The Autodidact, This Misunderstood Person

With the advent and continuous improvement of so-called artificial intelligences, more specifically Large Language Models (LLMs), I find myself at the heart of this question of autodidacticism.

As an early user, I have followed their evolution and benefited from an increase in my productivity parallel to the acceleration of their performance. I have learned through use to circumvent their traps and optimize my communication.

In the span of a few months, after a very long procrastination, I have developed:

• a plugin for Obsidian, an open-source unstructured note management tool, which allows importing ChatGPT or Claude exports (https://n-ere.com/88gOyd)
• an improved integration of connected power outlets for Home Assistant, the undisputed open-source leader in home automation, extending their life by several years (https://n-ere.com/fOrgft)
• and its Python module (https://n-ere.com/up0bWT)
• a WordPress extension capable of automatically translating into many languages, currently under development (https://n-ere.com/OFQfjf)
• a WordPress extension for generating short links like bitly or chk.me, without depending on an external service (also under development)(https://n-ere.com/huxc8z)

I rediscovered the pleasure felt during my first discoveries, more than 30 years ago, when I spent countless hours on my computer testing all sorts of things.

To get there, I spent an unsuspected amount of time conversing with numerous models, I tested different approaches and many tools, without ever taking formal training. Just through trial and error. I now count in Obsidian more than 3,000 ChatGPT or Claude conversations. This doesn’t count those I deleted and those I had on other platforms.

The Autodidact and Resilience

An unknowing hyperactive child, I had a rather difficult schooling. School bullying, impatience and often legitimate frustration from teachers exasperated by a disruptive, agitated, noisy student, incapable of staying focused on often boring classes. Added to this was almost daily domestic violence exacerbated by my ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder), often coming to punish my inability to make the effort to learn subjects that didn’t interest me and to stay still. At 17, I ended up abandoning school to go make my life, far from my family and its violence.

I went through several small jobs in catering, as is often the case for people who, like me, flee home early to gain their independence. Very quickly, however, my path took an unexpected turn.

Yet, while I know people who at 50 are still in catering or small jobs, I had an international career in enterprise computing. And I owe it mainly to my autodidacticism.

The Autodidact and Freedom

Once freed from the dictates of a system that wanted me to learn what didn’t interest me, I very quickly became passionate about computing. For once, I wanted to learn. I chose to learn. I would understand much later that this is not by chance: indeed, when you have ADHD and a great ability to solve problems by elimination, computing is often an ideal path, without necessarily realizing it. Because yes, among computer engineers and developers, there are plenty of neuro-atypicals. ADHD, autistic, high-potential individuals, most of whom still don’t know it.

At 17, I changed my first motherboard, the centerpiece of a computer. I still remember the exhilaration (and relief) when once all the connectors were plugged in, I pressed the button and nothing exploded. At 18, I set up my first communication system with cutting-edge technologies (BBS, DOS and DesqVIEW/X, ISDN, BBS (Bulletin Board System), OS/2 Warp, for the curious who like technology).

All this, without having studied or taken any courses, and at the time, it was impossible to search on the internet. I was a passionate autodidact. My sources and inspirations were friends met in computer clubs, even on Videotex, equivalent to Minitel at the time. And many hours, very many, really very many, of trial and error. And that’s exactly how nature designed us: Learning through trial and error.

The Internet accelerated my evolution. Knowledge became more accessible. At 25, I created and administered one of the main classified ad sites in French-speaking Switzerland. Unfortunately, unaware of my skills, my qualities, not having an entrepreneurial spirit, I would abandon this site in 2000 following the explosion of adult ads and fake job scams.

The Autodidact and Novelty

After catering in Lausanne, I found myself in Geneva, in a secretary-receptionist position. Very quickly, I became more interested in the computing necessary for my work than in the work itself. I took my first steps in applications and databases with Microsoft Access which, in its first version, generated everything through visual wizards only, then from the second version allowed viewing the code generated by the assistants. I then learned to read it, and very quickly, to cure it, improve it, to obtain the excellence I expected from it. I developed a small CRM (customer follow-up), and other practical tools. I very quickly sought to take advantage of computing tools to make my life easier.

