reply to u/Sensitive-Binding at https://www.reddit.com/r/antinet/comments/17ck5la/what_is_it_with_index_cards/
Some of it may involve the difference in available space versus other forms of writing on larger pages of paper.
Similarly, many find that there is less pressure to write something short on Twitter or similar social media platforms because there is less space in the user interface that your mind feels the need to fill up. One can become paralyzed by looking at the larger open space on a platform like WordPress with the need to feel like they should write more.
With index cards you fill one up easily enough, and if there's more, you just grab another card and repeat.
cross reference with Fermat's Last Theorem being easier to suggest in a margin than actually writing it out in full.