stamp 202506052019
Bob Doto in his book A System for Writing refers to a Zettelkasten as being a rhizome, because he sees a mirroring of description between
- how the creators of rhizome theory describe a rhizome, and
- how Niklas Luhmann described his notebox.
He writes:
The means by which Deleuze and Guattari intended to examine both societal and theoretical structures is clear:
- “enter…by any point whatsoever”
- “none matters more than another”
- “discover what other points (the) entrance connects to”
This anarchic reading of social and theoretical encounters, (…) is almost identical to Niklas Luhmann’s descriptions of the zettelkasten.” (p112-113)
Related
- Relationship graphs can be also seen as rhizomes - as I experienced it when trying to explain a relationship graph to my friends. 1c2-a-relationship-graph-is-a-rhizome
- Modern folks seem to stand confused in front of the definition of a Zettelkasten. Like… how does it differ from a wiki? It does a bit (like in atomicity and such), but to really appreciate it, we need to realize that Luhmann kind of invented for himself hyperlinks on paper, starting in the early 50’s. It’s not that revolutionary to meet the idea now after most of us know Wikipedia as a constant of the world.
- Fun fact: Wikipedia started in 2001. I got access to the internet around that time, as a highschooler.