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This is a very soft question, bordering to mere curiosity; but, I hope there are more people just curious about this than me.

Watching the episode "Infinity: The Science of Endless" from the World Science Festival, there is a part with set theorist Hugh Woodin where he talks about his notes. Below are some examples of such, where the first one is taken from the video above, and the second from a blog post.

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The closest he gets to an explanation of them is when he says:

"I'm parking concepts, organizing them in my field of view, as I'm juggling various things..."

The only mentions I found of these (or very similar) markings are in this blog (further down, in the entry Feb 5 2015), and in the book "This Book Will Blow Your Mind from New Scientist, which is probably taken from the series mentioned in the blog above. They are never really explained in more detail than in the video above.

Now, I understand that they may be very hard to explain, especially if they are something very abstract and personal that basically only Wooding himself understands; but, based on the pictures in the blog above, where it looks as if they are perhaps used in communication with others, I also think that they might be something perhaps a bit more conventional.

Question: Do anyone know enough of what is going on in either of these notes, to be able (and wanting) to explain (with just as much set theoretic jargon as necessary, but no more) at least some of them?

(Perhaps the blackboard in the second picture above is the least messy. If you need something more concrete, I am especially curious about the long vertical (and seemingly sometimes diagonal) hooklike lines/arrows that are sometimes sectioned and/or lined up with others. Reasons for my curiosity mainly stems from the fact that I've recently become more interested in how one may use certain cognitive "tricks" such as drawing special notes/marks, mind-mapping, etc, to organize one's thoughts when solving problems. Also, I find set theory especially fascinating.)

My level is master student in mathematics, with logic and basic model theory, but just introductory set theory (ZFC, basics of ordinals and cardinals, etc), i.e. no forcing, etc.

Christopher.L
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  • He explains that he uses this as a form of mental mapping. If that's the best he can do in explaining his notes, how can someone else provide more insight? – John Douma Oct 20 '19 at 15:25
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    @JohnDouma : Perhaps, as I said, but that might also not be the whole story. Perhaps explaining them would take too much time and/or be irrelevant/too esoteric/out of scope of the panel show; perhaps he did not care to go into detail for other unknown reasons. The other pictures show blackboards from a class/seminar, and they look very similar. Also, I am asking for an explanation of either one. At least the ones on the blackboard were probably communicated with others, so thus, as I explained, I believe there might be more to say about this than what he cared to mention in the video. – Christopher.L Oct 20 '19 at 15:35

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