Independent Learning Always Trumps Institutional Education
December 15, 2008 
Author 
In I have friends who went to ivy league schools and still live at home with their parents, unemployed.
I also have friends who never received their degree and are far more successful than the majority of college graduates.
Institutionalized education is an altogether meaningless indicator for success in the world, something we have seen proven time and time again. With that said, our society has created a normalized value that you “must” follow a certain path to achieve success – the path of being educated in groups and taught in heavily structured settings.
The institutions, organizations and corporations surrounding us reinforce it. But the reality is your background in higher education matters little.
Want to go farther in life and have an insane edge over the rest of the business world? My advice is to you is to unlearn the structure you learned in institutional and higher education.
Structure is fine if you want to be a worker bee and blend in, not if you want to creatively bend the rules to your advantage. I have a degree from a great college, however I actually owe none of my successes or talents to that degree. Throughout life I have read, studied and internalized the most vital information and skill sets through independent learning and self-teaching.
I learned early on through observation that people who are exceptionally talented at something devoted arduous hours to elevate their skills to a level far ahead of their peers. But I could also tell it was an enjoyable journey getting there for those people and they were better for it.
Group settings for learning always bored me and in fact still do. They do not present an efficient learning structure, the pace is far too slow. It is efficient from a teaching perspective, not from a learning perspective. Group learning also does not afford the ability for you to play, experiment and fail – all huge for advancing your skills in an area. Failure is necessary, something that institutionalized learning on the whole refuses to allow. In fact, independent learning is all about failing like crazy until you find the right path, the antithesis of traditional education.
Your internal drive and motivation for success, for learning and for making a positive impact on the world are all that matter. IQ doesn’t matter, having “gifts” doesn’t matter, and a graduate degree cum lade proves nothing. Personal accomplishments and projects that you spearhead and create yourself from the ground up are what prove true creativity and problem solving ability.
Want to learn something new today? It’s so easy – the web presents you with oceans of information on everything possible, and I guarantee there is already a community of people trading tips and building a knowledge-base on your subject of choice.
Savvy individuals use the web as an infinite well of knowledge to sharpen their skill sets at their craft of choice, or experiment with a new path. For the first time in human civilization, all knowledge is at your fingertips, instantly accessible.
Think of the scene from the Matrix when Neo is able to plug in and directly download any concept/ability he wishes. You have the exact same opportunity right now. You can choose to use it and broaden your horizons, or you can choose to ignore it and merely be entertained. The only things you’ll need are time and determination.
You can go further on your own than you can in any group setting – your mind is that powerful and you have all the tools you need right now. It is up to you.
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Tim Jahn replied | Dec 15, 2008 (59 comments)
I’ve learned most of what I know in my field from just tinkering on my own and discovering what I wished to discover, so I’m completely with you on the “standardized school sucks and learning on your own rocks” bus.
But I wouldn’t discount group learning altogether. Working with other people can spark great ideas, things you would have never thought of, and altogether keep you more alive. This varies with people though.
I like working at home by myself sometimes but it doesn’t beat doing the same work with some small number of like minded people around.
Adam Singer replied | Dec 15, 2008 (594 comments)
@Tim – there is certainly some value in it, of course. Personally though, I have found incredibly greater value in pursuing things I was passionate about on my own agenda in unstructured learning than within institutional education settings.
Others may find that untrue and enjoy “learning within the lines” so to speak…and there’s nothing wrong with that – it just isn’t my preferred method of learning.
Eric replied | Dec 15, 2008 (23 comments)
You have to checkout Outliers when you get a chance.
Ed Walker replied | Dec 16, 2008 (8 comments)
That was a really inspiring post, thanks Adam! Although I echo the sentiments above, there is a time and a space for group learning – you can get a great buzz when there’s 10 people in a room brainstorming.
Mario Sanchez Carrion replied | Dec 17, 2008 (23 comments)
I would say it really depends on the subject. My BSc was in industrial engineering (go figure…) and I don’t think I could have learned that on my own. If the subject is marketing and communications I have to agree with you. It is probably much more efficient today to learn about those subjects by reading blogs, participating in social networks, reaching out to like minded people and directly participating in the conversations.
Rich Glass replied | Dec 18, 2008 (1 comment)
I have been saying this for years, I know MANY people with degrees that Don’t use them. Having said that, I do believe that if you are a W-2 person you have a better chance of landing a career if you have a degree.
Adam Singer replied | Dec 18, 2008 (594 comments)
@Eric – thanks, I will!
@Ed – glad you agree.
@Mario – definitely it depends on area of focus, you’re right on that. school may matter more for highly technical areas, but for things that are more abstract/creative it matters far less
@Rich – yes it definitely helps, it is part of the system and i have a degree for this reason. if it wasn’t so vital i may have skipped it and studied independently (i was doing this during school anyway and would have loved to focus all my time to independent studies).
Detrus replied | Dec 24, 2008 (2 comments)
Institutions don’t use any magic new learning techniques. They use methods developed to educate very large numbers of people, because at the start of industrialization only the elite were educated in small groups by dedicated tutors. Something bigger was needed. Of course learning something on your own will beat that mass teaching method.
That doesn’t mean the information the institutions try to teach would be less interesting if it was presented in a way that was customized for each student. Unfortunately the information is rarely presented in the right ways and most people don’t give it a second chance.
Joy-Mari replied | Dec 25, 2008 (3 comments)
“In fact, independent learning is all about failing like crazy until you find the right path”
Could you please explain this more and show examples?
Adam Singer replied | Dec 25, 2008 (594 comments)
@Joy-Mari – What I mean by this, is you don’t grade yourself during independent learning, you play, experiment, fail and learn. A quick example — I taught myself how to write music in this way. I wrote a lot of noise before I was able to create something aurally pleasing. I failed a lot and deleted a lot before I was able to create something worth sharing.