Spaced Repetition [1] seems to be the missing dimension in note making/taking that leads to optimal recall.
Naturally, this only works on knowledge-base exams, not skill-based exams (e.g. math). This also shows up in the results: math exams generally seem to have worse grades than other exams, and math exams seem to have lower thresholds to pass (e.g. 25 % vs. 60 %).
It's not perfect for every type of information, and there are some aspects of memory (most notably contextual memory) which can make it less effective than one might like. But it definitely is more useful than just for exam cramming...
I'm also not sure where you're getting "math exams generally seem to have worse grades than other exams" and "lower thresholds to pass" from.
At university I specifically remember some of my friends not understanding the calculus they were doing _at all_, yet they could still answer questions because they rote learned the technique.
I think of Spaced Repetition more generally. A paper based Zettelkasten system can be enhanced with a paper based review scheduling system; say 43 folders as described by David Allen in Getting Things Done with a simple SuperMemo algorithm for interval spacing.
When we gain good recall of Zettelkasten structure/content I suspect that we inadvertently mimic Spaced Repetition. I can be convinced otherwise.
I'm all for the zettelkasten method, for good notetaking habits...however there's also a tendency of many notetakers, or productivity porn on notetaking, to waste so much time 'notetaking' and 'organising' that they never _act_. (I've been very guilty of this in the past).
Recall isn't bad. It's essential. It is, however, not the _only_ thing to use. You want to use spaced repetition for the most important, most used information. Stuff that's a bit more niche, rarely used, yeah just search that.
But, yeah. I rake notes to remember things I need to do, to capture some key points, or to be able to "play back" a meeting/talk/etc. to others in either verbal or written form. This is one reason I usually type notes for anything that I'll want to play back in any detail; it's faster and easier to capture more or less verbatim than writing notes by hand. To the degree that recall is helped, I find it's mostly by "processing" the notes in some form.
For instance, how can you be sure at the outset that you have designed a good prompt [1] that will enable recall versus recognition?
And even once you have designed a good prompt, that brings up the question of epistemology: how can you be sure at the outset that the "information" you wish to ingest is factual and that it will be useful to you later on? It's easy to imagine memorizing a compelling aphorism like:
> The German word for "passion", which literally translates to "enjoyable suffering". Because if you think you’re passionate about something, you must be willing to ask yourself if you’re willing to suffer for it. If you are, that means you are passionate. Otherwise, it’s just a hobby. [2]
But, while beautiful and compelling, it turns out that this definition/translation of the word "Leidenschaft" is misleading: "Leiden" means "suffering" and "schaft" simply means "-ship". This is very similar to the word _passio_ which is the Latin root of the English word (and whose meaning shines through in "The Passion of Christ", for instance).
When using spaced repetition systems you must be extraordinarily careful around vetting the content that you are putting into them, and most of the time, you would be better simply "coming back to the same reading" on a given topic (thereby effectively building your own ad-hoc SRS process).
The brain exists in order to recognize patterns, but it also likes to over-fit!
[1] https://andymatuschak.org/prompts/
[2] Keller, T., Heller, S., Ruhlman, M. and Jones, D., 1999. The French Laundry Cookbook. New York: Artisan.
The link to Matuschak that you supply explicitly argues that you need to go back and revise prompts based on developments in your knowledge and new connections found. This includes eliminating prompts that are too easy, reformulating them for greater personal import and adding new ones to shore up areas of weakness.
It is difficult.