After two years, and accumulated boredom, I asked to be laid off, and I didn’t know what to do with my life. I hadn’t understood that one could make a career out of my passion. It was by chance of a meeting suggested by my guidance counselor that I then landed my first computer technician position in a small local company. Unable to offer me computer training, she had suggested meeting the boss of a local computer company so he could give me advice. Instead of that, after 90 minutes of discussion, he offered me my first job as a computer technician.

I then assembled and installed dozens of computers, I installed my first networks, bus, token ring, ethernet, configured my first servers, and performed my first migrations. Each time, I found myself facing technologies I absolutely didn’t know. Assisted by documentation, I always found my way. Trials, errors… and especially successes. I don’t remember leaving a task incomplete due to lack of knowledge or skill.

Two years later, I would have the opportunity for an interview with the head of Dell Switzerland support, who would also hire me following our exchanges about my self-taught acquired abilities. I must admit, I harassed him for 4 months, every week, because he didn’t have the famous « headcount ». He had no position to fill. He knew it should come… but it was taking time. I would spend 16 years there in different positions, and I would develop numerous tools there, based on different platforms, whose use I would learn each time I had the need and desire. For the most curious, my LinkedIn profile will give you more details.

The Autodidact in the Right Place at the Right Time

It was late 1994 and there were no computer apprenticeship programs in Switzerland yet except universities and higher education institutions. DOS and Windows were becoming democratized, companies were equipping themselves faster and faster, then individuals. And people academically trained in computing were rather university graduates oriented toward large systems.

Dell then needed to provide support to DOS and Windows users and there was only one population likely to provide it: Geeks, nerds, passionate and self-taught neuro-atypicals like me. Two or three years later, the first computer apprentices were graduating from schools. If I had applied at that time, it’s very likely I would have had a career in catering.

Successively support technician, team leader, Escalation Manager, technical-commercial and finally deployment engineer, I learned throughout my career at Dell everything I needed on the job, by getting my hands dirty. Of course, I had some training, however the 2008 crisis ended the excellent courses given by great gurus with whom I had immeasurable pleasure learning, to be replaced by useless online courses, even more boring than in my school memories, without any possible interaction to answer all the questions that weren’t covered by the slideshows. We were entering the era of « Death by PowerPoint ».

The Autodidact Facing Training

You must understand that the autodidact is curious. He thirsts for knowledge, for answers. He wants to know, understand, master. He wants to make sense. Of all the courses I took when I was at Dell, the best were those given by masters of their field, with the exception of one, given by a young beginner trainer incapable of answering the slightest question outside the course material: needless to say she almost got lynched by our team…

Conversely, it is absolutely unbearable for me to take training just to be able to say: « I took the training », « I am certified ». And I lived very painfully through the industry’s evolution in this direction, where we were asked, we passionate self-taught curious and dynamic people, to learn things just to have the certification, to be able to put the little logo of a partner on our site, and obtain the discounts promised by them.

The autodidact learns what he needs when he needs it. Not before. Not for nothing.

The Autodidact and Opportunity

In 2016, while unemployed, a friend, former Dell colleague, asked me: « Do you know PlateSpin? », a server migration software. About ten years earlier, I had taken a vague course on this product, and I had had the opportunity to test it. I answered « yes yes, of course ». I then found myself freelancing on a major project for a large energy company. Hired for migration, I did a first three-month assignment for a pilot site. The project involved four senior engineers, one per technology to implement on this major project.

During my assignment, I had time to kill. I then became interested in Nutanix, one of the technologies in question, of which I then had no knowledge. And it fascinated me. The characteristic I liked most, and what I subsequently often praised to my clients and partners, is that Nutanix made knowledge accessible to everyone: not only was it simple, but you could dig into the subject at will thanks to sites like The Nutanix Bible, or the many blogs dedicated to the product.

After three months on the migration project, I passed my Nutanix certification, and I challenged the project manager: « You don’t need four engineers for this project. I can cover all four technologies. » This is how I found myself for more than a year piloting four additional sites. Thanks to my autodidacticism, and the availability of knowledge.

