Per-Note Questions

The practice: At processing time, ask “If this is an answer, what’s the question?”

Two Levels of Questions

Level	What It Is	Persistence	Example
12 Problems	Life-level questions you carry	Years	”How do I balance depth vs. breadth?”
Per-Note Question	What question does this specific idea help answer?	Created at processing time	”Why does early specialization hurt long-term?”

The link: Your 12 problems are attractors. When you ask “what question does this answer?”, many answers naturally cluster under your 12.

Why Bother?

Without question links → Notes are isolated facts. You can search for “Nobel scientists” but not for “everything I know about why generalists win.”

With question links → You can open a question note and see every supporting idea—studies, quotes, your thoughts—accumulated over time.

The Workflow

When processing a clipping, fleeting note, or literature highlight:

1. Ask: “If this is an answer, what’s the question?”
2. Check: Does it connect to one of my Feynman’s 12 Favourite Problems?
   • If yes → Link directly to that problem
   • If it’s a sub-question → Create it, then link that to a 12 problem
   • If unrelated → Let it float; may connect later
3. Create the link: Idea note links to question note

Concrete Example

Clipping: “Nobel Prize scientists are 22x more likely to have artistic hobbies than average scientists.”

Ask: What question does this answer?

Candidates:

• Why do generalists outperform? ← Connects to 12 problem if you have “depth vs. breadth”
• Does creativity transfer across domains?
• Is artistic practice a signal or cause of scientific success?

Result:

• Idea note: “Nobel scientists + artistic hobbies” (the fact, your words)
• Linked to question note: “Why do generalists outperform?”

The Hierarchy

12 Problem: "How do I balance depth vs. breadth?"
    └── Sub-question: "Why do generalists outperform long-term?"
            ├── Idea: "Sampling period enables later specialization"
            ├── Idea: "Nobel scientists have artistic hobbies"
            └── Study: "Range research on early specialization"

Questions organize ideas. Ideas support questions. Over time, each question accumulates evidence.

---

Common Trap

Forcing every note into a question. Some notes (especially supplementary tools like quotes or studies) support ideas rather than answering questions directly. Link those to idea notes, and let the ideas link to questions.

---

North: Where does this comes from?

• Feynman’s 12 Favourite Problems (the life-level version)
• Question-Driven Learning

East: What opposes this?

• Topic-Based Linking (organizes by subject, not by question)
• Flat Note Storage (no hierarchy, just search)

South: Where this leads?

• [[MOC)](Maps of Content (MOC|Maps of Content (MOC)]]) (questions become natural MOC candidates)
• Writing From Notes (question + supporting ideas = draft structure)

West: What is similar?

• Q-E-C Method (Question, Evidence, Conclusion note-taking)
• Evergreen Note Titles as APIs (Andy Matuschak’s approach to titled claims)