I was expecting a bridge to some form of knowledge management, given the brief reference to personal wikis and databases, plus the fact that HN loves to debate the various methods of the above. But I was happily surprised to see nothing of the sort. The author's resignation that his practical research methodologies are no doubt outdated and inefficient was a breath of fresh air.

I often find myself spending far too much time fearing that the methods I've chosen in any kind of research are faulty, which turns out to be much greater time sink than actually just absorbing the material at hand.

An analogy: time spent planning what to do with your friends/family would be better used just being with them. Likewise, becoming closer to a historical subject--whether by immersing yourself in all the relevant material or by literally imagining yourself alongside them--will return more valuable results long-term than by running a scientific experiment about them.

The tour guide is wiser than the city planner!