What does it mean that questions are atomic too?

A well-formed question is as valuable an atom as a well-formed answer.

Example: You read a paper on decision-making under uncertainty. Instead of highlighting three sentences, you write one question: 'Under what conditions does gathering more information actually reduce decision quality?' That question sits in your knowledge system for weeks. Then a colleague mentions analysis paralysis in a meeting, and the question fires — connecting two domains you never would have linked if you'd only stored the highlight.

Try this: Open your notes or knowledge system. Find three claims or facts you've stored recently. For each one, write the question it answers — and then write a second question it raises but doesn't resolve. You now have three answered atoms and three open atoms. Notice which set feels more generative.