I like the sense I took from this, that a leaky-bucket memory is better than a complete one: you need to retain core qualities of the problem but not all facets, so you can drive at the problem from different directions. I think sleeping and shower time are probably very important in the mis-remembering process. being distracted, but having some brain power processing this idea in the background and intruding into your consciousness.

I also liked the implicit modesty of discovered not invented. I think this feeling is a true reflection, reasoning about the world (maths is of the world, definitionally for me) is discovering things in the world, not inventing things into the world.