It may be cheaper to learn, but the volume of knowledge you need at your fingertips and the ability to synthesize it to make good decisions is not necessarily l

It may be cheaper to learn, but the volume of knowledge you need at your fingertips and the ability to synthesize it to make good decisions is not necessarily less for a highly competent 28 year old tech worker who started coding at 12 than it is for a 28 year old doctor who started medical school at 22. Self-teaching is also possible and a common route for auto mechanics, who make about as much as tech workers. They know how to do things that both doctors and SWEs are willing to pay for. Can your doctor rebuild his own car engine? When I explain my job to people, I usually compare it to being an auto mechanic, not a doctor. That is what most software engineering boils down to. And in fact, our paths are converging with mechanics.