Fall 2021

A 5-week course in a cohort-based workshop using PKM apps for writing and thinking

For any kind of writing practice: note-taking, blogging, researching, journaling, authoring

Those who can see writing as the doing of thinking, as the essential tool for thought

Problem solvers, brainstormers, mental modelers, seekers of algorithms of thoughts

Each participant will develop a personal workflow for antifragile writing and thinking with the preferred app (Roam Research, Obsidian.md, logseq, etc.), design and test their own templates, routines, tags, groups, etc. through a daily writing challenge..

Every week is thematic, with a topic, resources, exercises, writing prompts, algorithms of thought. Participants are encouraged to follow the writing practice around their own writing, ideas, or issues at hand. 

There will be a shared database in Roam Research for all the participants to use as a sandbox, taking and sharing notes about the topics of the course, and for some collaborative exercises. A Slack group is set for notifications, quick interactions, and questions.

Every week we will have a synchronous session via video chat with a duration of 2 hours. Sessions are recorded in case you miss them. Another hour of asynchronous work—reading and writing, basically—with a total duration of 3 hours approximately is expected. Teamwork and office hours available.

Adolfo is a writer, thinker, psychotherapist, media and audience specialist, but overall, he defines himself as a father, husband, meditator, and lover of the present. He has been a teacher, photographer, manager, trainer, facilitator, market and audience researcher, web developer, systems designer, project manager, technology auditor and consultant, content creator, entrepreneur. He has been involved in different projects and business in hospitality and tourism, retail and wholesale trade, journalism, systems development, television content and programing, universities, startups, app development and launching, product design and development, marketing, content creation, and publishing. He is the author ofWe are not Shakespeare in Quarantine, between other books. He regularly publishes his ideas inUX Collective,Concepts Against Reality,In Age of Awareness,The Start Up,Towards Data Science, andThe Writing Cooperative. Find him at adolforismos.com

Wind extinguishes a candle and energizes fire. Likewise with randomness, uncertainty, chaos: you want to use them, not hide from them. You want to be the fire and wish for the wind.

My experience is that it feels like stumbling up on little time capsules of ideas/information, sprinkled throughout my digital garden, unexpectedly brought to me via the time machine I've now known as backlinks, only with much more clarity than when I first wrote it down a while ago. In those moments you only got two things to thank for: your past self, and Adolfo's Antifragile Writing course

Adolfo takes the time to help you understand how to incorporate antifragile concepts to strengthen your writing process. He openly shares his deep personal knowledge of writing and gives you the tools to help you not just be a more resilient writer but an antifragile writer who grows despite the daily writing challenges you face. This course is a must for those looking to level up their writing process within Roam.

I was really happy to participate in Adolfo's course on antifrigile writing. Adolfo gave us a clear, well-structured explanation of the writing framework designed by him to make the writing process adapt to and thrive under uncontrolled, unexpected influences. He showed us how to utilize various PKM apps to help with the creative process as well as other software to create unusual writing conditions. During the course Adolfo gave us a lot of examples, quotes, diagrams, prompts, and exercises, and was happy to discuss our results and ideas and give feedback.

Web developer & alt-web researcher and practitioner

If you need a simple workflow you can apply every time you write in Roam, I recommend you read Adolfo Ramírez Corona's article titled The Five Rules of Roam. The other articles on his blog are also worth reading, as they're all about using Roam for writing projects.

Also one of my #roam community favs, @adolforismos with Antifragile Writing

Exploring Tools for Thought and PKM (RoamHacker)

Antifragile Writing as a Tool for Thought

A 5-week intimate cohort-based, writing workshop styled course.

Real-time office hours each week to learn and practice.

Access to a Roam Research graph database in multiplayer mode with all the information and references for the course.

One-on-one session to define your best workflow.

A Slack group for notifications, quick interactions, Q&A.

Tutorials of how to use Roam Research for antifragile writing (applicable to other PKMs).

Customized assessment to find the stressors that work better for your writing.

Original SMAC framework for writing and thinking.

Dozens of writing prompts (some work like little mental models) to work with antifragile writing.

Every live session has two editions or repetitions scheduled at Wednesdays. One is at 8:00 hrs CST and the other is at 18:00 hrs CST. In that way, you can take any of them according to your agenda or the place you live.

Real-time sessions are two hours long each week. 

Working on your own projects, exercises, teamwork, can take you one more hour per week. There is a daily writing challenge where you can spend between 5 to 15 minutes. Of course, you can spend more time by your own if you want.

And we can book 30 min. real-time sessions, one-to-one or in small groups each week for coaching or particular cases.

How much time will I have to spend on this course?

Yes, preferably. To take advantage of some exercises, interactions, and teamwork the real-time sessions are the best option (that's why this is a cohort-based course).

However, all the real-time sessions are recorded and shared with the participants in case you miss a session.

Do I have to attend all of the live sessions in real-time?

We use a common multiplayer Roam database to host the materials, presentations, and to share our projects and exercises. But for your personal writing, you can use any other similar app. All the methods, techniques, and frameworks can be applied to any other PKM app.

Roam Research, logseq, Obsidian.md, Athens, RemNote, are some of the apps you can use to take advantage of the antifragile writing framework.

We can have a special session to address the use of any other app.

I don't use Roam Research, I don't like it. What about other apps?

No. If you are already a user of Roam Research, welcome. We are going to see some tips, templates, and take advantage of some features. 

But if you are not a user of Roam Research, don't worry. We cover the basics during the first sessions so you can start using it and participating in the multiplayer database.

We also have a Slack group where you can post questions and ask for tips. 

And more importantly, we can schedule office hours for those who need more assistance.

Do I need to know how to use Roam Research?

Yes, there are discounts for academics, students, or special cases. You can ask for it during your application. We'll contact you for further details.

Are there any discounts for students or academics?

No. This course is based on the ideas of Nassim Nicholas Taleb and their application to writing and thinking but all the methods, techniques, frameworks, etc. are designed by Adolfo Ramírez Corona.

You don't need to read “Antifragile Writing” book to enjoy the benefits of the course.

Is this course is in somehow related or affiliated to Nassim Nicholas Taleb?

You can check this reading list of articles on Antifragile Writing and Tools for Thought (PKMs) by Adolfo Ramírez Corona or check out his Antifragile Writing channel on YouTube. He use to publish on Medium.

Where can I get more information about the antifragile writing framework or the facilitator?

Be the first to know when the next cohort starts


Design a writing and thinking workflow not just chaos proof, but that grows and gains from stressors. Come if you prefer jungles to gardens, freewriting instead of slip boxes. Don't be afraid of disorder, we use personal knowledge management apps (PKMs) like Roam Research.

How many notes and ideas get lost or broken in our journal, notebooks, drafts, documents. or apps? How many concepts, stories, knowledge, not only survive the past of time but grow with it, get stronger, and generate new thoughts? 

This course explores how can we make our writing and thinking less fragile and more robust, even antifragile—the opposite extreme of fragile, according to the thinker Nicholas N. Taleb, author of “Antifragile: Things That Gain From Disorder”.

ANTIFRAGILE WRITING AS A TOOL FOR THOUGHT

Avoid losing valuable ideas on fragile notes. Boost your writing and 7x your
thinking as chaotic note-taking becomes your friend not enemy.