ObsoleteKnowledge

A personal knowledge base of (eventually) everything — an Obsidian vault of small, atomic articles ("nodes") woven into a navigable web, with built-in read-tracking.

Scope: 750,000+ words, ~2,000 nodes spanning 187 topics across 15 categories.

---

Quick Start

1. Download the vault

Option A: Git clone

git clone https://github.com/evansuckedatlife/ObsoleteKnowledge.git
cd ObsoleteKnowledge

Option B: Download as ZIP Click Code → Download ZIP on this repo, then unzip it.

2. Open in Obsidian

1. Download Obsidian (free).
2. Launch Obsidian.
3. Click Open folder as vault and select the ObsoleteKnowledge folder.
4. When prompted about plugins, click Enable (to activate the Bases plugin).

3. Install community plugins (optional but highly recommended)

The vault ships with Bases enabled, but to use the Mark read toggles in node footers, install Meta Bind:

1. In Obsidian, go Settings → Community plugins → Browse.
2. Search for Meta Bind.
3. Click Install then Enable.
4. Restart Obsidian.

4. Start reading

• Open index.md to see all 187 topics.
• Click any topic list (e.g., [[greek-heroes]]) to jump to that subject.
• Open a node (e.g., Achilles) to read about it.
• Toggle "Mark read" at the bottom or top of each node to track progress.
• Open the Graph view (Ctrl/Cmd + G) to visualize the web of knowledge.
• Use one of countless tours to learn a topic area comprehensively, without lacking prerequisites.

---

How it works

Nodes — atomic facts

Each entity (person, work, event, place, concept, etc.) is one file in concepts/<category>/<slug>.md. Every node has:

• summary — one paragraph: what/who, when/where, why it matters
• you gotta know — 4–8 bulleted clues, ordered most-recognisable → most-obscure
• connections — links to related nodes (family, rivals, cause/effect)
• see also — peer nodes worth reading next
• read toggle — mark true once you've absorbed it
• Foundations Highly recommended prerequisite nodes will be displayed at the head of each node, only if unread
• Priority nodes These

Lists — maps of content

Each of the 187 NAQT topics gets one list (lists/<slug>.md) — a curated MOC showing which nodes belong to it, plus a live read-progress table. A single node can belong to multiple lists (e.g., greek-heroes and trojan-war-heroes).

The web — wikilinks

Every node is woven via [[wikilinks]] — links by basename across the entire vault. Open Graph view to see the network:

• Green nodes = read (read: true)
• Red nodes = unread (read: false)
• Dangling links = concepts mentioned but not yet authored (the frontier)

Progress tracking — one source of truth

The read: false frontmatter field on each node is the single source of truth:

• The graph colours nodes by it.
• The "Mark read" toggle (footer) edits it.
• Bases tables (.base) filter and aggregate read status.

---

What's here now

Fully built (187/187 topics)

All NAQT You Gotta Know topics are complete:

• Mythology & Belief (8 lists, ~300 nodes): Greek, Norse, Egyptian, Hindu mythology; founders of religions; biblical figures and holidays.
• Literature & Linguistics (12 lists, ~250 nodes): Classical works, Shakespeare, modern literature, literary terms.
• History & Geography (18 lists, ~400 nodes): World history, US history, geography, world capitals, ancient civilizations.
• Science & Nature (12 lists, ~300 nodes): Biology, chemistry, physics, astronomy, earth sciences.
• Fine Arts (8 lists, ~200 nodes): Painting, sculpture, music, composers, architecture.
• Social Sciences (10 lists, ~200 nodes): Philosophy, psychology, economics, political theory.
• Pop Culture & Sports (14 lists, ~250 nodes): Films, TV, comics, sports figures, Olympics.
• Religion & Practice (8 lists, ~200 nodes): Religious practices, holidays, spiritual figures.

Current enrichment pass

Adding cross-domain connector hubs — high-degree nodes (pivotal events, major works, per-domain overviews) that tie multiple topics together and reduce fragmentation.

---

Navigation tips

Start here

• index.md — the master catalogue; jump to any topic.
• BUILD-ORDER.md — historical build sequence (for reference).

