>[!abstract] >A digital garden is a particular form of a Personal Knowledge Management System (PKMS) that I define as an aggregative approach to cultivating one's knowledge from atomic ideas to larger insights using the following design principles: >- it relies on [[Atomic note|atomic note-taking]]; >- it connects notes using bi-directional [[Hypertext|hypertext]] links; >- it is designed so as to reduce friction and focus on thinking; >- it uses some taxonomy to categorize content (e.g., naming, tags); >- it allows for building up one's thinking maturity (see table below); >- optionally, it is published to allow learning in public. ## Tiers of thinking maturity Practitioners of digital gardening commonly distinguish between their written notes depending on their level of complexity and maturity, from the most basic (atomic ideas succinctly described) to a collection of interconnected insights (such as a book or essay). Different practitioners use different metaphors to describe those tiers as shown in the table below. [[Appleton, 2020|Appleton (2020)]] sticks with the botanic metaphors, whereas [[Wanderloots, 2024|Wanderloot (2024)]] also suggests botanic metaphors but prefers to expand on the physics metaphor of the atomic note for his own digital garden. | Tiers | Appleton | Wanderloot | Wanderloot | | --------------------------------- | --------- | ---------- | ---------- | | 1: Most basic ideas (short note) | Seedling | Seed | Atomic | | 2: Emergent insights (long notes) | Budding | Tree | Molecular | | 3: Finalized work (essay) | Evergreen | Fruit | Alloy | One thing to note is that the concept of "evergreen" notes comes from [[Matuschak, n. d.|Matuschak (n.d.)]] and is meant to contrast with "transient" notes. In other words, "evergreen" relates to the permanence of the note, not its depth or maturity (analogous to Zettels in Luhman's [[Zettelkasten]] system); an atomic note may be evergreen, and so may be a long-form essay on the same singular concept, elaborated over time. Yet Appleton (2020) suggests "evergreen" as the highest tier of maturity. In this respect, I find Wanderloot's own metaphors more consistent. >[!related] >- **North** (upstream): [[DIKW pyramid]]; [[Hypertext]] >- **West** (similar): [[Exobrain]]; [[Zettelkasten]] >- **East** (different): — >- **South** (downstream): —