Comment by faeriechangling
2 years ago
I'm not dismissive of education. I learn on the job. I learn in my free time. I learn to further my career. I learn to help myself out. I learn for fun.
What I resent is the absurd idea that going to a brick and mortar institutions for 4, 6, maybe 10 years, following a track the teacher and administration considered best, with the vast majority of those being educated getting an outdated curriculum, is an effective means of learning. This entire attitude is portrayed as pro-education but it's really just pro-institution. It's only an effective means of learning insofar that the credential you get at the end can open doors to opportunities to learn, a point I will readily concede.
I also have done amateur medical research in my spare time and literally printed out some papers and taken them to my doctor and said "let's do this". This ended up being very successful and very productive. It's not what the OP did is something people who did fancy book lernin' through a SCHOOL can do only after years of toil. You can just pick up the skills you need as you go and get reasonable results.
I think you underestimate the lack of self directed learning ability people have before going to a higher education institutions. I know I would have failed at solo learning without going to college before hand.
Structured education can definitely help a majority of students who need to get to a point where self directed learning is effective. I have my qualms with higher education but its existence itself is not one of them.