What does that portend for the future? It's simple. In the future -- and get this because it's important -- the very smartest and knowledgeable people, on earth, will increasingly hold no degrees. Why? Again, simple. Why would the smartest person on earth, bolstered by the now-uncloistered ubiquity of all available human knowledge, keenly aware that he has everything at his disposal via the Internet, stoop to have his inferiors certify his knowledge? And though you may not be the smartest person on earth, you can make yourself pretty smart, you can do it all on your own, and so why do you need the USDA stamp of approval on your rump? Won't other smart people recognize you're smart? Won't stupid dumb asses (or parasitic pricks) look to see if you have been "certified" by some external authority, using it in the former as an excuse, and in the latter, a justification? Why would you want to cater to either?

The reason smart people of old got degrees is because all the knowledge was cloistered within the books of secrets maintained by the "recognized official authorities" and you had to pay them to gain access. The bargain is called a degree.

Ponder the above, because it is crucially important and it implies some serious responsibility on your part. For one, you could get led astray by those in possession of degrees (because they're not so smart -- so they paid). Or, you could miss out on real knowledge because it's not "certified." Try to wrap your mind around the concept of "external authority" and how we're so geared to seek the "automatic knowledge" offered up by others. Imagine a world where "smart" is a function of the obvious, fully accessible and judgeable by: YOU; a member of the elite.

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