As someone who has read Moby Dick front to back I can agree with this argument. I had a colleague once, really bright engineer but not as steadfast as I was at the time. I suggested he read this amazing novel and he instead opted for the book on tape. During a long drive he almost died from boredom. Literally! He almost fell asleep at the wheel. While he disagreed with me that manually reading the book was the optimal approach he was not trying to make things more complex. He was merely trying to take the easy way out. This grave mistake almost cost him his life. Consider this tale next time you are thinking about not putting in some work!