Atomicity forces clarity of thought
The constraint of one idea per note is a thinking tool.
If you can't isolate a concept into its own note, you don't understand it well enough. The act of atomizing forces you to identify the actual claim.
Large notes hide confusion. They let you gesture at ideas without pinning them down. andy-matuschak notes finish in under 30 minutes because they're bounded.
Benefits of atomic notes:
- Titles become meaningful (each is a claim)
- Links become precise (point to specific ideas)
- Reuse becomes possible (same concept, different contexts)
- Gaps become visible (missing atoms for synthesis)
The practice answers: what is this note actually about? If the answer sprawls, split the note.