Unlock Your Creativity with Visualization: The Power of Spatial Thinking

Zsolt's Visual Personal Knowledge Management
6 Feb 202315:13

Summary

TLDR本视频介绍了空间思维的概念及其重要性,并探讨了如何通过空间思维来提高我们的思考能力。视频中,演讲者分享了他在阅读Andy M. Pahl的书籍《心智的延伸》时的洞见,特别是如何利用空间思维来改善个人知识管理系统。演讲者提到,人类天生就是空间思考者,从古希腊的记忆宫殿方法到现代的图示化思考工具,如Obsidian和Xcoli Brain,都是利用空间思维来组织和理解信息的例子。视频还提供了一些实用的建议,如将想法可视化并放置在物理空间中,以促进创造力和深入理解。演讲者鼓励观众尝试将他们的想法通过绘图或使用物理工具如便签纸来实现空间化,以增强思维的深度和广度。

Takeaways

  • 🧠 空间思维的重要性:人类作为空间思考者进化而来,这与我们的祖先作为狩猎采集者的生活方式密切相关。
  • 🎨 Obsidian图谱视图的美学与洞察力:Obsidian的图谱视图不仅美观,还能提供对知识库的深刻洞察。
  • 🔍 局部图谱视图的局限性:尽管Obsidian的Vault级别的图谱视图非常有用,但局部图谱视图对于演讲者来说并不实用。
  • 📈 Xcoli Brain视图的结构性:Xcoli Brain提供了清晰的结构,包括父节点、子节点和横向思考,有助于更好地组织和理解信息。
  • 🌐 语言与空间思维:我们的语言反映了空间思维,如“达到高远目标”或“未来在前方”等表达方式。
  • 🏰 记忆宫殿技巧:古代希腊的记忆宫殿技巧通过在熟悉的地方留下记忆锚点来帮助记忆,现代记忆冠军也使用这种方法。
  • 🧐 早期记忆的缺失:可能是因为我们在婴儿时期无法自主移动,缺少了记忆的“脚手架”。
  • 📝 写作与思考:写作是思考的一种形式,能帮助我们更好地管理和理解我们的思想。
  • 🤔 可视化思考的价值:通过绘制和可视化思考,我们可以发现和包含那些在文字中未被明确表达的细节。
  • 📌 将想法外化:通过将想法放置在物理空间中,如便签或白板上,可以提高我们的思考能力和创造力。
  • 🌟 未来的知识管理系统:未来的知识管理系统可能会采用空间驱动的方式,如使用幻想地图或游戏环境来组织和理解信息。
  • 🔄 创新的思考方式:通过在物理空间中布局和操作想法,而不仅仅是打字和线性文档,可以促进创新思维。

Q & A

  • 视频中提到的“空间思维”是什么?

    -空间思维是指人类利用空间概念来组织和处理信息的能力。视频中提到,人类作为空间思考者已经进化,这种思维方式与我们祖先的狩猎采集生活方式和生活在大草原上需要对周围环境有强烈理解的需求有关。

  • 为什么作者认为Obsidian的图视图对他使用Obsidian的方式产生了变革?

    -作者认为Obsidian的图视图为他提供了空间定位,使得他能够在空间上组织和理解他的笔记和文档。通过颜色和层次结构,他能够清晰地看到不同笔记之间的关系和分类。

  • 在Obsidian中,作者为什么觉得局部图视图对他没有帮助?

    -作者觉得Obsidian的局部图视图在页面上只有一两个链接时有用,但如果链接更多,他就发现这个视图并不实用。特别是因为局部图视图中的方向不明确,且当触摸节点时,图形会移动,使得定位变得困难。

  • 视频中提到的“Xcoli脑图”是什么,它如何帮助作者?

    -Xcoli脑图是一种提供了结构化视图的工具,它显示了父节点在顶部,子节点在底部,横向思考在侧面。它还包括了笔记之间的本体论或连接描述,以及不同颜色和图标来代表不同类型的文档,帮助作者在空间上定位自己的笔记。

  • 为什么人类语言的使用反映了我们的空间思维?

    -我们的语言中充满了空间隐喻,如“达到高远目标”、“未来在前面”、“过去在后”等,这些都是空间思维的证据。我们的语言表达反映了我们如何使用空间概念来描述非物理的抽象概念。

  • ‘记忆宫殿’是如何帮助记忆的?

