science

Note to Self

Note to Self is a science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Note to Self rather than just read about it. In short: Note to Self was a podcast hosted by Manoush Zomorodi that focused on the impacts of technology on everyday life. Before she began hosting Note to Self, Zomorodi was a television reporter for the British Broadcasting Corporation.

Key takeaways

Note to Self belongs to science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Note to Self to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Note to Self from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Note to Self was a podcast hosted by Manoush Zomorodi that focused on the impacts of technology on everyday life. Before she began hosting Note to Self, Zomorodi was a television reporter for the British Broadcasting Corporation. Note to Self debuted in September 2012 under the name New Tech City. It was renamed to Note to Self in 2015, and ran until 2019. Note to Self was produced by WNYC Studios and released new podcast episodes every Wednesday. A shortened version of the podcast aired Wednesdays at 5:50am and 7:50am on 93.9 FM and AM 820.

Format Manoush Zomorodi described Note to Self as "the tech show about being Human". The content of the podcast was a combination of facts and research as well as real life experiences and personal stories. Topics covered ranged from racism on Facebook, to a neuroscientist's view on information overload, to a piece by performance artist Marina Abramović which involved an audience sitting in total silence wearing noise-canceling headphones for 30 minutes before a live performance of J.S. Bach's The Goldberg Variations.

History Zomorodi has worked as a journalist for 20 years, and before joining WNYC, she reported for Reuters and the British Broadcasting Corporation. While working for the British Broadcasting Corporation, Zomorodi lived in Berlin for two years. Note to Self debuted on September 10, 2012 under the name New Tech City. On May 27, 2015 New Tech City changed its name to Note to Self, in response to listener suggestions. The name was inspired by the audience communicating to Zomorodi that they listen to the show because they are interested in the "purposeful use of technology." Zomorodi released a book entitled "Bored and Brilliant: How Spacing Out Can Unlock Your Most Productive and Creative Self" with St. Martin's Press in September 2017. Based on a series of episodes of Note to Self from 2015, the book expands on the benefits of removing distractions to increase well-being and stimulate creativity, and includes feedback from listener responses to the podcast. Zomorodi left the show in April 2018 to launch a new cryptocurrency supported podcast that was not affiliated with WNYC.

Awards

References

External links Official website

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Note to Self

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Note to Self claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Note to Self before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Note to Self ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Note to Self

In research: Note to Self appears in science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Note to Self in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Note to Self is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 2012 podcast debuts, American podcasts, Technology podcasts, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Note to Self outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Note to Self in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Note to Self means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Note to Self out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Note to Self in simple terms?

Why does Note to Self matter?

Because it connects several science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Note to Self?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Note to Self.