• (Subsequent) Revised Version: https://jimmylv.noto.so/xanadu
• minority: https://sspai.com/post/72995

For me, I’ve been exploring knowledge management, task management for a long time, and it’s an area of ​​interest that I’ve always been very passionate about. This article is the first time I systematically introduce what a two-way link is . I will tell you three stories of Roam , and then focus on explaining the core function of Roam Research: two-way link (of course, Roam has many other fun The place). Finally, I will introduce my 2 application scenarios , and what are Tools for Thought and why do you need a thinking tool?

1. Roam’s 3 stories, originating from the Shangdu Project

Story 1: @Ted Nelson’s Lost Hypertext – Project Xanadu

The first story is actually Ted Nelson’s story, Project Xanadu. In 1963, information technology pioneer Ted Nelson, author of Computer Lib / Dream Machines, invented the concept of “hypertext”. However, the hypertext at this time was very different from the HTTP hypertext transfer protocol we are talking about now.

In the hypertext system conceived by Ted Nelson, all the web pages or texts we visit should be linked to each other. Xanadu (上都) is a word with very literary connotations. Marco Polo mentioned Shan-Du in his autobiography, referring to the summer capital of Kublai Khan’s Yuan Empire. In 1965, Ted Nelson named his hypertext concept, after Coolidge’s poem, “Project Xanadu” because he believed that Xanadu was “a magical place where memories will never be forgotten.”

But it ended up being very different from the hypertext systems we hear now. In 1991, when Tim Berners-Lee was working at CERN, he proposed a new set of protocols , The Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP), and defined HyperText Markup Language (HyperText Markup Language, HTML), and then there is the implementation of HTTP 1/2.

In the HTTP system, in fact, every thing has a corresponding Uniform Resource Identifier (URL). But have you ever thought that every time we click through a link and go from page A to page B, how do we get back to A from B?

After 1991, the entire network based on the HTTP protocol is called the World Wide Web (World Wide Web, or WWW). This is a concept we are very familiar with, and Tim Berners-Lee is also called the father of the World Wide Web. . And, a series of large Internet companies such as Google, Amazon, and Meta were born on the World Wide Web, making it easy to connect and transact.

However, in a series of chain events, Tim Berners-Lee also began to accuse these companies of sabotaging the network in the name of advertising, accumulating too much power with the platform, so he founded the “Inrupt” company and the Solid project, trying to pass “Reinvent the Internet” by building a platform that lets users control their own data .

For 84-year-old Ted Nelson, the “Shangdu Project” has always been his original intention, his personal dream, until the first trial version was released in 2014. The trial version of “Shangdu Project” can be accessed through this webpage link https://xanadu.com , you will see an article on cosmology.

The left and right sides of the webpage are divided by different colors. The focus is on the article in the middle. In fact, it refers to the content of many other articles. Therefore, in Ted Nelson’s original vision, it was expected that the highlights in different articles could be referenced to each other while browsing the web through two-way links.

Highlights of different colors actually express a reference relationship. Of course, in addition to the description of the reference relationship, “Shangdu Project” will also have other ideas, such as version management or incremental publishing, etc., and the text will not introduce it in detail.

From 1963 to 2014, “Shangdu Plan” released its first version, right? But have you ever thought that it is also a URL link published on the World Wide Web, that is to say, even the initial version of Ted Nelson had to use the HTTP protocol to spread, and implement its first release version based on the World Wide Web.

Story 2: @Conor and Roam Research two-way link note-taking/thinking tool

The second story is about Conor, the founder of Roam Research, who launched Roam Research in 2019, setting off a wave of two-way link note-taking tools. But in fact, on Roam’s official website, Roam Research has always been called a “network thinking tool”.

First of all, Roam can simulate the “Shangdu Plan” mentioned above to a certain extent, and different pages can be linked to each other. At the same time, Azlen, a designer from the community, has realized the ability to connect blocks between blocks in Roam Research. Visualization of mutual links, there will be paragraphs and links between paragraphs between different pages, and these links are linked by highlighting.

Azlen Roam Style: “parallel pages, visibly connected”

After the launch of Roam in 2019, the dual-chain notebook is the hottest in 2020, especially the capital is also very frenetic, Roam Research A round of financing of 9 million US dollars, with a valuation of more than 200 million US dollars, the latest report shows the total The financing should be $12.4 million.