    -记忆宫殿是一种古老的记忆方法,通过将熟悉的空间位置与需要记忆的信息关联起来,以帮助记忆。记忆冠军使用这种方法通过在心中走过一个熟悉的地点,如学校、办公室或家,并在每个步骤留下他们想要记住的信息片段。

  • 为什么我们可能不记得我们的童年早期?

    -根据视频中的一个理论,我们可能不记得童年早期是因为那时我们还不能自主移动,别人在移动我们,因此我们没有可以用来挂靠记忆的东西,没有支撑记忆的框架。

  • 如何通过绘制来提高我们的思维能力?

    -通过绘制,我们可以将思维具体化,这有助于我们发现和包含那些我们甚至没有意识到的细节。绘制过程中,我们可能会不自觉地记录下一些细节,这些细节在我们回顾时可以提供更多的洞察。

  • 如何将空间思维应用于知识管理系统?

    -可以通过将想法外化到物理环境中,如使用便利贴、Xcoli画布或白板,来实践空间思维。通过在更大的物理表面上布局想法,可以触发不同层次的思考和定位,从而帮助我们以不同的方式思考和引用信息。

  • 视频中提到的游戏‘城镇建造者’(Townscraper)如何与知识管理系统联系起来?

    -作者想象‘城镇建造者’游戏中的不同部分可以代表文档库或文件夹,不同的区域可以代表书签笔记、项目笔记、人物页面、创意想法等。通过在不同的建筑物和房间中定位相关信息,可以在空间上定位自己,从而更好地理解和管理知识。

  • 为什么作者推荐将想法外化到物理空间中?

    -将想法外化到物理空间,如便利贴或画布上,可以帮助我们从仅仅打字和创建线性文档的局限中跳出来,通过创建绘图和在物理空间中布局想法,可以增强创造力,更好地理解和组织我们的思维。

Outlines

00:00

🎨 空间思维与Obsidian使用心得

在视频的第一部分,演讲者介绍了空间思维的概念,并分享了如何通过阅读Annie Murphy Paul的《思维的一页》这本书来理解空间思维的重要性。演讲者通过展示Obsidian的图形视图,讨论了如何利用空间思维来组织个人知识管理系统。提到了Obsidian的图视图美观且富有洞察力,但也指出了局部图视图的局限性。此外,还介绍了excoli brain视图,它提供了结构化的空间布局,有助于更好地理解和导航文档之间的关系。

05:03

🌐 语言与空间思维的关系

第二部分深入探讨了语言如何体现我们的空间思维,通过举例说明了我们的语言习惯如何与空间概念相连。接着,演讲者提到了古希腊的“记忆宫殿”技巧,说明了如何利用空间记忆来提高记忆能力。此外,还讨论了为什么我们很难回忆起童年早期的记忆,这与我们在那个时期缺乏移动能力有关。最后,演讲者建议通过将想法外化到物理环境中,如便签或白板,来练习空间思维。

10:03

🧠 利用空间思维提升思考能力

在第三段中,演讲者提出了利用空间思维来提升思考能力的方法。首先,通过详细想象一只老虎的例子,说明了我们如何在脑海中构建图像,但往往忽略了细节。演讲者强调,通过绘制和可视化,我们可以捕捉到甚至自己都没有意识到的细节。接着,提出了将想法外化到物理表面上的方法,如使用Post-it便签或大型画布,以帮助我们从外部视角审视和理解我们的想法。此外,还提出了将空间思维应用于未来知识管理系统的设想,如通过游戏《城镇建造者》和《巫师》等例子,展示了如何利用空间布局来组织和导航文档和信息。

15:06

📝 总结与建议

在视频的结尾部分,演讲者总结了空间思维的重要性,并鼓励观众将他们的想法外化到物理空间中,比如使用便签或excoli canvas。演讲者认为,通过在物理空间中布局想法,而不仅仅是打字和创建线性文档,可以激发创造力。最后,演讲者表达了对观众的感谢,并期待在下一个视频中再次见面。

Mindmap

Keywords

💡空间思维

空间思维是指人类利用空间能力进行思考和解决问题的能力。在视频中,它被强调为人类进化过程中形成的一种自然思考方式,与我们的祖先作为狩猎采集者在大草原上的生活密切相关。视频中提到,我们的语言和记忆方式都反映了我们的空间思维,如使用“前方”表示未来,使用“后面”表示过去。

