The (Dubious) Value of Taking Notes

While I was growing up, I would take copious notes of the sermons preached at my church. For years, I filled notebooks with the scripture references, doctrines, and teaching shared across the pulpit. And I was dedicated—I took care to format the notes consistently, cross out typos, and finally, upon filling the last page of the notebook, neatly stack it on top of the others in my closet.

And then I would never touch them again.

Here’s the thing I’ve come to learn: taking notes is faux productivity. It wastes time at best and reinforces bad learning methods at worst.

Instead, you should record questions.

Productivity theater

For reasons I still haven’t figured out, people act as though taking notes is the key to success across education, career, and personal development. It’s blasphemous not to take notes in college.

I think this is an artifact of America’s generally poor education system, which was designed to reinforce knowledge (rather than foster understanding) to produce good little factory automatons. After all, the basic formula for an American class is:

1. Receive information (listen to a lecture)
2. Record information (write notes)
3. Regurgitate information (take exam)
4. Dispose of information (forget everything)

No one enjoys this or derives any real value from it.

So why do we continue doing it?

Historical inertia aside, I think it’s because this model is an easy way to feel productive.

Anyone who is honest with themselves about taking notes will agree:

Writing notes divides your attention. You’re transcribing what’s being said, leaving no capacity to critically engage with what you just heard or hear what else is being said as you scribble down some vague factoid before it leaves your short-term memory. The end result? You’re left with a loose list of data and a tenuous grasp of how it all connects. Then you go back to your dorm and relearn everything some old guy just spent 2 hours telling you.

Okay, so what do I propose?

We’ll get to that. But first, what is learning?

I think we can agree that reciting facts does not constitute understanding. That’s memorization.

So, I think a more useful definition of “learning” is:

To construct a sensible mental model of a concept that (1) allows you to make reasonable inferences about the concept and (2) allows you to map that model to unique challenges and formulate novel solutions.

Inference is important because it’s what drives the learning process. By weighing expected behavior against actual behavior, you’ll refine it and apply it more effectively in the future.

Applying the model to new problems is important because it’s what allows you to act in the world more effectively, which is the whole point behind learning.

I think there’s a historical example that illustrates my point well.

WWII bombers

In World War II, a statistics research group at Columbia University was assessing the damage done to Allied bombers. They noticed patterns in where clusters of bullets appeared across the aircraft and reasoned that the most effective way to protect bombers would be to layer more armor on those areas.

This conclusion sounds intuitively correct.

But then one statistician, Abraham Wald, said, “Hold up—what about all the planes that didn’t return? If we keep seeing the same bullet hole patterns in surviving aircraft, then wouldn’t that mean our planes are actually tolerating fire at those areas well already?” The other guys said, “Huh, yeah that makes sense.” Then Wald and his band of merry statisticians slapped more armor on the areas with the least amount of damage. Sure enough, more bombers than ever returned safely, their most critical parts now properly armored.

I think this story illustrates my problem with taking notes well. By just recording what an instructor or subject matter expert is saying, all you’re doing is reinforcing that which you already understand. You’re not addressing any gaps in your mental model.

Why recording questions is better

So, next time you’re sitting in a lecture, put away the pen and actively listen. Engage with the material critically, in real time, deliberately focusing on fleshing out a mental model of the concept. And when you see a gap in your model, write that question down to revisit later.

You will likely have to teach yourself how to actively engage with material in real time. After all, your education probably did nothing to teach you that. But you’ll know when you’re doing it when questions start occurring naturally, perhaps at greater frequency or with better clarity than before. You’ll be able to articulate what you don’t know more effectively.

As questions come, don’t ask them. Write them down and try to answer them on your own later. Once you’ve studied and formulated reasonable answers, you can then ask your instructor or SME if your conclusions are valid, and if not, why.

Recording questions and attempting to answer them later promotes both active engagement and reinforcement when you revisit the material later.

Record questions, not notes.