I think this is probably one of the most compelling personal uses for a tool like this, but your use of it begs the same question as every other activity that amounts to more pseudo-intellectual consumption; what is the value of that information, and how much of ones money and time should be allocated to digesting (usually high-level) arbitrary information?
If I was deliberately trying to dive deep on one particular hobby, or trying to understand how a particular algorithm works, there's clear value in spending concentrated time to learn that subject, deliberately focused and engaged with it, and a system like your describe might play a role in that. If I'm in school and forced to quickly learn a bunch of crap I'll be tested on, then the system has defined another source of real value, at least in the short term. But if I'm diving deep on one particular hobby and filling my brain with all sorts of other ostensibly important information, I think that just amounts at best to more entertainment that fakes its way above other aspects of life in the hierarchy of ways one could spend time (the irony of me saying this in a comment on HN is not lost on me).
Earlier in my life I figured it would be worthwhile to read articles on the bus, or listen to non-fiction podcasts, because knowledge is inherently valuable and there's not enough time, and if I just wore earbuds throughout my entire day, I'd learn so much! How about at the gym, so much wasted learning time while pushing weights, keep those earbuds in! A walk around the neighborhood? On the plane? On the train? All time that could be spent learning about some bs that's recently become much easier to access, or so my 21 y.o self would have me believe.
But I think now it's a phony and hollow existence if you're just cramming your brain with all sorts of stuff in the background or in marginally more than a passive way. I could listen to a lot of arbitrary German language material, but realistically the value I'd convince myself I'd get out of any of that is lost if I'm not about to take that home and grind it out for hours, days, move to a German speaking country, have an existing intense interest in untranslatable German art, or have literally any reason to properly learn a language and dedicate real expensive time to it.
These days, if something sparks my interest, I get an ebook on it or spend 15 mns collecting materials. Then I add it to the hoard of “read someday”. And go back to the task on hand. If I’m going to learn something, then I do it properly (The goal is to be able to explain it without reciting word by word). And I’d want proper materials for that.
This is pretty much what I do too, although lately I try and reduce how much things I add to that list and have stopped caring about whether or not I actually get back to it. Anything that I feel I can devote the time to and that I feel compelled enough to, will resurface.
Learning for learning's sake, or without a distinct goal to use the information you're learning in the future, isn't necessarily a bad thing. That is, unless you think that learning so widely is going to translate into something more than it is, like magic or something. Being well-rounded is a good goal for people to achieve, imo.
Being well-rounded and learning for learning's sake is absolutely something that keeps you growing as a person imo. My take is just that it's worth being critical of what one needs to learn, how much work it would actually take, and whether they really are engaging with the subject in a way that can be called learning rather than information entertainment or some other extremely low level.
With pure knowledge, it's a bit easier to convince yourself that putting in some airpods and listening to a subject while you're actually dividing your attention with the act of driving, is effective "learning". But with things that inherently require more physical engagement, this would seem a bit silly. You can't really watch YouTube video or ask ChatGPT how to kickflip on a skateboard and convince yourself that you've learned much. You need to go to a parking lot and rep out 1000 attempts.
My argument is just that passive digestion of information has an opportunity cost, and unless you're already engaged enough to take it to the streets somehow, you're paying a high opportunity cost whereby those moments could be enjoyed as the periodic gaps they are
If I was deliberately trying to dive deep on one particular hobby, or trying to understand how a particular algorithm works, there's clear value in spending concentrated time to learn that subject, deliberately focused and engaged with it, and a system like your describe might play a role in that. If I'm in school and forced to quickly learn a bunch of crap I'll be tested on, then the system has defined another source of real value, at least in the short term. But if I'm diving deep on one particular hobby and filling my brain with all sorts of other ostensibly important information, I think that just amounts at best to more entertainment that fakes its way above other aspects of life in the hierarchy of ways one could spend time (the irony of me saying this in a comment on HN is not lost on me).
Earlier in my life I figured it would be worthwhile to read articles on the bus, or listen to non-fiction podcasts, because knowledge is inherently valuable and there's not enough time, and if I just wore earbuds throughout my entire day, I'd learn so much! How about at the gym, so much wasted learning time while pushing weights, keep those earbuds in! A walk around the neighborhood? On the plane? On the train? All time that could be spent learning about some bs that's recently become much easier to access, or so my 21 y.o self would have me believe.
But I think now it's a phony and hollow existence if you're just cramming your brain with all sorts of stuff in the background or in marginally more than a passive way. I could listen to a lot of arbitrary German language material, but realistically the value I'd convince myself I'd get out of any of that is lost if I'm not about to take that home and grind it out for hours, days, move to a German speaking country, have an existing intense interest in untranslatable German art, or have literally any reason to properly learn a language and dedicate real expensive time to it.