Spot on. I did the first path for a long time, though along the way I did branch out and explore a lot. Eventually though, and this is often the case at the PhD level and above, you really don't learn that much from the people around you while being beholden unto them for job security, further opportunity in academia etc.

Once a person is working on a PhD they really should be doing it all on their own - basically following the autodidactic path you describe. PhD advisors are more mentors than teachers at that point. Once a PhD candidate finishes their degree, they should know more about their specialized topic than their advisors or pretty much anyone else.

But the channeling and conditioning aspect of the education system is the great danger. I didn't realize how little I knew of the world until I turned my back on the university. Soon all the time and energy I had spent researching obscure erudition turned towards understanding the world around me. It changed my life for the better, undoubtedly.

Now I am a greater advocate of education than ever before, just not the education you get from being immersed in a standardized education system. It has been weaponized against the general population. This stance is ironic considering I still work in the field. I rationalize it as fighting in the trenches to save minds from the soul-crushing system. If I am ever so fortunate as to have children, I will definitely home-school them and ensure they can pursue their passions early in life. At this point, doing otherwise is unthinkable for me.