Second Brain

I recently tried Obsidian. Again. For maybe 7th time… inspired by someones youtube video about organized project documentation which has always been my nemesis. I like writing notes, with a paper and pen, but I’m a complete administrative catastrophy when taking notes or “drafting ideas” using digital devices. The “second brain” pitch is about capturing everything you read and think into Notion or Obsidian notes, organizing it with the right method, and an external mind should emerge.. one that makes you smarter, more creative, and (per the YouTube thumbnails) helps you run a six-figure business. There’s a book, a course, a certification program, and an entire ecosystem of tools and influencers built on the idea.

Every single one of these “second-brain systems” seems be focusing on how to easily capture notes and then magically by connecting them with (can you believe..) links, derive some kind of value out of it.

I have a bookmark folder called “New Stuff”. I put new links in there every now and then, but I hardly ever look at them, because it’s just easier to fire a new search for whatever I’m looking for. The folder has around 2500 bookmarks in it. “This looks interesting” link folder is hardly a second brain. But lot of the self-help videos seem to think there’s something valuable in this so maybe I just don’t get it.

There is, as far as I can find, no peer-reviewed study showing that second-brain systems improve learning, output, or anything else. The entire evidence base is testimonials, largely from people whose job is selling the method.

But there is some evidence pointing the other way. “Google effect” would indicate that in controlled experiments, people who believed a computer would store what they typed remembered significantly fewer facts than people who believed it would be erased. Your brain, perhaps quite rationally, doesn’t bother to keep what it believes is filed somewhere else. So a second brain maybe isn’t a “idea backup storage”. It’s basically an instruction to your first brain to zone out and take a break.

Saving a thing feels like learning the thing. I always feel “important” when I drag a new link into my “New Stuff” folder. But I don’t think I learn anything from it. It’s just a dopamine hit from doing something you believe is useful.

I’m sure there are many good use-cases for these systems if you’re an author or academic researcher but I’ve personally never really found any use for them. And I’ve been trying for years.

Of course now that we’re in the (sigh) AI era, it seems these systems are focused on pointing Claude Code or some MCP agent at your Obsidian vault and believing your second brain finally “comes alive” to run your business (why does everyone taking notes always have to aim for running a business?)

But sure. Maybe your AI session gets better context out of it. But if the whole point of your notes is that a machine reads them, your incentive to learn anything at all in your own brain drops to zero. You’re not building knowledge. You’re curating a prompt library while getting small dopamine hits because it feels useful and important.

When did you last retrieve a note that changed your project or code? If the honest answer is “I usually just Google it,” you don’t have a second brain. Maybe you just have a very organized way of avoiding your first one.

That’s how all my attempts have ended up so far. I’m pretty sure I’ll keep trying though because it sounds good. Help me understand this?