Talk:Autodidact

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[edit] When it is not such a great idea

When someone gets around to it, mention could be made of things that don't lend themselves to self-teaching, such as medical care or flying.

One sure way to start a minor harrumphing-fest on a bowed string forum is to inquire about resources for self teaching an instrument such as violin or cello. Conventional wisdom has it that, without cognizant pedagogy (yes they use that word) bad habits are easy to form and difficult to extinguish. Prompt feedback from a live teacher right there in the room can save a student years in what can be a life-long journey. Sprocket J Cogswell (talk) 00:07, 23 August 2013 (UTC)

Feel free. The pluses and minuses of self-teaching are a very complex issue, so from my thinking the more ideas the better. EVDebs (talk) 00:50, 23 August 2013 (UTC)
This article is growing rapidly. I see someone put in an appropriate link to the Dunning-Kruger effect. Just now I am ingesting Molson's (which I learned to do all by myself) and looking out over the Gulf of St Lawrence under a cloudy sky. I might do a little desultory wordsmithing after getting back to quotidian reality in the States next week.
This article might be as good a place as any to explore the various activities which may be labeled "learning." I'm thinking of differences along the lines of performance vs. familiarity with written material, gymnastics vs. analytic geometry, that kind of thing. Sprocket J Cogswell (talk) 15:09, 23 August 2013 (UTC)
It's an important issue to talk about. Popular culture is addicted to "rags to riches" stories; while that's not inherently bad, the notion of "look at these guys who got rich after dropping out of university, so you should too!" is incredibly dangerous. Osaka Sun (talk) 15:19, 23 August 2013 (UTC)
Speaking of which, do we have an article on Peter Thiel yet? I could be wrong but I get the sense he's kind of the Pied Piper of evangelical libertarian asshattery these days. EVDebs (talk) 16:13, 23 August 2013 (UTC)
And Dave Thomas, who got his GED, as he understood he was the exception, not the rule. --TheLateGatsby (He obviously isn't involved in woo, so he doesn't need an article, whereas Thiel might.(The end of the dock ) 16:17, 23 August 2013 (UTC)
EVDebs, I was under the impression most of the boys involved in facebook were well-to-do. Perhaps not filthy-rich, but certainly they could expect to land on their feet if things went awry. --TheLateGatsby (The end of the dock ) 16:20, 23 August 2013 (UTC)
Thiel was PayPal, and frankly he's the one encouraging college students to drop out and become arrogant train wrecks of broken dreams. You're probably correct about the Facebook principals, though the Winklevii by all indications have the collective IQ of a box of rocks between them. Dave Thomas was an interesting guy, though -- lifelong conservative, IIRC, but instead of complaining about abortion he did something positive and put a lot of his money towards supporting adoption. It's entirely possible I'd never have agreed with him on anything else, but on that alone I'd buy a burger from him before McD's or BK. EVDebs (talk) 17:16, 23 August 2013 (UTC)
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