Not long time ago, Japaneses tended to think Koreans as an inferior race. Now Sony is losing its markets to Samsung/LG. Not long time ago, Caucasians tended to think Asians as an inferior race. Now ...

Of the same level of seriousness, everyone could also ask a similar question "why is Bruce Schneiner called a "security expert"", much like Joel Spolsky a "software expert". Answers: - By the fluency of the two guys in making his "words" heard, sometimes even if those words are borrowed - By the help of the two guys' friends in the publishing world - By the stupidity of the crowd who are always willing to use some "experts' name" in order to make their words heard. They would repetitively say: "Joel says this, Bruce says that"

"encryption is nothing more than security through calculated obscurity. There are differing levels of obscurity and differing levels of difficulty to get useful information out of the obsfucation, but in the end, its all just security through obscurity" =====> Totally agree with this. When listening to many discussions in security, I often hear people criticizing "obscurity is not a good security". That's wrong. In fact, for me, good security is achieved by intractable obscurity. And it's funny for me to see that your post (by BitZtream) is marked as Troll, and scores 0. Funny moderation

Yes, when a home land is equipped with 1000 security experts and 1000 other mathematics experts, that's the ultimate security and we can all sleep well.

Is it a habit to name "vital" what we are lack of ? Oh, I see why many have voted for "brain". I did vote for "Genitalia", and I am a robot.

I share the view with you. What I don't see from endless conversation on "Whether a degree/certificate in IT is good/a must/necessary or not", is that people don't try to quantify things. Of course degrees prove that you are consistent in pursuing one track, you are smart enough not to fail more than the limit for some exams, and you know some other classmates who would show you (or your boss) how to lead an IT career. Of course certificates prove that you are serious in building your credits, you have planned to achieve them, and you are proficient enough not to fail at some point. Of course experience shows that you are ready for the job, you have (also) a consistent track, you have finished some great projects, and you know competent people to keep updating of how the real world IT is running. All the three above mentioned dimensions count to your IT career. Then the question is how much do they count for your currently interviewed job. - Do your future employer rely on your degree/certificate to "advertise" their team. (Example: "We are a team of highly qualified/educated people, then our product must be good") - Do they want someone ready immediately at day-1 to help the cash pouring into their pocket - Do they want some who can learn fast, and contribute to their team from a different perspective (This applies to some "Good-degree-no-experience" cases) Give each axe a weight, see how much they match your future employer, and estimate your chance. For example if > 70% of IT professionals have an IT university-or-above degree, and your future employer is an "average IT company", then it should be: "Things are alot easier with a degree". Thanks