As an American my first thought is “That’s not true in general.” There are many paths to success, many of which require a great deal of formal education, some w

As an American my first thought is “That’s not true in general.” There are many paths to success, many of which require a great deal of formal education, some which would at least benefit from it, but also some which are more or less orthogonal to education. Perhaps what rubs me the wrong way about that phrase in particular is it seems to imply that education is not only necessary but sufficient for success. A common anti-pattern I’ve seen in young adults is finishing 20 years of schooling, entering the real world, and saying “Wait, now what?”