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<p>Self-education is nothing new; it is just that most people don’t do it, which is why there are schools of all types. Anecdotal evidence of successful self-educated people does not invalidate the usefulness of the more usual types of education for other people in the field.</p>
<p>(Also, you might say that many Berkeley students and probably others are capable of doing a CCIE, but how many of them are motivated to do so, even if they had all the time in the world?)</p>