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This is a false comparison. Were the Iliad and the epic of Gilgamesh written by college grad? Where did Shakespeare matriculate? For that matter, how many top novels of the 20th century were written by college graduates trained to do so? I would wager that success-without-college is far easier in non-scientific fields than in engineering.</p>
<p>For what its worth, ANY field can be performed at some basic level by just about anyone. My 8 year old could write a sonnet, build a bridge, heal the sick - she just would not be very good at it. She could probably figure out how to dig out a canoe, although it might take her a few tries and would not be impressively seaworthy, but I think an ocean liner or submarine are going to be beyond her.</p>
<p>There is no point looking at those times when an appropriate engineering education either didn’t exist or was so young as to be uncommon. Plus, it is a little facetious to cite the inventions of the handful of modern untrained engineers without acknowledging that they built their inventions using a foundation of technology and technique pioneered almost entirely by college-educated engineers. I would also recommend applying to the companies started by those non-college entrepreneurs without a college degree and seeing what they say.</p>