I suspect it doesnt really work.

Maybe you know the mind numbing state of brainrot clips or excessive TV watching, back in the old days. Your alpha brainwaves go up as your consciousness tunes down. I cannot imagine this mind numbing state to create complex and lasting new knowledge.

If I tie you up to a chair, hold your eyelids open with toothpicks and play a lecture on a projector for two days straight, content retention will be quite high as well.

Is this snark or based on actual data? Is there relevant research? I would logically assume person would just zone out and retention would be nil

Is there relevant research? For torture?!

The gp is referencing a famous scene from Stanley Kubrick’s adaptation of A Clockwork Orange.

After learning about nazi torture experiment camps, Japanese torture experiment camps, American torture tests on own citizens etc, yea, I would sadly expect that there is a body of knowledge on the topic :/

Thank you for elaborating on the reference, I still haven't had the chance to see that movie