> the “utility density” of reading those 1000-page textbooks is very low. A lot of pages are not relevant, but I don’t have an efficient way to sift them out. I understand that some knowledge might be useful some day, but the reward is too sparse to justify my attention budget. The vicious cycle kicks in again.

That is their main problem. All those useless pages are what becomes useful later.

And we find the same kind of attitude everywhere in tech: why read a full RFC when you can assume shit and get done with a 2 paragraphs tutorial?