> You need knowledge and smarts, one is given by your genetics the other is free online. That works for a certain kind of learner: people who are already good

> You need knowledge and smarts, one is given by your genetics the other is free online. That works for a certain kind of learner: people who are already good at breaking down a problem into constituent parts, who are driven enough to chase down the resources they need and to figure out how things fit together, and who want to learn about the topics that are most available online. There are a lot of other intelligent people who could do valuable things with an education, but who lack one or more of those characteristics.