In the sense that an Integrated Development Environment does not do the Software Development for the user, an Integrated Thinking Environment facilitates thinking by providing the space and tools necessary, so that Digital gardens promote knowledge accumulation:
A space for writing, as Writing is thinking
A space for exploration of Questions
Support for associative links (Link evergreen notes by contextual association) and their respective Backlinks
Automated reasoning about the topology:
The detection of Implicit backlinks identify unrealised associations
Visualisation of the topology The graph of notes identifies unrealised associations
The role of the second brain is to augment our overall system (consciousness?) by providing a special-purpose capability - that of being an Integrated Thinking Environment.
Integrated Thinking Environment
Some prefer to call digital gardens a Second Brain, or an Integrated Thinking Environment, acknowledging the system as an augmentation to the thinking process, or a space that facilitates thinking, for example through the support of Backlinks.
Asking a question - and using the digital garden as an Integrated Thinking Environment
As part of using the digital garden as an Integrated Thinking Environment, I will often propose a question, which I will capture as a note (Evergreen notes) .
Using a digital garden as an Integrated Thinking Environment is about setting up a structure and location in which this can be done without the pressure of producing something concrete.