If anything, this is just putting the huge disconnect between the ideals and the realities of higher education on display. I studied CS because I love computer

If anything, this is just putting the huge disconnect between the ideals and the realities of higher education on display. I studied CS because I love computers and programming and I wanted an SWE job. The idea was to earn a living doing something I enjoy / am good at, and I needed a degree for that. I didn't mind "learning how to learn", getting to know topics I probably wouldn't have chosen to learn on my own, meeting people pursuing the same goals and so on. That was nice, especially the idea of it, but it wasn't really my goal. The reality was that during that time my primary worries were getting to lectures on time and passing exams while barely having enough money to afford anything beyond food and shelter. It wasn't me and my teachers engaging in the noble pursuit of science. I was worrying about exams while they were probably worrying about grading while taking a break from worrying about funding and authoring enough papers. Thanks to some fluke I had a few weeks with almost nothing to do during one semester, so I decided to try and write a 3D engine. That was actually me learning just for the sake of learning: not thanks to the education system, but despite of it. If AI brings this entire illusion down, maybe that's a good thing.