For some careers, particularly technical ones, "learning for life" / autodidactism are no longer optional. You're required to keep up with all the latest research, trends, tools, and a variety of other things that make you current. Sure, having a solid foundation helps, but is no longer enough (I'd argue it hasn't been enough for a long time.) You're required to learn every day to keep up.
What some here (who I'd venture are more likely than the median person to be autodidacts) may find surprising is that many people find the idea that you have to "keep learning stuff after college" distasteful, even abhorrent. The "go to college so you can get some job and then do what you 'REALLY' want with your life" thing is vanishing quickly, and the level of competitiveness in society (well, in America at least) is increasing.
The economic disparities this creates have been discussed at length, but the social ones less so. The fact that some careers require non-stop learning for these people means that in some ways school never ends, and the post-college, "no more competition" sigh of relief never comes. To me this is neither good nor bad, just inevitable at this point, but I think understanding the perspective of those who can not or will not follow the self-learning-for-life path is important. If nothing else, people here will know the reason that they are so grumpy.
What some here (who I'd venture are more likely than the median person to be autodidacts) may find surprising is that many people find the idea that you have to "keep learning stuff after college" distasteful, even abhorrent. The "go to college so you can get some job and then do what you 'REALLY' want with your life" thing is vanishing quickly, and the level of competitiveness in society (well, in America at least) is increasing.
The economic disparities this creates have been discussed at length, but the social ones less so. The fact that some careers require non-stop learning for these people means that in some ways school never ends, and the post-college, "no more competition" sigh of relief never comes. To me this is neither good nor bad, just inevitable at this point, but I think understanding the perspective of those who can not or will not follow the self-learning-for-life path is important. If nothing else, people here will know the reason that they are so grumpy.