For the longest time, in fact my whole life, I avoid reading things or thinking critically about them because I want to read them later and memorize every interesting thing. Despite best intentions, this never works - its impossible. This post articulates exaclty my problem and why its ok since we are not databases but rather 'more of a system of Bayesian beliefs, constantly evolving and updating in small, incremental steps.'

They go on to say - this is 100% me:

I remember co-workers highlighting large chunks of text, sometimes 40%. That doesn't make sense to me. We can only read a text once, given the number of compelling works and the limited time available to us. So, I read to forget. When I start reading, I'm prepared to lose 98% of what's in front of me.

They say reading as Bayesian beings means reading should "subtly alter my thinking, an incremental update that moves me towards a refined world model."

I think there is a balance - accepting that when reading you will lose 98% of what you read and that its ok, but also we can still take snippets just like I've done here and use them as prompts for our own writing (since writing is a hack to better thinking)