The Collector's Fallacy

Today, with all the web clipping tools it's easier than ever to grab pieces of the internet and save them directly into my Personal Knowledge Management (PKM) system. I used to do that - all the time.

That was a big mistake you don't want to repeat.

My PKM filled with articles, sentence snippets, links and photos that seemed interesting once.

I rarely got around to actually reading them, or developing them into my own knowledge. They were just sitting there, "gathering dust".

Do you find yourself in a similar spot?

It made my PKM vault somewhere I didn't want to visit. It did not "spark joy", in the words of Marie Kondo.

I kept browsing and clipping, browsing and clipping, and new clips were added daily. So it grew and grew, but was neither knowledge, nor personal. Just internet clippings.

Something had to give. It was me. Looking for help, I found the Linking Your Thinking community and @NickMilo What he was saying resonated with me, and I joined his workshop.

I learned the name of this phenomenon: The Collector's Fallacy.

I also learned how to fight it.

It's called the Collector's Fallacy, because just collecting things I find does not equate to knowledge.

To create knowledge I need to actually think about things, build up my thinking and preferably capture my thoughts and express them.

So what to do?

1. Reduce the amount of stuff I encounter

I reduced my mindless consumption of information. Less doom-scrolling, less Facebook, less browsing aimlessly I started to be more intentional in what I'm reading, and what I am letting into my PKM.

No more clipping just because.

2. Increase the quality of material coming into my PKM

I started reading better forums, better newsletters. If something just sends me a list of click-baity headlines, I'm unsubscribing. I'm vetting more what I am reading, skimming first to see if it's worth more time.

3. Make the material my own

Instead of clipping chunks of text from my sources, I try to summarize the ideas that come into my mind, in my own words.

I'm also letting the ideas earn their spot. I don't have to read everything I clip - I only dig deeper if the idea resonates.

So, how to fight the Collector's Fallacy?

1. Reduce the amount of stuff you encounter

2. Increase the quality of material coming into your PKM

3. Make the material your own

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