People with PHDs are necessarily smarter than other people. Of course, getting a PHD takes some level of intelligence and many people with PHDs are extremely sm

People with PHDs are necessarily smarter than other people. Of course, getting a PHD takes some level of intelligence and many people with PHDs are extremely smart, but like many things in life getting a PHD is largely about dedication and hard work. Additionally, people with PHDs are generally trained to be extremely knowledgeable in a very specific sub-set of a particular field. This is why companies like Google hire people with PHDs. They have specialized knowledge which it would take others years to learn. My advice, go to college for a CS degree. Many companies won't hire someone who doesn't have a degree even if they have "real-world experience". In addition a CS degree will give you a good, solid foundation on which to build your skills. Some of the things you learn in a CS degree aren't well documented elsewhere and are difficult to learn otherwise. If you really are as smart as you think you are then you can take a very heavy course-load to complete your degree faster.