Evergreen Notes

Evergreen notes evolve and compound over time instead of getting dumped into an archive. Externalizing thought builds a cognitive scaffold for solving complex problems by creating persistent thinking tools.

Each note expresses a single idea (Atomic Notes). Notes gain value through connections (Associative linking over hierarchies), not folder structures. They improve through revision. Start as rough captures, reach evergreen status through Titles are takeaways, not labels and clear claims.

Traditional note-taking creates piles of write-only notes (Manual file management is a high-friction waste of cognitive resources). Evergreen notes create a thinking system that compounds. Each note makes future notes easier to write and more valuable. Notes beat posts for showing progress in knowledge work.

AI shapes voice dumps into atomic notes works because I capture rough thoughts knowing they’ll be refined over time. Ask the Brain works because the knowledge base has clear, atomic claims. Private AI outperforms cloud AI because my personal terminology and connections become part of the model’s context.

Andy Matuschak’s Notes demonstrated the power of Networked thinking reveals hidden connections for serious intellectual work. Requires The Commune box to work at scale. Need complete control over the knowledge base to build genuine expertise over years.