Distracted

Parker was incredibly knowledgeable about a wide variety of topics. Unfortunately, that knowledge was the result of times when Parker started out searching for information about current events and then got a little sidetracked. 

"Oh look, a bulldozer!" thought Parker while looking up how to cite an online journal using APA. 

That was often how the new knowledge started - not by seeing a bulldozer, but by having to look up APA citations and hoping for something else to think about.