I feel like everything important that I've discovered has just been an accident, not any type of inspiration. One question that intrigues me just leads to another and to another and then it's like, "Whoa, check out this thing here!" It's the opposite of efficient but it does have a couple of benefits.

One is that it help prevent bias confirmation. I'm never looking for evidence of what I already think, I'm just looking for a good answer to my question. I find that's the opposite of what most everyone else does. They never pose questions to themselves, and they'll take as evidence anything that supports what they already think.

The other benefit is that by wandering around, you're exposed to more truths. There are no unimportant truths, just ones that are less interesting and less immediately relevant.

The idea is that truth is like a giant, smooth, flat bed sheet. There are no wrinkles, no holes, and every thread is eventually connected to every other. Knowing a variety of truths imposes a discipline which I notice others acutely lack. That is, if you come across some truth that seems to contradict some other truth you already know, one or both have to give. The result flattens that wrinkle or mends that tear.

Like, did you ever notice that someone who disagrees with you on social media calls you a dumbshit by the second post, if not right in the first? That's strong evidence of how very little truth they know. Otherwise, why not bring it forward to iron it out between the two of you? Sad commentary on how much people know about the world.

Anyway, as to the last thing you said, it's not quite what you describe but I would definitely recommend to anyone that to properly process information they're taking on board, they have to let their mind wander and not be continuously "consuming". I can't tell you the number of times I've been taking a walk listening to a boring podcast when my mind starts to wander and... bam, I come to some realization about something that had been cooking in the back of my mind.

I don't go out of my way to fast-forward or skip boring episodes of podcasts for just that reason.