Obsidian Graph, Summer 2023
I got out of the habit of looking at my Obsidian graph, because I was a bit unhappy it wasn't easier to follow the links between data or ideas. I think the main graph isn't designed to really do that and the solution to that "problem" is probably on the righthand sidebar, but I need to refresh myself on how to use all these features. So in the meantime, what's the point of the total graph? Is it just a way to brag about the amount of info I've put into the system? Or does it help me in some other way, in addition to helping motivate me?
One thing that I've noticed, after taking some time away from Obsidian, is that the time-lapse is kind of interesting. It begins with the fairly linear record of me inputting info and linking itThe network builds fairly steadily and some groupings begin to appear. Many of the early ideas are surrounded by little clouds of empty nodes, where I have highlighted concepts or names I want to come back to.
The first "colored" collection I make is the red batch of Secular Radicals. then there's a cluster of yellow primary sources and then a green flower of the sources I add into my anthology. The petals in that flower represent chapters in the ebook. Finally, there's a pretty recent set of orange entries which are the beginning of my network of Gilded Age data, where I'm going to try to connect the first plutocracy of the early 20th century with the current situation a century later. One thing I notice about these entries is that there are far fewer little clouds of empty nodes. Mostly what I'm doing here is writing little biographical entries on characters I want to pursue and then connecting them to other people with whom they associated in life. There are a lot of little orange nodes in the cloud of individual notes surrounding the web in the center, suggesting there are a lot of connections I still need to make.
This fall I'll be pursuing this: adding new nodes and connecting more of them together. I'll also learn (or relearn) how to use the note-level features on the righthand sidebar. This result, I suspect, will be a gradual expansion of the connectedness of these webs related to specific projects and also I hope some interesting connections I'll notice between info and ideas across these spaces. It'll be interesting to see, for example, if there are some elements of my research into the Gilded Age that connect more with other topics I'm pursuing? Are the ideas or people that connect more obviously to more mainstream or well-known stories a way to bring an audience into the history I want to describe by stages? From the familiar to the unfamiliar? A way to complicate things people think they already know and open some doors to encourage them to consider a different point of view or explanation?