If something requires effort to value it, is the value in the thing itself? Or is the thing garbage and all the value is in your effort?

I climb mountains to see the views; the views are there independent of how much effort I put on the path (or how much satisfaction I draw at the end of trek), but I do have to put in the effort to see the views.

Would you take a free mountain lift ride to the top if you happened to come across one during a climbing trip?

would I read the summary of a book expecting the same thing as reading the book?

no

and if the person who offered you the lift was so obliging to stop at any view you find appealing along the way for how long you desire?

somehow I still think it would be a "no" form you, because it's not really about the views

there is a point where the analogy breaks.

Yes, when it comes to irl mountains you could have a lift that stops along the way. And when it comes to irl books, there is no way to bypass the journey, so to speak.

Also, just a note: it's usually not fun, nor interesting, to quibble and nitpick analogies, that's not what they're there for.

I didn’t think I would see this take on HN of all places. You can’t appreciate Higher Topos Theory before spending a decade’s worth of effort in pure math - does that make much of Modern Algebraic Geometry “garbage”?

Math doesn't exist to be appreciated. Literature has literally no other application.

EUV litography machine is incredibly complex and I would have to learn for decades to meaningfully understand it, yet I can appreciate it knowing very little (of it and in general).