The autodidact is the person who logs onto YouTube to figure out how to fix the toilet. This person is happy to learn unsystematically and informally, with no instruction whatsoever. They are self-taught, so to speak. Conversely, formal education is big on passive learning; everything is done by rote and teaching to the test is foregrounded; kids have to score high marks on standardized tests if they want to get into the college of their choice. Yet such passive learning is hardly a way to learn or learn with excitement.