It would be particularly sweet if there were some way to more or less objectively compare the results of a rock star apprenticeship of this sort to a traditiona

It would be particularly sweet if there were some way to more or less objectively compare the results of a rock star apprenticeship of this sort to a traditional graduate education. That would be hard to fashion, given some response bias and Seth's influence over who gets in (if anyone does). I would bet, though, that studying under a ninja by doing some ninja-tasks with guidance from the master in a small group setting would at least nurture a certain type of brilliance more effectively.