The benefits of note-taking by hand
Cue the HN note-taking crowd....<p>From a retention&#x2F;recall perspective, I think most people are enamored with finding the perfect note-taking method because we want to find the one method that optimizes both retention (memory) + recall (long term searchability) at the same time. It seems to me these two objectives are somewhat in competition.<p>(there&#x27;s also comprehension and thinking but I see those as separate)<p>I think splitting up the two objectives makes more sense. Handwriting notes enhances memory formation, but is less optimized for searchability. Digital notes are great for long-term searchability, but are weaker for memory formation.<p>Why not have two systems instead of one? Just handwrite whatever you want to remember, and type whatever you want to stash away? It seems inefficient, but in multiobjective optimization we usually end up with Pareto optimality rather than a single point of optimality.<p>One might ask, how would I know a priori what to remember and what to stash? I personally prefer handwriting,  so I&#x27;ll usually go there first and if I need to stash it I&#x27;ll retype it into Google Docs. That said, I&#x27;ll hop on Google Docs first if it happens to be more convenient (like if I&#x27;m browsing and want to copy-and-paste something for long-term storage, or if I&#x27;m outdoors and all I have on me is my phone)<p>Meetings are a great candidate for handwriting notes -- and then discarding. You and I know that most meeting notes are throwaways. Despite that, I personally find that in complex multiparty meetings, I&#x27;m able to follow the flow better if I continuously take notes. Being able to remember who said what, and being able to summarize a meeting are all very valuable skills to have.<p>(p.s. with regard to memory, Socrates didn&#x27;t even believe in writing -- he believed writing things down would weaken our memories in the long term. He believed that talking about things was a far superior way to form memories and to understand subjects deeply. He&#x27;s not completely wrong about the role of discussion and disputation [emotional connection is a potent force in memory formation], but all the same I&#x27;m glad Plato didn&#x27;t take to this thinking and actually wrote stuff down).