💡Obsidian

Obsidian是一个知识管理和笔记软件,它具有图形视图功能,可以展示笔记之间的关系。视频中提到Obsidian的图形视图美观且富有洞察力,用户可以通过颜色和连接看到不同笔记之间的关系,但同时指出了局部图形视图的局限性。

💡Xcoli脑图

Xcoli脑图是一种提供结构化视图的工具,允许用户以分层的方式查看笔记和它们之间的关系。视频中提到,Xcoli脑图为同一份文档提供了清晰的结构,包括父节点、子节点和横向思考,这有助于用户在空间上定位自己的思考。

💡记忆宫殿

记忆宫殿是一种古老的记忆技巧,通过将信息放置在熟悉的空间位置中来增强记忆。视频中通过Simonidas的故事引入了这一概念,并提到记忆冠军使用记忆宫殿来记忆长串的卡片或数字。

💡外部化思维

外部化思维是指将思考过程和想法放置在物理空间中,如使用便签纸或白板。视频中强调,通过将思维外部化,可以更清晰地看到想法之间的关系,从而促进创造性思考。

💡知识管理

知识管理是指个人或组织收集、组织、分享和应用知识的过程。视频讨论了如何通过空间思维来改进知识管理,例如通过将文档和信息放置在虚拟或物理空间中来提高理解和检索效率。

💡空间定位

空间定位是指在空间中确定位置的能力,这在视频中被视为一种重要的思考工具。通过在物理或虚拟空间中定位信息,可以帮助人们更好地组织和理解复杂的信息。

💡创造性

创造性是指产生新颖和有价值的想法的能力。视频中提到,通过在物理空间中布局想法,可以激发创造性,因为这种空间布局可以揭示以前未被注意到的模式和联系。

💡线性文档

线性文档是指信息按单一维度顺序排列的文档,如传统的文本文件。视频提出,与传统的线性文档相比,使用空间思维和图形化表示可以更有效地组织和理解信息。

💡最小可行产品

最小可行产品是指具有足够功能以满足早期用户需求的产品原型。在视频中,提到Xcoli脑图作为一个最小可行产品,虽然不完美,但已经能够转变用户使用Obsidian的方式。

💡幻想地图

幻想地图是一种虚构的地理表示,通常用于游戏或小说中。视频最后提出了一个设想,即将个人的知识库想象成一个幻想地图,通过在这个地图上放置和组织信息,可以更好地理解和连接不同的想法。

Highlights

介绍了思维导图和空间思维的概念。

解释了为什么人类是空间思考者,以及这对知识管理的意义。

讨论了Obsidian的图形视图如何帮助用户以艺术和洞察力的方式查看他们的笔记。

分析了xcoled绘图在Obsidian中的作用和如何帮助用户以不同的方式使用笔记。

探讨了本地图形视图的局限性以及它如何影响用户对信息的定位。

解释了空间思维背后的理论,包括我们祖先的生活方式如何塑造了我们的空间认知。

讨论了语言如何反映我们的空间思维,以及我们如何使用空间隐喻来描述抽象概念。

介绍了古代希腊的记忆宫殿方法,以及现代记忆冠军如何使用这种方法。

探讨了为什么我们很难记住童年早期的事情,以及移动性在记忆中的作用。

讨论了通过绘画和绘制来外化思维的好处,以及它如何帮助我们发现思维中的细节。

提出了将思维外化到物理环境中的方法,例如使用便利贴或白板。

通过电视剧《Manifest》和《Dark》的例子,说明了将信息外化到墙上如何帮助我们以不同的方式思考。

设想了一个由空间驱动的未来知识管理系统,其中游戏《Townscraper》和《The Witcher》被用作类比。

讨论了使用奇幻地图来更好地理解我们的想法和概念的好处。

总结了视频的核心观点,即通过将思维外化到物理空间来提升创造力。

Transcripts

play00:00

hey everyone in today's video I'd like

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to walk you through this mind map to

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talk about spatial thinking

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why the topic you might ask and I'm glad

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you asked so in cohort 2 of the visual

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thinking Workshop we are creating a book

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on a page for the extended Mind by Annie

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Murphy Paul and as I was reading the

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book I finally understood why ex-coli

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brain is transforming the way I use

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obsidian

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so obsidian has a beautiful graph view

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when you look at your Vault on the graph

