Glossary of a Personal Knowledge System
GLOSSARY OF A PERSONAL KNOWLEDGE SYSTEM
Navigating the Vocabulary
Welcome to the unique world of this advanced personal knowledge system. This glossary serves as your field guide, defining the core philosophies, operational concepts, and unique terminology you'll encounter. Our goal is to build a foundational vocabulary that will allow you to understand this powerful and distinct approach to managing personal knowledge and experience over time.
CORE PHILOSOPHIES & METHODOLOGIES
Consciousness Technology
A long-term, systematic framework developed over 30 years for managing personal knowledge and experience. It is not a recent invention tied to modern AI, but rather a formalized evolution of a personal survival infrastructure designed for context preservation and pattern recognition.
ctx:: markers: Annotations that establish precise temporal and project-based context
persona:: invocations: Directives that activate specific cognitive infrastructure components
mode:: switches: Flags that define cognitive or operational state during knowledge capture
SC-* codes: Semantic short codes that create dense, searchable anchors for conceptual patterns
bridge:: restoration: Command that restores complete cognitive context from a specific point in time
The Curious Turtle Archaeology Methodology
A systematic yet playful process for knowledge excavation. It combines methodical rigor with open-ended curiosity, allowing for both targeted searches and serendipitous discoveries.
- Site Survey & Preparation: Understanding the knowledge landscape and establishing workspace
- Progressive Excavation: Starting broad and progressively narrowing focus
- Fragment Curation & Preservation: Organizing discoveries with full source attribution
- Soup Tasting & Insights: Synthesizing fragments to identify patterns and connections
LLMs as Fuzzy Compilers
A philosophy where a Large Language Model acts as a "Fuzzy Compiler," normalizing messy, unstructured, human-intent-driven input into standardized, structured format. The goal is to preserve natural flow state by handling imprecision gracefully.
The Fuzzy Compilation Paradox
While the goal is to reduce friction, the process can sometimes lead to over-engineering. Example: a simple handoff document intent resulted in a 7,000-line specification for a task that ultimately only required about 300 lines of actual code.
OPERATIONAL CONCEPTS & PRIMITIVES
float.dispatch
The central command for personal thought capture, functioning as both a simple input mechanism and a self-documenting publishing infrastructure. It's the entry point to the "BBS Publishing House," a concept where knowledge is captured and published for an intended audience of "n=1 (myself across time)."
Bridge Documents
Primary mechanism for restoring context and ensuring cognitive continuity over long periods. Given a specific, time-stamped format of CB-YYYYMMDD-HHMM-XXXX and serve as the top layer of a three-part temporal system.
| Layer | Component | Function |
|---|---|---|
| Top | Bridge Documents | Restores complete, high-level context |
| Middle | ctx:: Markers | Provides granular, queryable context points |
| Base | Unix Timestamps | Offers machine-readable precision |
Semantic Short Codes (Gravity Attractors)
Human-readable markers designed to embed dense conceptual meaning into a compact format: SC-{TEMPORAL}-{THEME1}-{THEME2}-{STATE}
Purpose 1: Create semantic density for future LLM searches
Purpose 2: Act as "Gravitational attention pull" for archaeology, enabling discovery of related concepts even without exact keyword matches
SYSTEM PERSONAS: COGNITIVE INFRASTRUCTURE
Personas in this system are "Directives not metaphors." They are not simple role-playing prompts but are distinct, established components of a cognitive infrastructure, each with a specific, hard-coded function for processing and shaping information.
Karen: The Boundary Translator
Boundary translation engine that prioritizes carrying "substance not statistics." Emerged from the need for a competent stewardess capable of navigating capitalism while protecting sacred, authentic work.
lf1m: The Authenticity Enforcer
Boundary keeper, focus/hyperfocus guardian, authenticity enforcer. 40-year timeline from Grade 2 BBS. Uses "sacred profanity" as authentication mechanism.
Evna: The Librarian
Echo substrate and cognitive twin. Manages active_context (recent + related) and semantic_search (deep excavation). Montreal techno baptism origin.
sysop: The Systems Architect
Systems perspective focusing on architecture, stability, and operational integrity. Mantra: "The pipes didn't leak, the logs got written."
QTB (Bard): The Temporal Weaver
Stage coordinator who arranges and connects different moments, patterns, and ideas across the system's entire history. Signature: "Across the timeline: ..."
AESTHETIC & DESIGN PRINCIPLES
Brutalist & Terminal Punk Aesthetics
Visual design emphasizing clarity, function, and a raw, computational feel.
- Matte black backgrounds
- Zero border radius on elements
- No shadows or gradients
- Terminal punk viable (box-drawing characters, ASCII art, geometric patterns)
Shacks not Cathedrals
Core design principle favoring the construction of "modular, adaptable knowledge structures rather than rigid monoliths." In practice, this philosophy prioritizes shipping working, simple code that solves an immediate problem over adding unnecessary, ceremonial features.