Pile of Index Cards

Ref. : Watanabe’s card system

Continued story…

Professor Schneider said, “Keep writing, and compare the cards. Then you will find any famous scholar says ambiguous and obscurity things in their books. It will be a start point of your study.”

His prediction is correct. Soon, I found a defect in a book written by Otto Funke, a world authority on English grammar at that time. I found a core of my doctor thesis. … And the core is genuine. I wrote a thesis just 300 pages, and got a degree with “magna cum laude (great honor)”.

I still use this card box. When I flip cards in my room at midnight, I feel some kind of sentiment. I use this card box 20 years ago, too. That time, I was a thin pale student. I spend time writing card day by day, compare them, and try to find a blind spot of famous theories in a small apartment.

(Watanabe, Shoichi, Chiteki Seikatsu no Houhou (A way to intellectual life), 1976, p.p. 130-131)

It seems he really write a lot of cards for research. Importantly, he compare them to find a problem or pattern. It is easily done by piece-by-piece cards. Another point is that he still use his card system for 20 years. He established his way through his experience in Germany.

Ref. : @blog v1.5, Watanabe’s episode about Indexcard

I introduced this Shoichi Watanabe’s episode in brief before. This is little bit more detail to be merged into wiki.

While I stayed in Germany as student, I learned one can do a great work only with small, silent room and cards, from Professor Schneider.

At the beginning of the stay, Professor Schneider handed me a piece of card. Titles of papers are typed on the card. These papers are a start point of my study in Germany. He said “If you read these papers, you will see what you should read next.”

I read these papers, but I couldn’t find focus of my study. One day, he invited me to dinner, and asked me about a progress. I honesty answered my study didn’t go well, although my time is limited in Germany.

Then he gave me a suggestion (Darf ich Ihnen einen Vorschlag machen?). He recommended a card system for me. As first step, he suggested to get a card box (Kartei Kasten). And I bought wooden card box immediately. I bought a large thick paper together : I made card by myself.

I copied a whole contents of a book written by a grammarian, item by item to the cards, day to night, every day. In addition, I took memo of related stuff, discovery, everything on the cards.

(Watanabe, Shoichi, Chiteki Seikatsu no Houhou (A way to intellectual life), 1976, p.p. 127-130)

This book was written in 1976, and he reminded when he was student. So this story is about more than 50 years ago. Watanabe’s box here is smaller than the Dock we call. Later he call the box as “Task Force” and he said still use it. Watanabe’s card is larger than 5×3. His card is approximately B6 size.

Ref. : @blog, Output without input is impossible

I’ve been reading Shoichi Watanabe’s “Chiteki Seikatu no Houhou (A way of intellectual life)” since last monday. This book is one of a reference of the PoIC manual, and a bible for me. This morning, I found a hint about taking Reference card in this book unexpectedly.

In topic “Problem of card system” (p.p. 74-75),

Taking card is harmful for reading book, because it interrupt reading. The best way to avoid this problem is to buy a book. Then you can put line where you like, put circle where your heart moves. It is possible because it is your own book. … This hack is for a general book. This is not true when reading technical book. (Translation by Hawk)

For general book, such as hobby, enlightenments, whatever, we should be more relaxed. Our enjoyment must not be spoiled by taking card. But for technical book we must not hesitate to take Reference cards.

So it is natural that a characteristics (or distribution of cards) is different between Dock @home and @office.

# I didn’t expect the solution is in this book at all. This kind of miracle sometimes happen for “analog” book. :)

“Review the past, discover new knowledge”

ref. : Cunfucius, The Analects, Translation by Hawk
ref. : Shibusawa Eiichi, Commentary on the Analects, 2004.
ref. : Beautiful calligraphy by flickr user Kanko*

Cunfucius (in Japanese, Koushi) is great chinese philosopher in 2,500 years ago. This quote is one of his famous superb in “The Analects”. There are many interpritation for the original golden words seen in the picture. For example, worship own ancestors, warm up old friendship, learn from history, etc. (Shibusawa, 2004). Here, I interpret and translate it according to my experience on indexcard.

ref. : Comment by David
ref. : Where to get Moleskine Memo Pockets?

David Lainer kindly gives some more information about Moleskine.

“Here are some other sites to purchase Moleskines, and related products:

• http://www.moleskines.com/

• http://www.moleskine.co.uk/

• http://www.moleskineus.com/ “

“… Of course it was impossible to connect the dots looking forward when I was in college. But it was very, very clear looking backwards ten years later.

Again, you can’t connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backwards. So you have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future. You have to trust in something — your gut, destiny, life, karma, whatever. This approach has never let me down, and it has made all the difference in my life.”

