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Aug 19, 2022Liked by Amy Hunt

I'm 75 years old. Unfortunately I rejected the notecard method when it was taught in high school, instead choosing cumbersome notebooks all the way through graduate school...until Richard McKeon at University of Chicago recommended using notecards not only as a record of my reading and other experiences but also as a source of creative and rhetorical invention. This was a mind opening, life changing perspective. His only rule: each card or slip should pose and answer a single question. He recommended organizing all journal entries by one of the following topics: 1. By the so called great ideas in the Syntopticon. 2. By work or business projects, activities and events(I spent my life as an advertising man, juggling many assignments over 30 years, from Frosted Flakes to The Marines to Ford). 3. By great books worthy of Adler's analytical readings. 4. By everyday living topics like family, friends, health, wealth, politics, business, car, house, occasions, etc. This way of working has served me well. I believe a proper book case is half full of books and half full of boxes of notes about those books. Notice that McKeon's advice is not limited to writing and reflecting about the books we read. McKeown also encourages reflection on all areas of experience that are important to us. I guess I have an Aristotelian view that our lives consist of thinking, doing, making, and interacting and that writing offers us a way of connecting our thinking with these other activities. So, the nature, scope, and shape our "note system" should be designed to help us engage successfully in our day to day activities and long term enterprises. How should follow What and Why, connect with Who, and fit with When and Where. Any success I have had in business or personal life I attribute to McKeon's advice.

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Aug 18, 2022Liked by Amy Hunt

This is super interesting! And timely for me, because I have recently been contemplating how to improve my note-taking so that it is useable for future reference.

I’ve tried variations of a commonplace book, typed outlines in Word, and jotting down concepts or quotes on notecards that I file by author.

But none of these are great for actually finding something later on. I like the videos you posted and am looking forward to your next post!

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Amy - fellow ANTINET guy - found you on the reddit - in Scotts group. So glad you are taking the time to write here.

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Anti-net! I am going directly there now.

I use the 10 volume "The Great Ideas Program" for my study of the books. That, and the very effective WAIGTROTT* system for short study.

*What am I going to read on the toilet?

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