My father was a very clever man. Seriously clever. He could disassemble any machine and tell at a glance what was wrong with it, then fabricate replacement parts. He was a highly qualified machinist, welder, pipefitter, carpenter, etc. He worked in the coal mines of Pennsylvania until forced to quit school and work as a breaker boy to help support the family. In time he returned to school, obtained his high school equivalency, then graduate from college and law school by taking night classes and working shifts as a maintenance machinist (and as a husband and father). He would explain anything you asked (and was most often wrong). The last book he read was his college literature anthology and, of course, law books. Me, I lived in libraries avoiding school like the plague (and teachers were happy to have me out of the class). I'm 81 and still make a point of learning something new every day from anyone who demonstrates expertise in any subject regardless of how they obtained it. I well-learned to avoid people like my father who thought they knew every thing without studying.