[poletopole]

The hard answer is most do not learn CS related skills on their own, I sure didn't, but I was lucky perhaps. Ha, my first "benefactor" would have to remotely tunnel into my computer to literally force me to watch him run commands or remotely debug my code.

The reason everything is so hard is because technology we use today is inherited from decades of prior artwork and can be at times intolerable even to "pros". My benefactor went on and on about the meaning behind what makes a "hacker" exceptional compared myself. This is hard to communicate or understand but can be realized, after thousands of hours of struggle.

(My second benefactor told me something recently) I had a hard time realizing, in regard to returning to university, after a decade in the industry. He said, You have to interact, books aren't enough. Since he was a polymath professor, I could not argue, simply because my strategy thus far in this regard, objectively wasn't working out, irregardless if I was capable or not. I feel as though this is true because it's hard to rival yourself, you must see others (such as on HN) do better and take that as a challenge.

Trust me, if you have potential, simply make yourself known wherever you wish to be. Keep making mistakes.