I have now seen it countless of times from so many people.

The next time I or you see anybody spew the ridiculous idea of being a self-taught #datascientist, it would be great if they could answer a few questions.

1) What do they mean?

2) Do they really mean they were their own teacher?
This will be of course circular in reasoning, because to be your own teacher is to suggest, against our collective intelligence, that you had the knowledge prior to teaching yourself the same knowledge, which you were lacking. It makes no sense and this can not possibly be what so many people are saying. Then, what are they saying?

3) Did they learn in secret from a secret teacher?

OR

4) Did they learn while not enrolled in an academic program?
In other words, did they have an informal education?

If the answer to any of 3) or 4) is yes, then they are not self-taught! Quite the opposite. In these cases, let anyone and everyone who claim to be self-taught #datascientist desist from doing so or explain clearly what they mean.

Learning online or virtually certainly does not mean you're self-taught. You may be self-directed but not self-taught.

#datascience #learning #education #teaching