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view it is really a work of art and it's

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also insightful so here you can see the

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different colors greens are the notes

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that I imported from my previous

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personal Knowledge Management System

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called the brain

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Reds are the xcoled row drawings and the

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other colors are the other documents in

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My Vault and for example what you can

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see here is that even though I've been

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using obsidian for two years

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my old notes from the brain are still in

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a separate cluster now there are many

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connections with the new notes but I can

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definitely see that there's a part

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that's green and there's a part that has

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a different color also I can see that I

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have excolil drawings all over the place

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so I can see that I use let's call it

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raw extensively for different purposes

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now even though the graph View at the

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Vault level is extremely helpful I find

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the local graph view completely useless

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in obsidian maybe if I have one or two

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links on a page this is useful but

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otherwise unfortunately for me this

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craft view is not very useful

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particularly because I don't see the

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directions here and also this graph

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moves around when you touch a node so

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things get into different locations it's

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hard to orient myself on this graph View

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now if I look at the ex call it brain

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View for the same document then here you

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can see that xcoli brain provides me

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with structure I have the parent nodes

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at the top I have the child nodes so

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nodes further down in the hierarchy at

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the bottom I have the lateral thoughts

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on the side so these are nodes that are

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in a different hierarchy but are related

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to my note on the lines I have the

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ontology of the notes or the connections

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this means it's a description of the

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connection like related to example of

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source author Etc

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and then I also have different colors

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and icons for the different notes on

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this graph representing the different

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type of documents I'm looking at which

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also helps me Orient myself and this

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view always looks the same for the same

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page things don't move around it's

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organized in alphabetical order I know

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what I need to look on this side I know

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what I'm going to find up top and I know

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what I'm going to find down in the

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bottom this gives me a spatial

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orientation in my world

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so let's look at some of the theory

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behind why this works and some of the

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theory that I learned from Andy Murphy

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Paul's book

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so I think the biggest learning is that

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we as humans have evolved to be spatial

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thinkers the hunter-gatherer lifestyle

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but also living on the Savannah

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required our ancestors to have a very

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strong understanding of their

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surroundings to be able to navigate in a

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spatial environment and to be

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intelligent in that environment so for

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this reason

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this approach to thinking is actually

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very far from natural for us

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now writing your ideas down is One Step

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better and I tend to agree with Jordan

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Peterson that writing is thinking and it

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is the best thing that we can do to

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people is to teach them to write down

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their thoughts it is a very important

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skill because you get your thoughts on

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paper and you can externalize your

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thoughts you can look at them and you

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can manage them on paper

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but

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in reality we've evolved to be

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spatial thinkers and this View From The

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Minority Report is closer to what is

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natural for us as thinkers

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so let's look at some of the additional

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Theory so first of all the language we

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use the way we speak is an Evidence of

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our spatial thinking because we reach

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for a lofty goal the future is in front

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of us or it's up ahead the past is

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behind us and we Endeavor to stay on top

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of things just a couple of examples of

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how our language represents our spatial

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thinking

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the ancient Greeks had this

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method called the method of Loki or the

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Memory Palace according to the legend

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simonidas of Sears a Greek poet was

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attending a dinner a banquet at a large

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Hall

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and the hole collapsed and for some

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reason simonidas survived and he was

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able to identify the bodies of the

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people who were killed in the accident

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by remembering who was sitting where and

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using this memory he was able to

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identify each of the people in The Ruins

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memory Champions use the method of Loki

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to remember a long sequence of cards or

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numbers they imagine a place that they

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are very familiar with maybe their

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school their office their home and they

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imagine walking up the stairs opening

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the door meeting the doorman walking

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down the corridor opening the door to

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their office looking at their colleagues

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sitting at the desk and so on so they

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have this strong Visual and at each step

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of the way they leave a piece of

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information they want to remember so for

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example they leave the ace at the the

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stairs and then they leave the Queen of

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Spades at the entrance door and then

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they hand another cart to the doorman

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Etc and then they need to remember they

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visually or in their mind they walk

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through this area they walk through the

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corridors and they're able to retrieve

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information using that and according to

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one of the theories and you can have

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your own opinion whether this theory is

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correct or not one reason why we don't

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remember our early childhood is because

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at that time we are not mobile we are

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not able to move ourselves other people

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are moving us around and as a result we

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don't have something to hang our

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memories on we don't have the