The Autodidact in Daily Life

Obviously, my autodidactic journey doesn’t stop there, and doesn’t only touch my professional field.

In 2009, during the construction of my house, I took over and administered a construction forum, sharing my experience, learning from others. In 2017, after my WAIS IV (IQ test), I would take over the administration of a Facebook group on high potential. In 2021, after adopting my dog, I became passionate about reading canine behaviors and developed a fine ability to understand their interactions, but also the master-dog interaction often at the origin of problems with so-called « aggressive » dogs.

This is not to mention my knowledge and deep understanding of my disorders (ADHD, Complex Post-Traumatic Stress Syndrome, anxiety, high potential) and by extension, my ability to listen, hear, understand, and accompany others who go through similar concerns.

There is no limit to what an autodidact can learn. The sine qua non condition? That the subject interests him. And of course, that no one puts obstacles in his way.

The Autodidact and His Paradox

And that’s where the shoe pinches. Because in a normative world where everything must be framed, measured, calibrated, identical, the autodidact gets lost. If you cut a bird’s wings, it will no longer fly, and there’s a good chance it will become depressed and die from it.

So here we are on the autodidact’s paradox: in a world of diplomas and certifications, recruitment processes focus on standardized profiles. We look for the perfect candidate. We ask for experts with 10 years of experience on a product that has only existed for 5 years (yes, this happens regularly in computing), or ultra-specialized specialists on precise technologies. This approach reflects a cognitive bias: the belief that narrow specialization guarantees performance at the expense of adaptability.

The autodidact destabilizes by the breadth, variety and sometimes disconnection of the knowledge he boasts. He questions, he surprises. We don’t really understand what he’s capable of. Why does a team leader of a support service indicate in his CV that he masters technologies that have nothing to do with his mandate or professional background?

Adaptability, and I’m not talking about adaptability to pressure and toxic environments, the autodidact’s adaptability makes him bring value where it’s not measured. Like other self-taught colleagues of mine, I developed at Dell numerous high-value-added tools that weren’t part of my job description, and therefore weren’t considered in measuring my performance: ticketing, automated quote requests, phone performance tracking, intranet, extranet, and so on.

At the time of massive adoption of artificial intelligences, a model if there ever was one of self-taught and adaptive technology, we note the irony of seeing companies entrust them with critical tasks to learn and master, while they have always refused, and still refuse, to hire people who function this way.

The Autodidact in the Age of LLMs

LLMs (Anthropic Claude, Mistral Le Chat, OpenAI ChatGPT and Co.) are extraordinary tools for the autodidact that I am. Like Microsoft Access 2 which allowed me to use assistants, wizards, to then go read, learn, understand, and improve the code, LLMs allow me to implement ideas, then while they execute, learn on the fly the constraints, limits, necessary improvements.

From iteration to iteration, I increase my knowledge, my experience, and the quality of what I produce in all fields with the goal of reaching the excellence I seek. Thanks to them, I rediscovered the freshness of my early discoveries, of my learning code with Access 2, or my interest in Nutanix.

At a time when Google and its competitors have become corrupted and unusable search engines, LLMs again bring me the knowledge I need, when I need it. And I have acquired this indispensable and critical capacity for their use: knowing that they make mistakes and learning from their successes as well as their failures.

After a dark period during which knowledge became less accessible, drowned in the quagmire of search tools corrupted by the pursuit of clicks at any cost, LLMs are a breath of fresh air, a new hope for the autodidact.

Thanks to this new tool, knowledge is again within reach of those who, curious, interested, seek answers to all the questions that cross their minds at all times.

In a world of exponential evolution, continuous acceleration, the qualities of the autodidact are more than ever indispensable.

All short links in this article and my LinkedIn posts are generated with the Nexus WP Link Shortener extension
Translations are produced by the Nexus AI WP Translator extension
Two tools that I am developing with the support of Claude, Bolt, Augment, Continue, Cline, ChatGPT