> connect various dots without going all dry
As long as you keep in mind that what you come away with are shallow, incomplete views of nuanced topics.
Unfortunately, many come away from these popular summaries believing 101-level knowledge makes them subject experts.
The same can be said for, well, 101-level class attendees.
People love to declare themselves experts on things; thus: the Expert Fallacy ("I know a lot about repairing carburators; let me tell you what is wrong with self-driving cars...")