I do the reading. A lot of it. And that’s why I often know more than so-called “experts” in a field. You can learn a hell of a lot if you put in some effort and have a halfway decent brain.
Woody Allen supposedly said something like, “70% of life is just showing up.” And that’s true in all areas. If you read a couple of textbooks in a field and the top dozen papers, you already know more than 99.99% of people in general and more than 50% of “experts” in that field.
Sad but true.