I like Alex's concept of "sponge learning" and reducing "unknown unknowns". I've actually been doing this unconsciously for quite a while. Let's say there is a

I like Alex's concept of "sponge learning" and reducing "unknown unknowns". I've actually been doing this unconsciously for quite a while. Let's say there is a debate about the best VPS provider on the HN front page. I have no need for a VPS right now, and I sadly don't have the time to read the whole debate. Instead, I skim the discussion, bookmark it (on pinboard) with appropriate tags, and know it will be there when I do need to choose a web host. This also applies to "unknown unknowns": a month ago, I saw the discussion on CloudFare ( http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2631019 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2631019 ). I made a mental note that some services might actually help mitigate DDOS attacks, and made a bookmark for later use. I could make an analogy with a database: I don't have enough time / memory to learn and remember everything I read on HN. Instead, I use my brain like an "index", the database being my Pinboard bookmarks. I think it's time to expand to other databases, too: I should try out EverNote or Workflowy to store free-form thoughts and other "non-bookmarkable" stuff.