[rafiki6]

So you're looking for something that's so rare it's probably a myth? https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/abs/10.1098/rsnr.2014...

I think what you meant to say is you're looking for people with passion for the field, grit and curiosity and with a proven track record of delivering. The best engineers learn from others and stand on the shoulders of giants.

[scriptkiddy]

Judging by the abstract in that linked paper, I think that it is arguing more about semantics than anything else. It basically claims that: "No person is truly self taught as they stand on the shoulders of their predecessors". To which, I would agree. No man is an island and it would be very difficult to teach oneself something without material composed by others. However, I think the colloqual use of the term autodidact is more about the lack of a formal educational system or formal teaching figure and less about a person figuring everything out on their own.

[ericalexander3]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_autodidacts

[rafiki6]

No one has actually provided a counter argument. A list of 1000 over billions of humans just shows how rare this idea is. That article isn't arguing semantics, and as a matter of a fact it is showing that the truthiness of an autodidact is to be called into question given the nature of mastering a domain.