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Self-educated People Who've Made a Difference

autodidactic.com

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Re: Self-educated People Who've Made a Difference

#11

Post by davidw »

Donald wrote: post #8
davidw wrote: post #5

For bonus points, extract the names, get the years when they lived, and plot them with simile timeplot or something similar. It seems to me that a lot of them were born in the 1800's, but maybe I'm wrong.

1600 - 1699: 2 1700 - 1799: 18 1800 - 1899: 79 1900 - 1999: 58 Still, given the population explosion, it's unlikely that there were fewer autodidacts in the 20th century than in the 19th. Raw data: http://pastie.org/783067

College access is far broader in the 20th century, though, too, especially from the 50'ies onwards; at least in the US.

Re: Self-educated People Who've Made a Difference

#13

Post by Mz »

I've done a little reading over the years and thought about this some. I think this argument occurs in some form in every age. But when new fields are born, there is no place to go to get educated in it. You just have to make it up. And it is in the birth of those new things that people are more likely to be seen as "making a difference". Entrepreneurship also involves making it up as you go. I've read some things that indicate that finishing your education can be an impediment to making it as an entrepreneur. The two examples I usually refer to: Bill Gates and Madonna are both college drop outs.

If you want to become a doctor, yes, you need all the credentials that society requires. But if you just want to help people get healthier, there are many paths to such a goal. I considered becoming a physical therapist when I was a teen. But I did an informational interview and concluded they didn't really do what I was imagining. A lot of people have fantasies about some career or other only to find it doesn't really do what they had imagined. Tragically, for many people this realization comes after investing a lot of time, money and effort into getting the requisite education, experience and credentials. At that point, a lot of people feel stuck: They have student loans to pay off and can't make enough money doing something else to pay them.

I was interested in this question (concerning credentials and success) in part because I homeschooled my kids. I always told them that they would have no king's stamp to make the gold good, therefore they actually had to be gold -- ie they have to be able to Bring It. They are fine with that.

Re: Self-educated People Who've Made a Difference

#14

Post by mahmud »

Donald wrote: post #8
davidw wrote: post #5

For bonus points, extract the names, get the years when they lived, and plot them with simile timeplot or something similar. It seems to me that a lot of them were born in the 1800's, but maybe I'm wrong.

1600 - 1699: 2 1700 - 1799: 18 1800 - 1899: 79 1900 - 1999: 58 Still, given the population explosion, it's unlikely that there were fewer autodidacts in the 20th century than in the 19th. Raw data: http://pastie.org/783067

Excellent scraping there. The figure you want is just the first number, the birth year. The number 1999 is meaningless, it's not a birth year, but the year Stanley Kubrick died. You want \((\\d+)-

Re: Self-educated People Who've Made a Difference

#15

Post by tel »

Donald wrote: post #8
davidw wrote: post #5

For bonus points, extract the names, get the years when they lived, and plot them with simile timeplot or something similar. It seems to me that a lot of them were born in the 1800's, but maybe I'm wrong.

1600 - 1699: 2 1700 - 1799: 18 1800 - 1899: 79 1900 - 1999: 58 Still, given the population explosion, it's unlikely that there were fewer autodidacts in the 20th century than in the 19th. Raw data: http://pastie.org/783067

Drawing conclusions from the data is misleading. The original set is not comprehensive and any human trends you might look for are surely obscured by uncontrolled variation.

Re: Self-educated People Who've Made a Difference

#16

Post by electromagnetic »

dagw wrote: post #10

It seems like a number of people on that list are authors and artists. Those are fields where university education has never really been of any significance. It would be more interesting to see a list with those and similar professions removed. Secondly a couple of them are very dubious,for example Chuck Yeager didn't attend college, but calling him self educated is a bit of a stretch as it ignores all the training a…

I remember when I worked as a reviewer, I was told by multiple editors that they took people on because of the 'personal voice' in their writing. One linked me to an interview with one of the top editors in the UK, who simply stated: anyone applying for a job, with a degree in journalism on their resume anywhere above the bottom of their list of job experience will have the paper thrown out.

