I have a confession: I’m not a big mind map guy. I appreciated the alternate visualization but wanted the ability to move nodes around within the outline’s hierarchy. MindNode has included an outline view for years, but it wasn’t editable, which always bothered me. Last year, as I planned my Big Sur review, I briefly considered switching from MindNode to an outlining app to organize my notes. However, when you pull back and consider most mind maps and outlines from a birds-eye perspective, they’re complementary rather than alternative ways to approach the same problem. Outlines suffer from a linearity and information density that makes those connections harder to find. Mind maps provide a more visual way to organize your thoughts and afford more room for creativity by making it easier to spot connections between related ideas and organize them in a less constrained way. Outlines are a system of organizing my thoughts that have served me well, but it’s not the only approach, nor is it always the best. A big part of every law school’s first-year curriculum is teaching students how to synthesize vast quantities of research materials into carefully-organized outlines. When I think about my writing, I think in outlines, which is a remnant of my days as a law student.
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