I don't necessarily disagree with the author, but almost inevitably you cannot be an autodidact. If you consult a book or the internet for information, you are learning from someone else (just not necessarily audibly or directly). The real question is, are you somehow at a disadvantage if you avoid academia? Is it better to be practiced in real-world scenarios and real failures then to learn theory? Personally I think a little of both is good, but you do not necessarily need to be "taught" in the traditional sense we think of teaching.