It’s not that everything is chazarah, but that to really understand what you are learning when you don’t have all day to be me’ayen, takes a considerable amount of prior knowledge and understanding. If a guy sits and learns for a number of years, going through most of shas and poskim, then it’s possible he will reach that level of talmid chochom even if the remainder of his years are spent with a schedule split between learning and other things. As for your Phd friend, I can only reiterate what Popa said. He is obviously the exception, and not the rule.
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