Find something specific

1. Use Obsidian's Quick Switcher (Ctrl/Cmd + K) and type the node or list name.
2. Use Graph view to explore visually; right-click any node to open it.
3. Use Search (Ctrl/Cmd + F) to find text inside nodes.

Understand the structure

• VISION.md — why the system is designed this way (design compass).
• CLAUDE.md — operational guide for authoring nodes (format spec).
• tools/ — focused specs for node/list generation and validation.

---

For contributors

Before authoring nodes, read CLAUDE.md (operational guide) and VISION.md (design rationale).

The sourcing rule (non-negotiable)

NAQT is a topic map only. Its articles' prose is copyrighted; never fetch, paste, or paraphrase it into this repo or an LLM. All content is written originally from:

• General knowledge
• Wikipedia, Britannica, open references
• Primary texts and open-source materials
• Not from NAQT

Facts are free; expression is not.

AI use & transparency

This vault was authored and maintained with AI assistance (Claude). Here's how:

• Content generation: AI drafts nodes from open sources, adhering strictly to the sourcing rule above.
• Validation: AI checks wikilink integrity, formatting, and dedup across the graph.
• No NAQT prose: AI is explicitly instructed never to fetch, paste, or paraphrase copyrighted NAQT articles. All content is written originally.
• Human review: All AI-generated content is in the process of review by me for accuracy, originality, and compliance.

You can trust this vault's facts — they're sourced from general knowledge and open references, not from NAQT or unchecked LLM hallucinations. The use of AI is disclosed here for transparency and good faith. It would be a tremendous undertaking to accumulate a knowledge-base of this size on such a timeline without heavy assistance from AI.

Quick authoring workflow

1. New node: Follow tools/generate-node.md.
2. New list: Follow tools/generate-list.md.
3. After any edit: Run tools/validate-graph.md to check wikilink integrity, dedup, and formatting.

---

Plugins used

• Bases (core plugin) — live tables filtering by metadata (read status, type, category).
• Meta Bind (community plugin) — in-node read toggles bound to frontmatter.

Both are optional but recommended for the full experience.

---

File structure

ObsoleteKnowledge/
├── README.md                          # You are here
├── VISION.md                          # Design rationale
├── CLAUDE.md                          # Authoring spec & protocols
├── index.md                           # Master catalogue (187 topics)
├── BUILD-ORDER.md                     # Build history
├── concepts/
│   ├── mythology/                     # ~300 nodes (Greek, Norse, Egyptian, Hindu, etc.)
│   ├── literature/                    # ~250 nodes (works, authors, terms)
│   ├── history/                       # ~400 nodes (events, figures, eras)
│   ├── science/                       # ~300 nodes (scientists, theories, discoveries)
│   ├── fine-arts/                     # ~200 nodes (artists, movements, techniques)
│   ├── social-science/                # ~200 nodes (thinkers, schools, concepts)
│   ├── pop-culture/                   # ~250 nodes (films, TV, comics, music)
│   ├── religion/                      # ~200 nodes (traditions, figures, practices)
│   └── [etc.]
├── lists/                             # 187 MOCs (one per NAQT topic)
│   ├── greek-heroes.md
│   ├── trojan-war-heroes.md
│   ├── shakespeare-plays.md
│   └── [etc.]
└── tools/                             # Authoring specs
    ├── README.md
    ├── generate-node.md
    ├── generate-list.md
    └── validate-graph.md

---

Why this exists

A personal vault for recall-based learning. The goal: broad factual command rewarded by daily life, trivia, and a well-furnished mind. Atomic nodes + wikilinked web + read-tracking = knowledge that sticks.

Heavily inspired by Ray Tan's AbsoluteKnowledge

---

Licence

Content © 2024 (personal work). You're welcome to fork, read, and build on it for personal learning. See the repo licence for details.

---

Questions?

Check VISION.md for design decisions, CLAUDE.md for authoring rules, or tools/README.md for generation specs. If you're contributing, those three files are your north star.

Happy reading.