WSoP is in a different class than your other examples. Otherwise, I think that the trend to devalue classical training in professions is detrimental to maintai

WSoP is in a different class than your other examples. Otherwise, I think that the trend to devalue classical training in professions is detrimental to maintaining high quality standards. In some things, sufficient is satisfactory. Yet, in the systems and products that we create to run our businesses and lives on, we should strive for excellence. I contend that one of the advantages that being "schooled" gives you is the ability to discern the mediocre from the great, whereas to the lay person, both seem "good." I do not think that formalized study in existing institutions is a requirement, but I do think the level of intense study that they demand is.