Learning and the outside world interact.
When I learned Eruvin, every Lechi, Mavui, Kora, Chatzer in Bavel was destroyed in Desert Storm. When I studied Bnei HaIr in Megillah, the shul I went to split into 2. When a certain legal case flooded the news, it got me fascinated with the legal process and I decided it was time for Sanhedrin.
When I studied Kilayim I wondered why 4 Amos were needed between rows of vines. Just then I had some business trips to Tuscanny in Italy, and sure enough, vines are spaced to allow a car to pass between the vines.