That would be learning by doing but it doesn't come back. It used to be part of the game and was replaced by the skill tree and later in parts by the magazines.
I was never a fan of the magazines. I've gotten used to them and know how to collect the magazines I need in a reasonable amount of time. I could min/max the whole thing but I don't want to go that far.
Back before A21 when the system was announced, there were concerns about multiplayer and balancing. In 1.0 the balancing was changed so that you can find more magazines even without having invested points in the skills, but that brings along other problems. You can speed things up a bit by shelving magazines and wait until you have a Q6 nerd outfit.