True enough, but given the type of school I went to (art school) where they basically gave us some space, a jerry can of gas, and some matches, that's exactly what I'd advocate. Then again, my world view is that creativity and innovation (with a dose of common sense) is the end goal, and everything else is secondary. That being said, real innovation is rare, and there's a genius in borrowing or being inspired, as someone like Jobs would bluntly put it.
Your circumstance wasn't that unique from my perspective as I've run into dozens of kids guys like you -- young, lots of options, a good enough job, etc. But many times you see that squandered on video games, drugs and surfing for free pr0n. You had drive and passion long before I ever met you, and though it didn't seem like it in the early days, I really respected that. The general knowledge you speak of doesn't necessarily come with education, but from curiosity more than anything. Millions of kids go through the school system, and most I've met are pretty average or below that (which is sad), but I've also hung around with / met people that have had zero opportunity and zero options, and turned their lives or projects into something absolutely amazing.
I'm not against school at all. I think it's a system that sort of works and as you point out, provides a reasonable foundation, but it's treated as a ends to means, versus a means to an end, and frankly, it's not that big of an achievement in my mind. It's a system you attend, you work through or you game through, but not an education unto itself. Combine it with someone with intellectual curiosity and drive however, and now you might have a dangerous combination.
That 1/1000000 shot is true enough and the universe aligned for you. My point is (and why I even bothered to keep posting on this busy day, in the hopes this would be of value to someone) is you were always motivated, and frankly, most people with business degrees hang on that an awful lot (I'm generalizing of course, but it's fundamentally true in my experience -- maybe because it's all they have to hang on). As Woody Allen once said: "80% of success is showing up." -- call me jaded but most people don't bother showing up, and even when they do they don't bother doing anything great.
So -- show up, and do something great?