> I won't be able to handle the demands of formal schooling There are evening universities, certificates, part-time masters degrees (e.g. see The Open Universi

> I won't be able to handle the demands of formal schooling There are evening universities, certificates, part-time masters degrees (e.g. see The Open University), all meant for people who don't study full-time. Degrees help in signaling that you're more than just a dilettante, which matters to get the corresponding opportunities. There's no way for somebody who doesn't know you to assess how deep you actually go when you switch from one topic to another, unless they are themselves experts in these topics. And indeed, it's easy to be stuck with a shallow understanding of a whole field if nobody ever questions it (compare reading a pop-science book and sitting an exam). I feel it's especially true with the fields you've mentioned where any ground truth is more subtle to discern than in e.g. mathematics.