Hiya!

This is a pretty late post due to the blog site not being up when we finished this project.  This is “technically” my first blog of the year, where we focused on the Manhattan project and its effects on the world.  Not only did we learn about atomic bombs, but how to take effective notes using Zettelkastens and Axioms.  Sit back, relax, and enjoy reading about my journey!

“How did the Manhattan Project’s scientific breakthroughs change the world?”

This project focused on atomic bombs, and researching it during its devastating effects on us today (more on that in a different post).  Before that, we had to learn how to take great notes, using a system that combined Zettelkastens and Axioms.

Think of Zettelkastens as a “brain”, a place where you can access all of your information through a couple clicks.  The system originally came from a man named Niklas Luhmann, a person who created vast amounts of knowledge bases by reading books, and creating small notes to place them in different boxes related to the topic.  This allowed for him to basically have a second brain, a place where he could access all of the notes that he had previously taken.  This system of tagging each document allows for you to create connections that you may not have been previously seen.  We have taken up this system and are required to tag all of the different notes that we have collected throughout this project.

Axioms are a way of taking notes.  They involve cutting off all of the unnecessary words and summarizing the point within a couple of sentences.  Each axioms has to have one clear and concise idea that involves multiple key headers, like why it matters or by the numbers, that is further broken down by using bullet points.  We tag each of the axioms, so that we can see connections related between each idea.  Have a look at the document with all the information I collected throughout the entire project:

https://christianl.craft.me/manhattanproject

The actual final product that we had to create was a 2-3 minute explainer video that covered a main topic related to how we are affected to it today.  I wanted to focus on the ethics of its use, and how it both prevented wars, and allowed for wars to happen.  Enjoy watching!

Well, to answer the driving question, we are still facing the consequences of nuclear weapons in our lives.  Wars between major nations cannot be fought, in fear of the destruction of the world.  This has allowed countries like Russia to take advantage of this, and invade Ukraine whilst the rest of the world can’t support.  This is more of a brief summary of my answer, and is further described in my video.

Though I believe that my creation of the Zettelkastens and Axioms were quite good, I believe that the explainer video could use some work.  I went with a very simplistic approach, having super simple drawings that did not look super great.  I really enjoy creating videos that involve covering a topic about the past, but drawings are not my strong suite.  This is evident in my video, and I feel like it could have been improved.  My overall idea throughout the video was pretty strong, but could have gone deeper in some aspects.

Thanks for reading!

-Christian Lo