I started out thinking this way some years ago (which is also why I never went for higher degrees in college). But after taking a couple of MOOCs every year fro

I started out thinking this way some years ago (which is also why I never went for higher degrees in college). But after taking a couple of MOOCs every year from last 4 years, I've realized that a good (or even somewhat good) instructor can inject thoughts and ideas in a way that reading books, blogs and presentations cannot. Something as simple as the way the content is organized also gives some insights; for example, what concepts are closely related. Andrew Ng's treatment of Machine Learning and Sedgewick's treatment of Algorithmic thinking stand out in my mind. But it's not just them; even the relatively unknown instructors of courses I'm taking right now have always given some insight that books or blogs haven't - and I do read a lot of them too.