Without Self-Education, the West Will Probably Die

This is a subject near and dear to my heart. I am an autodidact. I was never satisfied with the outline of knowledge being "taught" in school and haunted libraries with a passion. Fortunately, I had the Enoch Pratt system at hand (Baltimore) and the Library of Congress, National Archives, and Smithsonian just down the road. When I left that area to join the Army, I was bereaved by the loss. No other city that I lived in (Honolulu, Denver, or Los Angeles) had anything comparable. Then came the Internet. I spend hours researching on it. How can anyone not take advantage of such access to knowledge? I just don't get it...