Are there any disadvantages to note-taking?

“It can be a blessing and a curse to remember many things. Some-

times it’s better to forget. People and experiences. It does make me

consider whether or not I should jot down notes more than I do. Are

mental notes enough? But then I think that if I don’t remember some-

thing it’s because I’m probably supposed to forget about it. My father

burned his personal items – there are no letters or notes from his life.

My family has a tradition of destroying such things. Your own memo-

ry is the best filter of what’s important.”

Have you ever written a diary?

“I have tried, but gave up. In my mind, things – thoughts, actions,

feelings – are part of a greater evolution. They’re not static. I can jot

down thoughts when travelling – where I went, what I ate and things

like that – but the form of a diary is strange to me. It’s hard for me

to sit and formulate my thoughts without a specific context. They

are ever-changing and best kept as part of my writings on a specific

subject.”

differentiate. To me, notes are like looking at art. I go deeper and

deeper within them to gain clarity and understanding of a subject, a

thought or a meaning.”

What do your notes say about you?

“They represent expansion of the mind and of knowledge. Clarity.

A better understanding. I often use notes when I speak in public. I’ll

suddenly pause and make a mental note of something I’ve remem-

bered before continuing. For me, this is an essential part of my pro-

cess of understanding a subject as well as myself.”

Do you not feel the need to put your thoughts and observations

down on paper? As a way of working through them and remem-

bering them?

“Mental notes are a way of sorting the wheat from the chaff. I hardly

refer to my old written notes, so by taking mental notes instead I’m

able to support my own development — and not least memory. For

me, written notes are counterproductive. They disturb my thought

A Conversation with Ditlev Tamm

“Notes offer perspective. An official explanation. They open the imagination and present

another way of seeing the world. Notes are a step to recognition and understanding,

and they are a process.”

Has the way you take notes evolved over time?

“Computers and printers didn’t exist in my youth. Back then, it was

customary to make many long notes about things you read or expe-

rienced. I still have stacks of notebooks from when I was younger.

Every now and then, I’ll be reminded of something I once wrote and

dip into my archives to find the information to use in a new context –

based on a theme or a good idea or something I’ve read or seen.

I make fewer notes now than I did when I was younger. Partly be-

cause a greater part of my work is not strictly academic, but more

literary or essayistic or simply a manifestation of an opinion. In such

cases, I don’t feel as obliged to document things fully. I’ve become

more eclectic and cherry-pick the things that interest me. When

you’re studying, it’s important to learn. Note-taking aids that process.

I grew up making notes on almost everything related to my studies,

to understand legal practice. For lawyers, the use of explanatory

notes is an essential part of your course. Legal texts are often incom-

prehensible until they are further explained. Academic notes are the

source of more knowledge. I have a mantra that nerds have more fun.

I think that the more you know, the more you understand the world

around you.”

The advent of the Internet has changed my approach to notetaking.

It’s been second to none for me and has expanded my personal note

system. It is filled with any and every kind of potential note. When I

go online, new things pop up. A whole new world of inspiration or

knowledge is at my fingertips. And it triggers my memory of notes.

It’s genius.”

Is it possible to have too many notes?

“I don’t think so. Some believe that aesthetics can be clouded or de-

stroyed by too much knowledge. I don’t feel that way and can easily

patterns. When I’m in the flow of writing, I recall relevant notes from

my memory rather than make notes or refer to scribblings I’ve made.”

Have any notes had an impact on you?

“The best notes I know of are in the Book of Disquiet by Fernando

Pessoa, a Portuguese writer and poet. His handwritten notes were

published as a book of outstanding observations.”

What can we learn from the practice of notetaking?

“When Linear B, a syllabic script used in ancient Greece and one of

the oldest languages known to man, was deciphered in the 1950s,

scholars quickly learned that it wasn’t the Iliad they had discovered.

Instead, the script detailed the horses, pots, pans and whatever else

they owned. It was notes! Fascinating.

When I travelled to South America to study the Incas, I learned

that they didn’t have a written language but rather quipu, a form of

communication with string and knots that was used to record and

communicate information – such as how many llamas they owned.

It wasn’t a poetic language, but a practical form of note-keeping that

allowed them to add different sized knots to a piece of string to keep

check on their lives and their property.

Note-taking bears witness to the importance of history and under-

standing, self, others and culture at large. Something so banal can

have such huge significance on a cultural and personal level.”

Ditlev Tamm is a lawyer, professor, author and TV presenter. A man bound by

neither title nor convention, he enjoys to explore and challenge the boundaries

of fashion norms, while effortlessly straddling the fields of law, history, literature

and modern culture.

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