Overview

This document provides a beginner-level introduction to the Obsidian note-taking application, focusing on its core functionality and the fundamental principle of “linking your thinking.” The source highlights that Obsidian uses plain text files stored locally in “vaults” (simple folders), emphasizing future-proofing. The most powerful feature introduced is the ability to create links between notes using double brackets, which facilitates the creation of connections between ideas, concepts, and experiences. This linked structure is visualized through a “graph view” and is seen as a method that aligns more closely with how the human brain makes connections. The benefits of this approach include improved recall, the ability to build and refine ideas over time, and enhanced creativity and conversational engagement.

Takeaways

Obsidian as a Note-Taking Application

Obsidian is presented as a note-making app designed for beginners.

• Core Functionality: The basic operations are downloading the app, creating a “vault” (which is simply a folder on your computer), and creating new notes.
• File Format: Obsidian notes are saved as .md files (Markdown), which are plain text files.
• Future-Proofing: The use of plain text is highlighted as a key benefit, ensuring that notes will be readable by computers for the foreseeable future. As the source states, “plain text is a type of format that as long as there are computers there will be computers that can read plain text and that’s what we mean by a different term future proofing”.

The Power of Linking Notes

The ability to create links between notes is identified as the central and most impactful feature of Obsidian.

• Method: Links are created by typing double brackets [[]] around the title of another note (either existing or future).
• Navigation: Clicking on a linked note title within a note immediately takes you to that linked note.

Analogy to Brain Function

Linking notes is described as a process that “reopens up the avenue of how our brains actually work,” suggesting it feels more natural than traditional linear note-taking methods.

Building Connections and Context

Linking allows users to connect disparate ideas, concepts, and experiences within their notes.

• Examples: The demonstration shows linking a note about “The Matrix” to “Red Pill Blue Pill,” and then connecting “Red Pill Blue Pill” to “Choices” and the “Adversity Paradox,” which is then linked to Viktor Frankl’s “Man’s Search for Meaning.” These examples illustrate how personal connections and insights can be externalized and organized.
• Backlinks (Linked Mentions): Obsidian automatically shows which notes link to the current note you are viewing. This feature, known as “linked mentions,” allows users to “look at one note to see all of the different connections that you’ve made”. This provides valuable context and helps trace how an idea is related to others.

The Graph View:

• The “graph view” is a visual representation of the links between notes.
• This feature demonstrates the network of connections created, showing the relationships between notes as nodes and lines. The source describes it as showing “all sorts of contextual goodness”.

The “Why” of Linked Thinking:

Beyond the “how,” the source emphasizes the benefits and purpose of using a linked note system.

• Value Grows Over Time: Notes do not lose value; instead, their “value actually grows in time” as new experiences and connections are added.
• Improved Recall: Linking helps improve “your ability to recall those memories those those thoughts those ideas”. The goal is to have “confidence that you can find what you’re looking for when you want to find it”.
• Building and Cultivating Ideas: Linking allows users to “build things” slowly over time, starting from initial thoughts and adding value through experience. It enables the cultivation of ideas.
• Creativity and Insight: Linking facilitates making “leaps of insights across genres and domains,” leading to “newness and novelty.”
• Enhanced Conversation: Having a well-linked knowledge base can make conversations more engaging as you can actively connect what others are saying to your existing thoughts and concepts.