There’s very particular scene in Good Will Hunting where Matt Damon’s character is sticking up for his friend at a bar. A guy gets mad at Ben Affleck (Damon’s friend in the movie) because he is hitting on a girl he likes. As a way to intimidate him, the stranger starts asking Affleck about the classes he’s enrolled in at Harvard. Affleck chokes due to the fact that he is no student, he’s just a part time worker, and so this stranger starts to perk up as if a peacock were showing its feathers to make his conquest. Damon steps in and starts outsmarting the stranger on subjects that would generally only be known to highly educated scholars. Now the stranger starts to choke. “You don’t need expensive school to know things. My education is for free at the public library” Damon finishes off.
Ok, sorry for the long intro about this scene, but it actually is true. Especially with the Internet being our main key to open the entire world. However, to play the devil’s advocate here, certified education still has its weight around the world and it has a very powerful reason. It’s great that you snoop around the net and be self taught, but then again, who’s there to witness or certify your progress? What company will hire you if you don’t have the paper to back up what you are saying?
This is a very particular subject. However, I have lately realized that you need both in an unbelievable way: school and self teaching. Simply put, most of the things I do at my job I never saw inside a classroom. Sure, I know the theory and the basics. But my real knowledge on how to perform well at work? Curiosity and learning from my peers. Of course, with that little paper certifying what I know, I wouldn’t in a million years gotten all the opportunities I’ve had in life. That includes trips, languages, networking, etc.
Technical stuff and other tricks? Curiosity 100% The fact that I snoop around, laying eyes on whatever I can read, learn and reenact is a big, BIG chunk of survival these days. That’s the True Beauty of the Internet people.