3d1 - Five umbrella benefits of MOCs

Last updated Aug 15, 2023

These are the 5 overlapping umbrella benefits of making and using MOCs:

Dependable — Flexible — Enhancing — Generating — Healthy

You can find what you are looking for.

• Let’s put it this way: even the credit agencies would be forced to give your notes a higher credit score
  •  You will have better recall: You may not remember that guy’s name in that song by itself, but when it’s in a higher-order note, you exclaim “Jack and Diane!”
  •  You will have more methods to retrieval.
  •  The methods of retrieval build overlapping redundancies.
  •  You will have future-proofed knowledge. 🗿
• You will be able to better manage stress and anxiety.
  •  You will have less overwhelm and be able to get past mental squeeze points.

You can use MOCs in several different ways.

• You can organize.
• You can create.
• You can navigate.
• You have the option to NOT use them, and your notes still function.
  • Your MOCs are non-destructive and non-limiting because they act as a fluid layer.

Your thinking becomes “next level”.

• Heightened thinking - You can deal with many complex concepts at the same time that can often overwhelm a person without an MOC.
  •  You will be able to think at a higher, more complex level. If Ideation was regulated, MOCs would be considered PEDs (Performance Enhancing Drugs).
• Relational thinking - You build awareness and possibly even EQ (Emotional Intelligence). You will train yourself to think relationally: “How does this relate?”
  •  You will start to spot digestible bits of information and how they can connect to your digital library.
• Sustainable thinking - You can reliably “pick up from where you left off”.
• Fluid thinking - You can easily move between the levels of Idea Emergence.
• Next level thinking: You maximize the time working at higher levels of sophistication, importance, creativity, or prominence.

You develop ideas and generate value (both internal and external).

• You are encouraged to develop ideas.
  • This is what happens when notes are placed in a room together and forced to figure things out. 
• You are basically forced to accelerate your ideation: your sensemaking, taste-making, and match-making (See Cards/Three ways the map-maker creates value)
• You naturally make new creations that are already prepped for the final steps.
• You naturally create helpful summations of thought (artifacts) on a topic that act as a reliable reminding tool.
• MOCs remain ready to grow with more ideas, take on more links, and compound in value over time. 
  •  Since MOCs are adjustable and moldable, they easily evolve as your thoughts grow, mature, and develop complexity on a subject.

You maintain a positive relationship with your knowledge management.

• Your management of knowledge becomes enjoyable, which creates a positive feedback loop where you feel rewarded for returning to your knowledge library. 
• Your brain’s attentional filter is controlled by two factors: Novelty and Importance. Working in an MOC naturally provides both (More on this in Unit 4).
• You easily control the “Flow spigot” with Dynamic Difficulty Adjustment (More on this in Unit 4).