This reduces the cognitive load and encourages more honest and exploratory thinking.
Incremental Writing. Evergreen notes enable "smooth incremental progress in writing." [1] By developing ideas in small, atomic notes, the process of creating a larger work becomes less daunting.
Associative Ontologies Over Hierarchical Taxonomies. Prefer organizing notes through associations and links rather than rigid, top-down categories. [3] This mirrors how our brains naturally make connections.
Notes as a Place for Wild Ideas. Your note-taking system should be a "safe place to develop wild ideas." [4]
Do Your Own Thinking. Matuschak emphasizes the importance of not just passively consuming information but actively engaging with it. He quotes Schopenhauer: "When we read someone else thinks for us: we merely repeat his mental process." [4]

On Spaced Repetition and the Mnemonic Medium

Matuschak is a strong advocate for spaced repetition systems (SRS) and has explored their potential beyond simple flashcards through his work on the "mnemonic medium."

Making Memory a Choice. A key benefit of spaced repetition systems is that they "make memory a choice." [5] If you want to remember something, you can.
Beyond Rote Memorization. Spaced repetition is not just for "rote facts." [5] It "can be used to develop conceptual understanding." [5]
The Power of Retrieval Practice. The act of recalling information from memory strengthens the memory. This is a core mechanism behind the effectiveness of spaced repetition. [6]
The Mnemonic Medium. Matuschak and Michael Nielsen developed the "mnemonic medium," which embeds a spaced repetition system directly into narrative text. [5][7] Their project, Quantum Country, is a prime example. [7]
Good Prompts are Good Tasks. "When you write a prompt in a spaced repetition system, you are giving your future self a recurring task. Prompt design is task design." [6]
Effortful Retrieval. Effective learning requires effort. Prompts in an SRS should be "effortful" to answer to maximize the learning benefit. [8]
Automating the Easy Part. "Used well, simple flashcards can automate away learning the “easy part” of a subject so you can focus on deeper, more conceptual issues." [9]
Programmable Attention. Spaced repetition systems can be seen as a way to "program your attention," ensuring you revisit important ideas over time. [5]
Contextualized Learning. By weaving questions into a narrative, the mnemonic medium situates them in a rich context, which can be more effective than decontextualized flashcards. [9]
Overcoming the Forgetting Curve. Spaced repetition is a practical application of the spacing effect and testing effect to combat the natural tendency to forget. [5]

On Why Books and Traditional Education Often Fail

Matuschak is critical of passive learning methods and advocates for more active and engaging approaches.

The Flaw of Transmissionism. "Books don't work for the same reason that lectures don't work: neither medium has any explicit theory of how people actually learn things, and as a result, both mediums accidentally (and mostly invisibly) evolved around a theory that's plainly false." [10] This false theory is "transmissionism"—the idea that knowledge can be simply transferred from author to reader. [3][11]
The Illusion of Understanding. We often read a non-fiction book and feel like we've learned a lot, only to realize later that we can recall very little of it. [12]
Passive Consumption is Ineffective. Simply reading sentences is not enough to truly absorb and internalize knowledge. [11]
Learning Requires Metacognition. To learn effectively, one must constantly self-assess: "did I understand that? what questions can I ask myself to check my understanding?" [13]
The Need for Feedback Loops. "Most explanatory media make participants run their own feedback loops," which is a difficult and often neglected part of learning. [13]
What Comes After the Book? Matuschak poses this as a central question for his research: "Is it pictures of pages on screens? Is it videos of lectures? Why are all the answers to this question so boring?" [14]
Learning by Immersion Has Limits. Learning by simply "diving in" works best when the material's complexity is low relative to your existing knowledge. [15] For more complex topics, "you really do need explicit guidance, scaffolding, practice, intentioned memory support." [15]
The Forgetting Problem. We often forget a significant portion of what we learn from books and courses by the time we need to apply it. [16]
Jargon is a Useful Shortcut. While sometimes seen as a barrier, jargon is "incredibly valuable, as a way to do shortcuts in communication" among those who understand it. [3]
The Importance of Autonomy in Learning. Drawing on Piaget, Matuschak highlights the need for learners to have autonomy not just in what they do, but in their choices about how they learn. [17]

On the Nature of Knowledge Work and Creativity

Matuschak's ideas extend to the broader practice of knowledge work, emphasizing the importance of process and environment.

Knowledge Work as a Skill. Like athletes and musicians, knowledge workers should rigorously practice the fundamental skills of their craft. [8]
The Power of a "Thinking Environment." Matuschak describes his public notes as "roughly a thinking environment," an experimental space for developing ideas. [3]
Insight as an Accumulative Process. An effective system for knowledge work allows insights to "accumulate" over time, rather than being lost after a single project is completed. [1]
Creativity is Combinatorial. "If you believe Everything is a remix, then creativity is defined by the uniqueness and appeal of the combination of elements." [15]
The Value of "In-Progress" Work. Sharing work that is still in development can be valuable, though it requires a different approach to presentation than finished pieces. [18]
Good Questions are Crucial. "To extract meaning from... data, you need good questions. More perniciously: unless you have good questions in mind, you're probably not even collecting the right data." [14]
Thinking While Writing. Matuschak contrasts two approaches to writing: one where the thinking is done during the writing process, and another where the thinking is largely complete beforehand. The former is often more challenging but can lead to deeper insights. [19]
The Insight-Theory-Through-Making Loop. Matuschak describes a process where you have a theory, express it through making something (like a tool or a system), and then observe how that creation behaves in real-world use to refine your theory. [19]
The Importance of Serendipity. A well-designed knowledge system should allow for "pro-serendipity" moments where unexpected connections are made. [3]
Tools for Thought. Matuschak's work is part of a broader field dedicated to creating "tools for thought"—technologies that "expand what people can think and do." [2]

Practical Learnings and Strategies

Beyond the high-level concepts, Matuschak offers concrete advice for learners and thinkers.

Use a Reading Inbox. Have a system to "capture possibly-useful references" so you can process them later without interrupting your flow. [1]
Maintain a Writing Inbox. Use a "writing inbox for transient and incomplete notes" to capture fleeting thoughts before they are fully formed into evergreen notes. [1]
Write About What You Read. To truly internalize a text, you must "write about what you read." [1]
The "Expert Response Heuristic." A good spaced repetition prompt should be one that an expert on the topic could answer quickly and accurately. [12]
Beware of Poorly Worded Prompts. In a mnemonic medium, readers can become frustrated if they feel they are memorizing the author's specific wording rather than the underlying concept. [12]
Learning is an Active Process. Shift from a mindset of passive consumption ("soaking up" knowledge) to active construction ("piecing together a puzzle"). [9]
Trust the Process. Adopting new, more effective learning strategies can feel uncomfortable and slow at first. It's important to "trust the process" and give it time to work. [9]
Metacognitive Supports as Scaffolding. In a learning environment, an expert or a well-designed tool can provide "metacognitive supports," helping the learner to monitor their understanding and plan their next steps. [13]
The Power of Particulars. In a letter on his research, Matuschak writes "In praise of the particular," suggesting the value of focusing on specific, concrete examples. [4]
Continuously Evolving Tools. The tools we use for thinking and learning should not be static. Matuschak's project "Orbit" is an example of an evolving platform for the mnemonic medium. [9]

Learn more:

Lessons from Andy Matuschak

On Evergreen Notes and Better Thinking

On Spaced Repetition and the Mnemonic Medium

On Why Books and Traditional Education Often Fail

On the Nature of Knowledge Work and Creativity

Practical Learnings and Strategies

Written by Antoine Buteau

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