I got a really nice email the other week, and there was a question which I wanted to answer in the open:
I've noticed that you use Obsidian a lot, and even have a course. I'd like to know if you're familiar with the Reflect app, as it seems to have very similar foundations to what you usually look for in applications: simplicity, minimalism, and without excessive features. It's important to note that like Obsidian, it's an application based on privacy. I'd like to know your opinion on this and why you don't use it, if you're familiar with the application.
A little while back, we had a storm and our TV stopped working. No matter, it was getting on to being about eight years old anyways, and at the time we got the cheapest 55” Samsung screen we could find as money was tight.
We decided it’s replacement would be a more considered purchase. Both myself and Becky play games more frequently than we used to, and we were in the process of doing our lounge up and wanted something of better quality.
We settled on either going for a 48” LG C4 or a 48” Samsung S90D - both considered mid-range OLED models, both exactly the same price and pretty similar in terms of looks.
I couldn’t decide which one to get. I quickly fell into a pit of online reviews and reddit threads pitting the two against each other - from what I could tell both were incredibly capable bits of kit and highly rated across the board, yet they both came with their own pro’s and con’s.
I did what any logical(?) person would do and ordered them both to do a side by side comparison and see generally which one would be better in my own eyes. If the threadbois were to be believed I would really notice a difference with things like dynamic upscaling and brightness levels - supposedly the Samsung came out trumps for gaming, so was that going to be the deciding factor?
To tell the truth reader, I couldn’t see shit all difference between the two. Maybe my eyes are not cultured enough, but they looked the same, exactly the same.
In the end the deciding factor was Becky pointing to the stand of the LG and saying “I dislike that stand less”.
“What was the point of that story, James” I hear you ask?. Fair question.
The point is that we tend to overthink things. Many humans tend to over-analyse the data to inform of us a decision, when the majority of the time decisions come down to personal preference, or as I like to call it “vibes”. We find it comforting perhaps, to look to numbers or facts to help us decide as it shifts the responsibility from our own brains.
My monkey mind fell into the trap looking at the numbers of television outputs I pretended to understand thinking it would help me make a decision, when really it crippled my ability to think clearly about what actually mattered.
It happens with lots of things, not just with TV’s.
I have seen people arguing about code editors, frontend frameworks, Apple vs Android, PS5 vs XBox - the list is genuinely endless. Arguments tend to be factored around silly small details that don’t really matter - what really matters is which one you like the best. A 2ms faster app opening time means fuck all in the real world. Really.
Back to the question of Obsidian vs Reflect.
A side-note, what I am talking about in the following is not something I am accusing the original poster of at all. We had a super pleasant email exchange following on from this message. He is a Cool Guy™.
I am a fan of Obsidian. For those of you who don’t know, it’s a note-taking application, akin to Apple Notes, Notion etc. It’s the primary tool I use for writing this newsletter, keeping a digital scratchpad and organising notes I keep on books and other forms of media.
Note-taking apps over the last few years have gained a passionate community of enthusiasts. The terms ‘second brain’ and PKM have become more popular and widely understood by people, and as with most things in life loyal fans of the individual tools form and focus on protecting said tools with their life.
Wherever you find these groups of individuals who believe strongly in a certain tool or way of working, you are going to come across strong opinions strongly held. I realised that I didn’t fit into the PKM community particularly well when I had to rationalise myself online for moving from one tool to another, berated by the people who favoured the initial tool. One prominent figure in particular who asked specifically for my reasonings and was very vocal with his distaste. I genuinely have no time or patience for people like this who find pleasure in trying to belittle peoples choices. It comes from a place of insecurity, it must do.
These kinds of people use very specific facts & figures for argue one tools suitability over an alternative, and pick out on the lack of certain features as a good arguing point as to why their tool of choice is the superior one.
But again, it is mainly unnecessary. I wish their was something smart that I could say about why I picked Obsidian, but it’s genuinely just because it did everything I needed it to, and I thought it looked nicer (with some tweaking) than it’s counterparts. Yes, other tools might do X or Y better, but it means nothing to me if I don’t like the interface in which I am working in for several hours a day. I can make Obsidian look 𝖆𝖊𝖘𝖙𝖍𝖊𝖙𝖎𝖈, and that pleases me.
Maybe I am not doing myself favours here, and people read this and follow me for my “informed” takes, but this is my truth. I am a strong believer in picking a tool you like the most and sticking with it for a long period of time. It seems to be the norm in the PKM world to move around tools in a hunt for a perfect workflow, but in my mind this is just an excuse for indecision.
Yes, I have tried Reflect briefly. I have tried Roam, Logseq, Notion, Apple Notes, Mem, Craft, Evernote, Bear etc etc - but the thing that I will keep coming back to Obsidian for is I like the look and feel of it over the others.
We tend to overthink what the best tool for the job is, and this is a form of procrastination. No matter what note-taking application you use, the end result will be pretty similar. Some of the most prolific people I know use nothing but a pen and some scraps of paper or the back of their hand to make notes, whereas some of the least productive people I know have spent countless hours perfecting a useless charade of note-taking application architectures and automations.
Lets spend less time over-analysing our decisions by looking at what people on the internet have said, and spending more time understanding ourselves enough that we have the confidence in our own brain to make a decision.
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As a side note, I am always open to answering questions. I love getting thoughtful emails through, so if there is anything you want me to answer or dive deeper on, then you can get in touch here.
Thanks for reading my friends,
James ✌️
⚫ Now:
Tripped up to London to meet up with Evgeny, Alex and Grayson, which was great - ended up with Covid a few days later. I was the only one that got it, so either my country lungs can’t handle the city or I got it on the train home. It knocked me for six, so been resting up and not done much outside of that!
Purchased animations.dev after having my eyes on it for some time. Well worth the investment!
💬 Quote:
The willingness to accept responsibility for one’s own life, is the source from which self-respect springs.
— Joan Didion
🖤 Consuming:
Every now and then the algorithm gets it right and suggests something great. I hadn’t heard of Float Omen before a few weeks ago, but this video popped up on my Youtube feed. Spot on suggestion, had the record on repeat ever since.