Although the volume is small, Roam Research has been enthusiastically sought after by capital. More than a dozen companies and individuals have participated in Roam’s A round of financing, including Stripe co-founders Patrick and John Collison, True Ventures and Lux ​​Capital. well-known capital.

Of course, in addition to the fanatical capital, Roam also has a very fanatical community, a concept we usually call #roamcult, a religion-like concept. Here’s a cake, the user-made Roam Research interface cake.

Then at the same time, there are even people tattooing the Roam Research LOGO ? symbol on their body or legs, and I have seen at least 5 such fanatics on Twitter.

Story 3: @JimmyLv with the RoamCN community, “Exploring the Future of Work”

The third story is my own story. I actually first learned about two-way links in 2019, met Roam Research, and then co-founded RoamCN in 2020 with two other blockchain partners (Jessie, Victor). Chinese community .

The previous article mentioned my own interests, and I have been paying attention to knowledge management for a long time, and the two-way link provided by Roam Research just answered the confusion I have been exploring for a long time. At the same time, in the Chinese community, especially for myself, I am also looking for a lot of fellow travelers to learn and discuss a new tool, a breakthrough tool. Therefore, I am constantly using this tool to manage my daily life, whether it is doing projects, writing articles, making videos, etc.

“Happy Roaming, Instant Creation” is my recent live broadcast on Hetao Pie, and it is also a summary of my experience using Roam Research for more than two years. The content shared will be more detailed, and you can also recommend everyone to watch it. In addition, on station B, I have made more than 60 videos, which is also a process of continuous output and continuous learning.

What’s particularly interesting is that in 2020, I also accumulated some job opportunities because of my exploration and study of Roam Research . Including when I went to Ali and chatted with the interviewer, I also talked about Roam Research, and on February 22, 2022, I joined a pure remote office company ( Parabol.co ) and opened a new “Completely working from home” ” way of working.

Parabol.co – Build the Future of Work

Therefore, a new tool like Roam Research not only took on an interest of mine, but also gave me an opportunity to “explore the future of work”. In fact, I am also very grateful for these opportunities, especially I have met many very interesting and interesting people, especially the high-level executives such as ByteDance, Xiaomi, Microsoft, and Alibaba (the kind I usually can’t get in touch with) have noticed the two-way Links, and promote the research and development of related products.

After sharing these three stories, we can have a basic context for two-way links. The concept of two-way links is not new . In fact, the word “hypertext” was published by Ted Nelson in 1963. The original concept of the text already contains interlinkages. It was not until the launch of Roam Research in 2022 that the concept of two-way links was touched by ordinary people , and many knowledge management tools, including Evernote, etc., began to follow up the design.

2. Roam’s 1 core: [[two-way link]]

Next, I will introduce what a two-way link is in Roam Research, and why I am interested in two-way links and why the community is so enthusiastic about two-way links.

0. Thought as a Technology

First of all, I would like to introduce a concept to you, that is, “ideas is technology”. How would we describe a bullet going through something when we didn’t have this high-speed camera? In fact, we do not have any means to describe it or to observe the process.

With the advent of high-speed cameras, we have a new element of cognition. In the article Thought as a Technology , Michael Nielsen physicist mentioned that Tools for Thought is a tool for thinking. When we have a new cognitive element, we can observe in a lower dimension or in a different dimension. Those elements, or concepts, things that we used to feel very accustomed to.

As Don Norman mentioned, people actually overestimate their ability to think for themselves . If our brain does not have a thinking tool like a two-way link as an external aid, our thinking and reasoning will actually be limited. Then if we have such external aids that can improve cognitive ability, I believe that everyone’s thinking or reasoning ability will be improved.

Don Norman, the world’s most influential designer, author of “The Psychology of Design”, and former user experience architect at Apple, in his “Things That Make Us Smart: Defending in the Age of Machines” The book Human Attributes states: “People overestimate the ability to think independently. Without external help, memory, thinking, and reasoning are all limited… The real power comes from designing external aids that enhance cognitive abilities.”

