Perhaps the only thing that's actually my own input is the judgement about what things are important, which sources are reliable, and which people are authoriti

Perhaps the only thing that's actually my own input is the judgement about what things are important, which sources are reliable, and which people are authorities. This is more or less what I got out of the 2nd half of my higher education. Plus I got a ton of reps in, so to speak, to really refine my judgement and ability to research. It's the old adage about learning how to learn, teaching one to fish, etc. I'm sure this all applies to many fields, but especially one like ours that changes rapidly. Thanks to this education, I feel like I can switch careers pretty easily. I make no mistake about it. I don't feel like I know what I know without the help of the Internet; I feel like I'm just some bloke who is good at sussing out what's important and how to apply it to my job. I think this is a skill that is missing from a number of my colleagues though.