I’m assuming that you are referring to formal education when you mention “top-down education”. Hands-on learning has always been a key focus at high-quality academic institutions. Formal education or degrees/certifications are not necessary for success, do not indicate intellectual superiority, but they are not useless either. I have thoughts on why certain people, groups, and/or political ideologies attack formal education and do not want the public to pursue higher education, but Nostr is not the space where people would be interested in or receptive to that discussion.