>[!abstract] >Take one idea (X) and put it in the centre. [Then] imagine the four compass directions. Each direction helps give definition to the idea in different ways: >- NORTH: Where does X come from? What are its origins? What group/category does X belong to? What exists an order of magnitude higher? Zoom out. What gave birth to X? What causes X? >- EAST: What competes with X? What is the opposite of X? What is X missing? Its disadvantage? What could supercharge X? >- SOUTH: Where can X lead to? What does X contribute to? What group/category could X be the headline of? What exists an order of magnitude lower? Zoom in. What does X nurture? >- WEST: What is similar to X? What other disciplines could X already exist in? What other disciplines could benefit from X? What are other ways to say/do X? > >([[Tseng, 2022]]). >[!tip] Thoughts on the idea compass >I found Tseng's introduction of the idea compass to be one of the most useful innovations in the modern design of a personal knowledge management system. The proposition is deceptively simple: to link a central idea to germane ones that are (in my own paraphrasing): >- **North** (antecedent, belonging, broader, causal, origin, parent, upstream, zoomed out); >- **West** (alternative, analogy, metaphor, proxy, sibling, similar but distinct); >- **South** (arises from, child, consequent, derivative, emerges from, more granular, offspring, zoomed in); >- **East** (antonym, competitor, different yet related, disagrees, invalidates, opposite). > >Note that **Western** ideas must *never* be identical to the central one — otherwise the [[Atomic note|atomicity principle]] that each note must be discrete would be violated. When a central idea is known by more than one name (for example, [[Asimov's laws]] and the [[Asimov's laws|Three laws or robotics]]), I use an *aliases* front matter attribute to keep track of the synonyms within the same note, so that the idea is linkable and searchable by any one of its multiple names. > >I include an idea compass in a "Related" callout near the bottom of every note. I see it as a major improvement over Wikipedia's "See also" section, which merely lists related ideas without qualifying their relation. In essence, the idea compass paves the way for a **directed graph** (digraph) where vertices (atomic ideas) are linked together in a semantically expressive manner using directional edges (links indicating both a directional relationship *and* its nature). Sir Tim Berners-Lee referred to these as [[Typed link|typed links]] ([[Berners-Lee, 1990]]). Perhaps I will extend this digital garden one day with a digraph, should Obsidian allow [typed links](https://forum.obsidian.md/t/add-support-for-link-types/6994). >[!related] >- **North** (upstream): [[Hypertext]], [[Zettelkasten]] >- **West** (similar): [[Johari window]]; [[SCAMPER]]; [[Systems thinking]] >- **East** (different): — >- **South** (downstream): [[Emergence]]