Ref. : Stanford University Commencement address by Steve Jobs,
CEO of Apple Computer and of Pixar Animation Studios,
delivered on June 12, 2005.

For me, the indexcards I write day by day is something like the “dots” that Jobs says.

“The most difficult part of writing is the start point. An inertia of writing is huge.”

ref. : Noguchi Yukio, Cho Seirihou, p. 177,
translation by Hawk

Moving from 0 to 1 takes much effort than 1 to 2. Noguchi used a metaphor of “inertia” in physics to express the difficulty of the start writing.

The practice of writing down thoughts and facts for the purpose of holding them fast and preventing their escape into the dim region of forgetfulness, has been much resorted to by thoughtful and studious men. Lord Bacon left behind him many manuscripts entitled “Sudden thoughts set down for use.” Erskine made great extracts from Burke; and Eldon copied Coke upon Littleton twice over with his own hand, so that the book became, as it were, part of his own mind. The late Dr. Pye Smith, when apprenticed to his father as a bookbinder, was accustomed to make copious memoranda of all the books he read, with extracts and criticisms. This indomitable industry in collecting materials distinguished him through life, his biographer describing him as “always at work, always in advance, always accumulating.” These note-books afterwards proved, like Richter’s “quarries,” the great storehouse from which he drew his illustrations.

source : Self Help, by Samuel Smiles, (1900?)
(digital text at Project Gutenberg)

“If you want, then start to laugh
If you must, then start to cry
Be yourself don’t hide
Just believe in destiny

Don’t care what people say
Just follow your own way
Don’t give up and use the chance
To return to innocence”

Ref. : Lyric of ‘Return to Inoccence’ by Enigma @ Sing365.com

This is a lyric of my favorite song ‘Return to innocence’ by Enigma.

Notice that there are only two kind of job : you want to do, or you must do. If you feel you want to do something, you are happy. Like when you are working on your hobby. If you must do something, on the other hand, you feel like torture.

“Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life. Don’t be trapped by dogma — which is living with the results of other people’s thinking. Don’t let the noise of others’ opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary.”

Ref. : Stanford University Commencement address by Steve Jobs,
CEO of Apple Computer and of Pixar Animation Studios,
delivered on June 12, 2005.

This is quite important when you write indexcard. Listen and pick up your inner voices, write them down on the indexcards. Any ideas you have in your brain, mind, heart. You don’t need hesitate at all.

“People are often unreasonable, illogical, and self-centered;
Forgive them anyway.
If you are kind, People may Accuse you of Selfish, Ulterior motives;
Be kind anyway.
If you are successful, you will win some false friends and some true enemies;
Succeed anyway.
If you are honest and frank, people may cheat you;
Be Honest and Frank anyway.
What you spend years building, someone could destroy overnight;
Build anyway.
If you find serenity and happiness, they may be jealous;
Be happy anyway.
The good you do today, people will often forget tomorrow;
Do good anyway.
Give the world the best you have, and it may never be enough;
Give the world the best you’ve got anyway.
You see, in the final analysis, it is between you and God;
It was never between you and them anyway.”

Ref. : Mother Teresa @ Wikiquote

ref : 2006.09.03 16:21 Turning off filter in a brain

Yoro Takeshi, Japanese anatomist, also suggested existence of a “filter” in a human brain, in his book “バカの壁 (Baka no Kabe = wall of fool)”. His explanation is expressed in a simple equation.

y = a x

where “x” is input from nerves (e.g. eyes), “y” is input to brain, and “a” is the filter (”wall of fool” in his expression). If a = 0, i.e. power of the filter is maximum, then input from the eyes won’t go to brain at all. Because any number multiplied by zero equal zero even though the number is large. On the other hand, if one can reduce power of the filter (a >> 0) then input to the brain increases.

He pointed out losing curiosity and interest increase power of the filter.

Book : 養老孟司, バカの壁, 2003 (in Japanese)
Wikipedia : 養老孟司 (in Japanese)

in Movie : “High Fidelity”, Stephen Frears, 2000 (IMDb).

(Rob starts rearrangement of his record collection when he break up with his girlfriend…)

Dick: It guess it looks as if you’re reorganizing your records. What is this though? Chronological?
Rob: No…
Dick: Not alphabetical…
Rob: Nope.
Dick: What?
Rob: Autobiographical.
Dick: No fuckin’ way…
Rob: Yep. I can tell you how I got from Deep Purple to Howling Wolf in just 25 moves.
Dick: Oh, my god…
Rob: And, if I want to find the song “Landslide,” by Fleetwood Mac, I have to remember that I bought it for someone in the fall of 1983 pile, but didn’t give it to them for personal reasons.
Dick: That sounds…
Rob: Comforting?
Dick: Yes.
Rob: It is…

Quote from : Wikiquote, “High Fidelity”