Since 'New Journalism' entered the market it has decimated colleges and universities abilities to produce journalists. Simply put, personal voice cannot be taught and paying for an education in journalism is a major waste of time that could be spent starting at the bottom. I was taken on as a reviewer at 16 as I had the ability to make my editor laugh. I was admittedly rough in the beginning, but being a combination of a fast learner and willing to learn meant I was turned around quickly and was writing the best reviews.

An editor's job is to recognize talent and save the newbie's asses along the way. Once an editor teaches a new journalist the right style and what they're looking for, any talented journalist will barely need any editing. I know by the end of my stint as a reviewer my editor basically only had to say 'yes' or 'no' to an article and I'd have it rewritten in an hour or two to how he wanted it.

Re: Self-educated People Who've Made a Difference

#17

Post by electromagnetic »

ivenkys wrote: post #3

And the master himself says : Terry Pratchett: "I didn't go to university. Didn't even finish A-levels. But I have sympathy for those who did"

As an aspiring novelist, if Pratchett can do it without an A-level, surely I can do it with a moderate pass!

I'm personally eternally grateful that I reneged from going to university. In that time I've emigrated, got married and I've worked real jobs that have given me tons of worldly experience, all of which has helped my writing immensely. All of which would never have happened at university. I would have been the same super-geek I had in highschool who was afraid to talk to any girl I didn't know. Now, I'm no longer cliched and formulaic . . . which I suppose is a great place to be for any writer!

Re: Self-educated People Who've Made a Difference

#18

Post by mml »

dagw wrote: post #10

It seems like a number of people on that list are authors and artists. Those are fields where university education has never really been of any significance. It would be more interesting to see a list with those and similar professions removed. Secondly a couple of them are very dubious,for example Chuck Yeager didn't attend college, but calling him self educated is a bit of a stretch as it ignores all the training a…

I know many self-taught "software engineers". Most, if not all of them spend a great deal of time training BS-CSCI holders how to make a living out of their science. Many of the best programmers I've worked with didn't even start, much less finish college.

If disrespecting the likes of Major General Chuck Yeager (who can still kick Chuck Norris's ass) makes you feel better about your student loans, more power to you.

Re: Self-educated People Who've Made a Difference

#19

Post by dagw »

mml wrote: post #18
dagw wrote: post #10

It seems like a number of people on that list are authors and artists. Those are fields where university education has never really been of any significance. It would be more interesting to see a list with those and similar professions removed. Secondly a couple of them are very dubious,for example Chuck Yeager didn't attend college, but calling him self educated is a bit of a stretch as it ignores all the training a…

I know many self-taught "software engineers". Most, if not all of them spend a great deal of time training BS-CSCI holders how to make a living out of their science. Many of the best programmers I've worked with didn't even start, much less finish college. If disrespecting the likes of Major General Chuck Yeager (who can still kick Chuck Norris's ass) makes you feel better about your student loans, more power to you.

What? Where the hell did I disrespect Chuck Yeager? I have nothing but the utmost respect for the man. All I said was that he isn't a self taught pilot. He was in the military and the military trained him. Why is saying that disrespectful or in any way lessening the amazing things he's achieved.

Re: Self-educated People Who've Made a Difference

#20

Post by og1 »

Donald wrote: post #8
davidw wrote: post #5

For bonus points, extract the names, get the years when they lived, and plot them with simile timeplot or something similar. It seems to me that a lot of them were born in the 1800's, but maybe I'm wrong.

1600 - 1699: 2 1700 - 1799: 18 1800 - 1899: 79 1900 - 1999: 58 Still, given the population explosion, it's unlikely that there were fewer autodidacts in the 20th century than in the 19th. Raw data: http://pastie.org/783067

Also consider the set of people born 1950 onward. They will not be included because they are on the cusp of being famous and haven't gone through their entire careers yet.
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