In my experience, it's often the interesting, flagrantly off-topic details that are remembered, and help me later on. Human beings are wired to remember the sur

In my experience, it's often the interesting, flagrantly off-topic details that are remembered, and help me later on. Human beings are wired to remember the surprising, and I don't seem to be much different in this regard. The absorption of material isn't really what I get from a lecture. Rather, like the taper in a train's wheels, I use it to gently pull my experimental wandering thought on track.