The “Antinet” is a term coined by author and copywriter Scott Scheper to describe his version of Niklas Luhmmann’s Zettlekasten system. Scott’s PKM philosophy heavily emphasizes the value of analog note taking systems over digital ones like Obsidian.
The first part of the term “Antinet” is an acronym describing the core principles of the system:
- Analog: Notes should be physical cues for recall.
- Numeric-Alpha Notecard Addresses: Use of notecard addresses allow for easy indexing and linking of physical note cards.
- Tree: The organic tree-structure of the Antinet allows for arbitrary internal branching, enabling ideas to interact and grow.
- Index: The use of a key-value map enables easy exploration of ideas and links in a physical Zettlekasten system.
Analog
- The Antinet prevents over-selection: The effort and limited space of zettles and Bibcards prevents the extraction of meaningless or irrelevant information. Only the most useful information is selected.
- Antinet as Version Control: Adding to ideas while keeping old notes preserves mistakes and acts as an analog “version history” of ideas over time. Notes don’t just capture current thoughts but are contextualized by an entire history of ideas.
Personal Knowledge Management (PKM) The Anitnet Zettlekasten by Scott Scheper