Yeah, I think there's a lot to that...when you listen to many of the great artistic and scientific minds they often worked for long periods in isolation...ie Proust lining the walls of his apartment with cork while writing "Memories of Lost Time."
In "Think and Grow Rich" there is the story of some famous inventor who used a very deliberate procedure when he was stuck on a problem, one which involved isolating himself and concentrating one-pointedly on the factors related to the problem,until the answer spontaneously appeared.
For just absorbing material, learning new concepts etc, I think a lot of the technologies discussed on this forum are designed to make that superlearning potential available and manifest in a more stressful or imposing situation (class, work, etc.)
