Note-taking provides weak feedback

Most note-taking systems provide weak feedback, and thus Note-taking practices are generally ineffective.

Spaced repetition cards get strong feedback consistently, allowing a user to quickly iterate on that card and either change it or delete it if it’s found to be ineffective. Similarly, a Zettelkasten encourages one to develop atomic, highly connected notes that the writer often loops back around to for updates and new branching links. This ensures that past notes get cleaned up when needed, extended with new relevant information, and refactoring when insignificant.

Constrast this with a standard note taking pipeline, where most notes are taken and left alone for extended periods of time. Here feedback is extremely delayed, and even when a note does provide value it may not be obvious or easy to update.