1. Page citation [[]], “Time Tunnel”

The first concept of Roam Research is page reference. The most common symbol of double square brackets after contacting bidirectional links is page reference.

As shown in the figure, first we wrote some ideas on the [[October 12th, 2019]] page, and then we can directly create a new page [[Grant Proposal v3]] through double brackets, and then from this page You can jump directly to it. A corresponding back link will be displayed at the bottom of the [[Grant Proposal v3]] page. The so-called two-way link includes forward links and back links.

If you don’t know much about this concept, I’ve abstracted a relatively more familiar concept called “space-time tunnel”. For example, you can travel from today to 50 years later or 3 years ago (time) , or from today to a corresponding page, and you can also travel between different pages (space) .

The text is very pale to explain. I have prepared a video below. Open a portal from any place and you can directly pass through it. This is very common in some decryption games. For example, the sawtooth mechanism above is about to press against you, and when you enter the portal, you will directly travel from one end to the other end, congratulations on customs clearance.

This is very similar to Doctor Strange’s superpower, which can directly open a time-space door or any door called Doraemon, and you can make a shuttle in time and space at will.

Well, here’s an explanation of the first two-way link, specifically one of the uses of the two-way link in Roam Research. Of course, there are other uses for page references. I will explain them in detail in the third part, which is my own two usage scenarios.

2. Blockquote (()), “spider silk”

The next use case for doubly linked is block quoting. For example, we have a lot of nodes or paragraphs on a page. When we write an article, we expect to directly extract a certain paragraph on another page.

Then you can “pull” the corresponding paragraph directly through two parentheses (()) . For example, I use parentheses to search for the “page reference” I just wrote, and you will find that it can search for the content I wrote before. everything, and then just pull it right over.

Correspondingly, there is a reference number in the upper right corner of the block level. If you click it, you will find that you are back to the source of the page reference you just talked about, and a block-level “space-time tunnel” is established, that is, the paragraph level or the block level. A two-way link.

For the two-way link at the block level, I hope to use the specific concept of “spider silk” to map it to everyone, or call it an analogy. For example, if we want to get something, we don’t need to go to that page directly, but pull it directly through parentheses (()), just like Spider-Man pops out the spider silk, and then Just pull this content .

3. Dynamic Blocks, “Lego Motors”

The next concept in Roam Research is “dynamic block”, for example, I mentioned a timer at the beginning of the video, “It is created directly by curly braces.

I can compare “dynamic blocks” to “Lego motors”, the company Lego does X Blast the sky, the LEGO Technic 1:1 ratio completely restores the world’s fastest mass-produced supercar – BUGATTI CHIRON. Bugatti’s chief test driver even drove this unique supercar on the track, which truly realized the infinite possibilities of mechanical transmission and completed the amazing challenge of “making the blocks run”.

Then the real “Lego motor” is used in this car, because Lego actually has two types: dynamic and static. What we usually come into contact with may be static, but there are actually some dynamic modules that can be used as motors. to use, so that you can create more fun things.

Then here I will give you a specific example. For example, I can add a special mark of video through curly brackets”, and then enter the link of the video. This block will become a dynamic one that can display YouTube videos. “Dynamic blocks”, so that you can also play videos, insert timestamps to record notes, and perform functional interactions.

Why is Roam Research a thinking tool, not a note-taking tool?

Therefore, the reason why Roam Research is called a thinking tool , not just a note-taking tool, is the programmability based on Block . The first is that each block and each paragraph mentioned above can be dragged and processed separately, and it can be displayed, executed separately, referenced, and pulled.

Before using Roam Research, the concept of Block also has many tools, including Notion, Microsoft Loop, etc. I have to say that Loop ’s promotional video really made me salivate and wait for a long time, and it is indeed very, very beautiful. It is also my year in 2022. One of the most anticipated products.

Each element can be dragged, edited and displayed separately, and has strong interactivity. You can build your own knowledge operating system just like building Lego, and you can realize various kinds of Kanban, Table, etc. The subsystems, let them help you do task management, knowledge management and other work.

