Eric, excellent article. I couldn't help but see my life and my self-taught lessons unfolding while reading your article.

I love learning. I was also unable to attend college. I missed out on that training ground, and still wish I had gone through - all the while knowing that colleges today, as a whole, are selling degrees far more as a final product that a prepared individual.

Education should be like a survival course - not just killing bears or rabbits - but the more comprehensive type where all skills are taught in some reasonable sequence, enabling that graduate to survive on their own.

Even Ivy League school selling degrees at $60,000 per year are actually selling networks and name recognition more that preparedness.

Basic adaptive skills are essential today. How to write. How to analyze. How to solve problems, after first recognizing that one is in front of you. How to change, negotiate, communicate and listen.

A four year university to be a "cog" is heart-wrenching. Anyway, could go on ... Good stuff. 😊👍