This question reminded me of one of my favorite pg essays title "How You Know" http://www.paulgraham.com/know.html http://www.paulgraham.com/know.html which is

This question reminded me of one of my favorite pg essays title "How You Know" http://www.paulgraham.com/know.html http://www.paulgraham.com/know.html which is generally about how you acquire and retain information over time. A great short read if you have not done so before.