Tiddlywiki, My Brain & ChatGPT

Probing the Guru AI (ChatGPT) …

I will leave YOU, dear human reader. IF you are one. To assemble your own response (beep!).


What is the relation between Tiddlywiki and the brain?

NB: This answer ASSUMED I was talking about software. I wasn’t …

TiddlyWiki and TheBrain are both software tools designed to help users organize and manage information, but they have different approaches and features.

  1. TiddlyWiki: TiddlyWiki is a flexible, non-linear personal web notebook. It allows users to create interconnected notes called “tiddlers” that can contain text, images, links, and more. Users can organize these tiddlers using tags, categories, and links. TiddlyWiki is often used for personal knowledge management, project planning, note-taking, and more. It is open-source and highly customizable, allowing users to tailor it to their specific needs.

  2. TheBrain: TheBrain, also known as PersonalBrain, is a dynamic mind mapping and knowledge management software. It enables users to visually organize information using a network of interconnected “thoughts” or nodes. Each node can represent a concept, idea, document, or any other piece of information. Users can establish relationships between nodes, add notes, attach files, and visualize complex relationships. TheBrain emphasizes visual thinking and provides features like advanced search, visualization tools, and integration with other applications.


I did not mean software. I meant how Tiddlywiki imitates thinking.

I see, you’re referring to the conceptual relation between TiddlyWiki and the cognitive processes involved in thinking, particularly how TiddlyWiki’s structure and functionality relate to human thought patterns. Here’s an exploration of that analogy:

  1. Non-linear Thinking: TiddlyWiki’s non-linear structure mimics the way human thoughts often jump from one idea to another without following a strictly linear path. In the same way that the mind might make unexpected connections between seemingly unrelated concepts, TiddlyWiki allows users to create interconnected “tiddlers” that can be linked in various ways, reflecting the associative nature of thought.
  2. Associative Memory: Humans often remember information through associations, linking one idea or memory to another. Similarly, TiddlyWiki enables users to link related tiddlers together, forming a web of interconnected concepts and ideas. This associative network can help users recall information more effectively by following these links, similar to how the human mind retrieves memories through associations.
  3. Externalizing Thoughts: TiddlyWiki provides a platform for externalizing and organizing thoughts in a structured manner. Just as writing down thoughts on paper can help clarify and organize them, creating tiddlers in TiddlyWiki allows users to externalize their thoughts in a digital format. This process of externalization can aid in cognition by offloading some of the mental burden of remembering and organizing information onto an external system.
  4. Organizational Strategies: TiddlyWiki offers various organizational strategies, such as tags, categories, and links, to help users structure their information in a way that makes sense to them. Similarly, humans use organizational strategies, such as categorization and chunking, to make sense of complex information and improve cognitive processing.

In essence, TiddlyWiki can be seen as a tool that mirrors certain aspects of human thought processes, particularly in its non-linear structure, associative capabilities, and support for externalizing and organizing thoughts. While it’s not a perfect replica of human cognition, it provides a useful framework for capturing and organizing ideas in a way that aligns with how we often think and process information.

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The relation of TiddlyWiki and the brain

TiddlyWiki is what wakes the brain up in the middle of the night to torment it with an idea to tweak a macro for a use case you weren’t even looking for.

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Oh, thank God! I’m not alone.

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Thou shalt not ignore thee thy TiddlyWiki.

TiddlyWikis are people, too.

Spanning the river of time.tiddlywiki seems to be in dialogue with the old you, either continuing to agree with your previous views, rethinking your previous opinions, or rejecting your previous self altogether

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For more TW philosophical musing, see @Charlie_Veniot 's Intertwingularity Slice’n Dice

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