> You’re not as senior as you think

Classy.

> if you think reading code isn’t worth it.

I didn't say that.

With anything you learn, sure, you need to read it, but you haven't actually learned it until you try to do it.

As millions of teenagers find out in high school, it is not possible to "learn" trigonometry or calculus by reading the problems; they actually have to drill problems to pass.

> Do you think novelists just write novels from nothing? They read books.

Excellent example! Even with novelists, and professional authors, they only get better by writing. Face it - millions of people read just as much as (even more) than best selling authors, and yet those millions are unable to produce anything of note.

> When was the last time you read the code for the best open source software in your industry?

All the time; how else would I know that simply reading is not sufficient to learn something?

I'm surprised that this point is even in contention; it is almost common knowledge that you can't learn from reading alone; it's the practice that results in learning, not the reading.