**The biggest feature of Roam Research’s experience is that it allows us to write like “writing code” [[]] , (()) , 。**我们只需要通过简单的中括号`[[]]` 去跳转到之前记录下的一些笔记页面或者叫卡片标题；我们可以通过圆括号`(())` 来搜索之前包含关键词的一些段落内容；最后，我们还可以用花括号to achieve some special-purpose dynamic elements, such as the Pomodoro mentioned above, which will become a time button, I can click it, and then perform a countdown.

3. My 2 application scenarios: input/output

First of all, we need an auxiliary tool for thinking, such as a high-speed camera. When we have a thinking tool like a two-way link, or a new cognitive element, it can help us improve our thinking and help you To think, to help you reason.

“Time Tunnel” We can jump from today to tomorrow, 50 years later, and we can also use it to connect a connection between different concepts. For example, when I was preparing to share the content this time, it was actually related to some previous pages, such as the page “Explore Future Work”, which is connected with the content to be talked about today. A local knowledge graph generated in this way is a visual effect of two-way links.

When we use block references, we can quickly assemble paragraphs from different pages, and build blocks like Lego, then we can use “spider silk” to quickly pull what we want to call content.

In addition, knowledge programming can also be achieved through “Lego Motors”. The Block in Roam Research is not static, but may be able to “turn” like a motor in Lego.

So, with such a thinking tool, how should we use it? Next, I will enter my next topic, which is how do I use Roam Research and how to use it in specific scenarios.

It is divided into two parts through the simplest input and output model. The first is input, how do I read and take notes, and the second is how to output efficiently and use my own card box to quickly produce Come up with what I want to share, what articles I want to write, etc.

1. Easy typing – reading, taking notes

So, in the first part, I will talk about the process of reading and taking notes. Maybe everyone has heard of the card box note-taking method before, and there is even a book called “Card Notes Writing Method”. There is a core point in the book, that is, “If you don’t write, you can’t think.” Then we can take reading this book as an example to briefly explain the process of reading + note-taking.

Click to jump timestamp 18:58 https://www.bilibili.com/video/BV1NS4y1Y749?t=1138

(The text description of this paragraph is also too pale, I still recommend everyone to watch my demonstration in the video, I tried my best, )

First of all, I will create a separate Graph to store the books to read, and “Card Notes Writing Method” is one of them. So how can two-way links help us when we are reading? For example, when we read the first chapter, we encountered some concepts. Taking the concept of “flow” as an example, I can add square brackets to [[flow]], which is a two-way link.

At this point, if I click on the [[flow]] page, I can click on Unlinked References to see the content related to “flow”, that is, other chapters in this book also mention the concept of flow . So, whenever I come across some new concepts, I put square brackets on the new concepts, so that I can exploratively find out what is related to this content in this book.

If we summarize this process, it is different from the previous process of “linearly” reading the book according to chapters. On the contrary, we are actually communicating with the author, and then restoring the original “” in the author’s mind when communicating. grid”. Cognitive scientist Stephen Pink once said, from the writer’s point of view:

“The difficulty of writing lies in expanding the net-like thoughts into linear words through tree-like syntax.”

Whenever an author writes a book or an article, he is actually expanding the network structure in his brain that was originally linked to each other, and must only be “limited” to expand in a linear way such as words.

Therefore, when we read a book at Roam Research, it is more like communicating with the author across time and space, and asking the author questions based on our own interests.

While I ask questions and communicate, I will use the roam/comments function to record my “flash notes”. On the one hand, these notes will be automatically recorded in the Daily Note of a certain day, so that I can travel through the “time tunnel” to the day I read the book at that time . On the other hand, it is also possible to pass through the “space tunnel” to see what the specific content of this part I was reading at that time, and what my ideas and inspiration were at that time.

When I go back to the corresponding paragraph of the original text via the double link, I can go back to see its context. To focus, a very important concept here is “context” . When I could not know which part I was reading at that time based on my own notes, I could go back directly to the source of the reading at that time through the backlink of the two-way link, so that I could find out what was originally in the book at that time. what does it mean.

This is basically the process of communicating with an author in a book . In fact, I still have an idea, I hope to read multiple books at the same time in the way of reading a theme, which is called “inspective reading” in “How to Read a Book”. What if I import multiple books into Roam Research at the same time, for example, put some books on cognitive science together?

