Beware of self-taught people: there are diamonds in the rough, but in general, the problem is that practice does not make anyone perfect, _perfect practice_ mak

Beware of self-taught people: there are diamonds in the rough, but in general, the problem is that practice does not make anyone perfect, _perfect practice_ makes someone perfect! There is a huge difference, and the problem is that people generally don't know what to practice and how to practice it - they may not even realize the existence of important topics! Of course, there are exceptions to this rule, but the average person can save so much time and effort just by getting a basic education (learning about big-O, for instance). It does not have to be formal education however, just try to be around people smarter and wiser than you and pay attention to what they are doing and - most importantly - why.