all definitions of Zettelkasten are speculative

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Niklas Luhmann wrote very little on his "slip box" Zettelkasten note-taking system. Others have since studied his methods and attempted to capture them into a cohesive set of principles. I call these attempts "modern definitions of Zettelkasten".

I argue that the only "true" definition of Zettelkasten is the exact system that Luhmann created as his thinking partner. I claim that the use of "Zettelkasten" outside of Luhmann's personal system is simply a term for a flavor of nerdy note system.

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Created 2025-03-17 Last Modified 2025-04-15