I’m currently reading Professor Stanovich’s series Robot Rebellion, Beyond IQ, Decision Making and Rationality, Business Intelligence; Professor Pinker’s Sense of Style; Professor Turner’s Classical Style; “Deliberate Practice” by Prof. Erickson and “What is Intelligence” by Prof. Flynn, “Reinventing the Brain, Reinventing Life” by Prof. Doidge, “Neuroscience of Everyday Life” by Prof. Top Brain Bottom Brain” and other books, “Time Chasers”, “Cognitive Scale” and “Life Model” compiled by Mr. Yang Zhiping.

In fact, there are many books with similar concepts in the fields of psychology and cognitive science, and they will also refer to each other academically. If we import multiple authors and multiple books into Roam Research, is it like pulling all these authors into a group, surrounding a round table, and letting them discuss freely based on some key concepts.

Wow, this is equivalent to a two-way link between characters in different eras and different regions, thus forming a “cross-time and space” communication.

2. Efficient output – card boxes, block quotes

Next, I will talk about the second part, which is efficient output. When we are reading and taking notes, what I want more is to be able to produce efficiently. After I finish taking note cards, I put the cards in the card box. Usually, I keep the card box displayed in the sidebar, which stores a lot of card content.

I will organize the card notes by a #关键词+”, the most important thing is the reference symbol on the right, the number displayed represents how many places I have associated with this card, which means that these knowledge cards are linked to each other, forming a network structure.

Then, when I need to produce or write an article, I can use “block citation” to create a draft very easily, and then based on the content of the draft, I can easily modify the final output.

Click to jump timestamp 25:50 https://www.bilibili.com/video/BV1NS4y1Y749?t=1550

(Similarly, the text description of this paragraph is also too pale, I still recommend everyone to watch my demonstration in the video, I tried my best, )

For example, if I want to share, I will look for related cards in the card box. You can directly drag the card content from the card box in the sidebar to the current project page through Alt + mouse. With the card box, I can generate some content I want to share very quickly, and then make a rewrite of the content. In this way, the speed of producing articles is very fast, and it conforms to the cognitive writing mode of “write fast and change slowly”.

For example, when I make a video at station B, I will also use this process to quickly produce the outline, and then explain it through screen recording, and the produced video can automatically generate a manuscript through speech recognition , and then analyze it. A touch of polish results in a high-quality article.

In addition, when I usually do projects, I actually use a similar non-linear method. For example, I recently started the company’s technology stack. I have never used some technologies related to GraphQL and Relay before. So, first of all, I need to understand the problem, then determine its acceptance conditions, and do Learning by Doing while learning in a nonlinear mode. In this example, I will first learn what is Suspense and what is Entrypoint mode. During the learning process, I will encounter many great articles, and I will take notes while reading, so I will bump into “non-linear” like this. to fulfill the development requirements.

Summarize a framework called “people, things, results”, because in the whole development process, for example, I will mention some people or some things, for example, I will mention my colleague @Matt in many, and I only need to Entering the [[@Matt]] page, Roam will automatically summarize my total contacts with him, such as when I have a 1:1 meeting with him, or if I need something to ask him for help , it can be solved in batches at one time.

In fact, “people, things, and results” can all link people, things, and results , just like some online collaboration tools, such as Feishu, DingTalk, and Microsoft Teams are all trying to link organizations, documents, and goals. , but may not do true two-way linking. In this way, when the company evaluates the results of the project, it can see which people are involved, and then what things (“one document, one document”) have been completed, and the people and goals corresponding to these things are actually very clear.

Therefore, in such a usage scenario, bidirectional links can help us to understand more context about a project, a person or a target, and only when linked together can a complete context be formed.

Most importantly, accumulate templates: eg Jiugongge

The other is to make decisions. We talk about efficient output or output. “Output” does not necessarily mean writing articles or making videos. In fact, the bigger role is to help you make better decisions.

I usually accumulate some templates, and whenever I need to make a decision, the first thing should be to expand my options. In the face of choice, there are not only two options A or B, but more possible options. For example, when I think about whether to turn on the camera for live sharing, the original answer may only be “on” and “not on”, but in fact, I can also think about whether it is better to buy a camera? Or can I turn on beauty? Or even change into something more formal?

