I can absorb more information than I ever could at any point in my existence, human existence as well. I attending college when Facebook was spreading through campuses all over the US. My main form of cramming information into my head was the worst way to do so (for me) to date. That is, go to a room, in a building with 250 twenty-somethings, listen to one person talk to everyone at once, and follow that up with spending enough (whatever that is) time reviewing notes to be ready for questions that will gauge whether you've soaked up the lectures or not. Not putting them into action, not executing anything, but choosing the correct answer out of four, of which the other 3 are so closely related, I couldn't get pass any test I took if one was laid on my desk today.
Today, I listen to audiobooks, podcasts, watch YouTube videos, download apps, and have 11,570,000,000 results from 'googling' 'Google.' It's at our fingertips for microscopic fractions of what my college tuition was, and with all due respect to my professors, the information comes from the very top thought leader in each field. I can become an expert in small engine repair, computer programming, film editing and any other skill that's not limited by physical attributes.
I say that, to say this. Writing and putting original thoughts add to the understanding of the knowledge I take in. I've done this by telling others of my learnings, but that's not enough. I don't convey it correctly, some don't care to hear it and they listener throws me off continuously. A friend in college was notorious for rewriting their notes multiple times, maybe there was some method to the madness I didn't pick up on then.