Dr. Joseph Grinnell constructed a method of recording and organizing Field Notes, the ephemeral records of natural scientists, into a four-part system that focuses attention only on what the person recording the notes experiences directly with their senses, avoiding any conjecture, placing emphasis on the details of the moment and getting them onto the page as soon as is reasonable. The structure of the Grinnell method allows it to be of great use to research institutions. It is standard practice throughout the field-deployed scientific community, and handing over the collected notes of a Field Journal is often a requirement of employment.
Those who consistently use the Grinnell system often find their observation skills improve. This improvement is not just a professional benefit, but also a personal growth journey. Their minds are directed to practice noticing details repeatedly in whatever subject they are researching, leading to a deeper understanding and appreciation of their work.
The standard Field Note in the Grinnell system includes fields for date, time, location, route traveled to the place of observation, and weather conditions, all important aspects of completing a report of a geological survey or monitoring wildlife movements. Added to this are fields for how the person / scientist / explorer recording the notes felt emotionally and physically at the beginning of the field observation and any emotional reactions they recalled, using a scale of one to ten to infer intensity.
The additional fields help the writer and readers account for how the person generating these notes might perform before and in the moment. The state of the individual creating the notes is particularly important if the expedition is at night when even the most minor distraction can have an outsized effect on perception.
A scale of 1 to 10 is used in the Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing method, or EMDR, where trained psychologists attempt to work out traumatic memories. The natural course for most memories is to fade in emotional intensity over time. Traumatic memories fade much more slowly or not at all for years. The work a person does with their therapist can, over time, reduce the felt power of traumatic memories, say from 9 to 1 or none.
The desired effect here is the opposite: to retain the emotional power of what was felt in the moment, on paper, and thus expose how experiences may have shaped decisions and outcomes. Field Notes from the Anansi system provide a kind of topographic map of the experience: on one hand, a detail-oriented account of what happened, followed by a framing of what felt significant, aided by a simple numerical scale that helps preserve the importance of the memory, creating a durable platform for inquiry.
Grinnell’s notes sharpen the senses of scientists, Anansi also sharpens the users’ understanding of themselves by retaining the energetic value of a moment and their reaction to it. This augmented understanding can be helpful in any situation where brailling the body’s vision might complement the mind’s eye. Like with the Grinnell system, the benefits of practice are far more valuable than simply better notes.
This paper describes a situation in which the main character has to react alone to the potential for danger in conflicted social, political, operational, and personal terrain, using Anansi Field Notes to think a way out.