When I thought about more possibilities, the final decision may be “put on formal clothes and have another beauty”. In this case, is it better than one of the options we chose “on or not on” at the beginning?

Most importantly, Roam Research is a thinking tool, and thinking needs the assistance of models or templates. In the whole production process, we should accumulate some of our own knowledge crystals, that is, the precipitation of knowledge, and continue to use it and iterate it in practice.

I have accumulated a lot of automation templates in roam/templates and roam/js/smartblocks , such as writing articles, morning diaries, daily plans, Weekly Review or deep work, there are some templates. This is actually an “Algorithms of Thought”, and it is also an automation of thinking.

These accumulated templates are an external assistant for me, that is, the thinking tool just mentioned, just like a high-speed camera, which can assist me in producing better content, or speed up the process of doing things.

Another example is called Jiugongge. Generally speaking, I use the Jiugongge method to think about the project to be completed. The process of this speech is also made in Jiugongge quickly. “Center” is my theme : “Make a thiefly interesting live broadcast”, and then go through The method of south, north, west and west establishes an outline-style “initial heart” , and finally adds details from the four corners of southwest, northwest, northeast, and southeast, that is, “careful” .

Such a thinking framework can help me think faster and consider the comprehensiveness of the entire output. Jiugongge is one of the ways of thinking that I think is very useful, and as long as you constantly accumulate and iteratively think about templates, you can speed up the efficiency of your input and output through templates.

why me? Believer of Tools for Thought

In the previous screenshot of Jiugongge planning, I mentioned that what I most hope is to know more people, to be able to learn and communicate with each other. Because of a saying I like very much, “help others grow while growing, and help others learn while learning” . Learning and knowledge management are closely related, which is why I mentioned at the beginning why I am very enthusiastic about learning methods and knowledge management.

And Roam Research is currently the best two-way link note-taking tool, no one. I also bought the Believer version for 5 years. The $500 is a one-time payment of more than 3,000 yuan, but the growth value I have gained has far exceeded that.

In addition, I also made a lot of related videos. If you are interested, you can go to station B to follow a wave . If you are interested in knowledge management and want to communicate with me, you can also add my WeChat . In addition, I also have a lot of articles on the minority on Roam Research, thinking tools and knowledge management. You can also check it out.

Easter egg: What if the browser can directly build double-chain notes?

In the process of exploring two-way links, I have been wondering why browsers have no incentive to implement two-way links between web pages? Until I saw Beam , I introduced this new browser with built-in double-chain notes in the video of station B. There is a very smooth interactive experience. Press and hold Alt to directly extract the content of the web page, and you can choose to extract to a certain a page.

However, I also complained in the video why the Beam browser did not do the best, because when we returned to the “excerpted page”, Beam did not have any place on the right side to show what I was doing for this page. notes. Although it has established a shortcut for excerpting notes, unfortunately it has not been able to do backlinks, and this is actually a function that I think is the most valuable at least at my personal level.

If there is a browser at this stage that can realize the bidirectional link between any webpage and any note, I would like to call it “Dream Browser”! At present, Microsoft Edge’s highlights feature is the most promising, after all, it already has a certain foundation.

If the “personal” notes and the “Internet” web pages can be linked to each other, then it will return to the “Shangdu plan” I originally talked about, and Ted Nelson’s final vision may be realized to a certain extent.

This is definitely a very, very awesome thing, and it is also what Ted Nelson thought about and wanted to do in his original idea in 1963, “a magical place where memories will never be forgotten.”

But, is the Internet a detour in human history?

References

• The video version of [The Past and Present of Two-Way Links] is planned with Roam Research thinking tool

• [@小南– Personal Knowledge Management Guide

  flomo 101] (https://ift.tt/7Jvz63H)

• @Offline Magazine – Issue 23 is planned – Lost Hypertext – Know
• Revolutionary Thinking Tools by @Conor: Roam Research White Paper
• “Father of the World Wide Web” started his business in his sixtieth year, all because of his shock and disappointment at the status quo of the Internet – Zhihu
• Is the Internet a detour in human history? -Tiger Sniffing Network

This article is reprinted from: https://blog.jimmylv.info/2022-05-01-bidirectional-link-past-and-present-project-xanadu-and-roam-research/
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