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scaffolding to remember

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so let's now move on to how we can use

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all of this knowledge to improve our

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thinking so first of all imagine this

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example close your eyes and picture a

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tiger in detail picture its eyes its

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nose its paws its tail build a strong

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image of that tiger in your head

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and when you have it then answer me this

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question

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how many stripes does the tiger have

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I'm pretty sure you're not able to

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answer that question and that is because

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you didn't draw your picture you only

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had a mental picture and however

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detailed a mental picture is you will

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not have the details of the number of

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stripes and interestingly when we think

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and we draw we draw details that we

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don't even articulate for ourselves it

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is quite often that Engineers or

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scientists go back to their drawings and

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observe ideas that they weren't

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consciously thinking but their hands

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Drew those details on the picture and

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this is why when you're thinking

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something and you're creating a drawing

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you're creating a visual of that idea

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then you are going to include details

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you're going to include orientations of

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that information

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that you've weren't articulating for

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yourself and when you observe serve it

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in detail then you're going to learn

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more about your thoughts you're going to

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understand your thoughts in more detail

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so one way to practice spatial thinking

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is to offload your ideas onto a physical

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environment for example put it on

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Post-it notes or you can use the X

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collateral canvas for that or the

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obsidian canvas or you can use a

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whiteboard really I think your options

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are very broad but upload your ideas

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onto a physical surface the bigger the

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surface the better because if you need

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to move your torso to look at the

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information that is also going to

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trigger a different level of thinking

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and orientation and use this to gain an

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external view to become detached from

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your thoughts and to have an external

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viewpoint on them

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for example some examples of this I just

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took two pictures from two series that I

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was watching over the past year one is

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from manifest and here you can see the

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passengers on the airplane on the wall

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here and the other are two screenshots

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from dark where the family tree and all

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the surrounding information is on the

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hotel wall and in the wall or on the

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wall of the bunker

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so externalizing information this way

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will help you think and reference this

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information in a different way

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so now dream with me for a moment and

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let's see how this could be turned into

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a knowledge management system of the

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future that is spatially driven so the

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first example I have in mind I've taken

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this from the game townscraper this is a

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silly little game you can build a town

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for yourself the town looks beautiful

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and it's a very relaxing gameplay I like

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to play with this

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and imagine this that the different

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parts of this town are actually document

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stores they are kind of like folders and

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then you have your book notes you have

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your project notes your people Pages

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your creative ideas in different

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districts of the town and maybe if you

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zoom in to the Garden of one of my

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projects then you will see that I will

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have the minutes of meeting in one place

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the decision login another the project

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Charter in one place the design

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documents the change requests Etc in

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different locations and whichever

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building and room I go to I find the

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relevant information and I'm orienting

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myself in this spatial way

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or another game I like to play with or

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liked to play that couple of years ago

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was The Witcher and again imagine that

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here you're walking in a very

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beautifully crafted environment and

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imagine that the different characters

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The Witcher meets are AI generated

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characters that represent different

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documents you have in your Vault and you

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are having a dialogue with your

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documents in the vault and you're going

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to different towns and different houses

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and buildings and meeting different

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characters that represent projects and

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people and other thoughts that you might

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have in your world

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and then finally this is something that

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I've talked about in another video the

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fantasy maps of content imagine using a

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fantasy map a fantasy land of your

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own Vault and placing items here placing

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your documents here and using this

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spatial representation to better

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understand your thoughts and ideas

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so in summary I think this is why I find

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EX call it brain even though it's very

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far from perfect it is

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sort of a

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minimum viable product a

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proof of concept that I created but ever

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since I've created it this has

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transformed the way I use obsidian it

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has given me this spatial orientation in

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My Vault and

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I find it transformational and finally

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now I understand why so if there's one

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thing that you want to take away from

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this video I recommend you take away

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this idea of externalizing your thoughts

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placing them in a physical space maybe

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on Post-it notes or maybe on an ex call

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it raw canvas and start to work with

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your ideas in that physical space take a

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step out of just typing text and having

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linear documents instead create drawings

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lay out your ideas in a physical space

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and boost your creativity this way

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so that's all I wanted to share today I

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hope you found this video inspiring and

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helpful and I hope to see you in my next

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video

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thank you

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Related Tags
空间思维知识管理ObsidianXcoli Brain思维导图个人成长信息组织创意激发记忆宫殿视觉思考技术工具
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