Half Life in Software Engineers?

What good is an engineer who cannot apply what he learnt. The lack of application leads only to degradation of knowledge learned by force. 7 out of 10 engineers i know of cant even expand the acronym BNF/EBNF,let alone explain it, Many take some time to realize and explain how do you test a bit.<p>I was reading this article, http://education.internet.com/articles/self-taught-vs-formal-developer-training-whats-the-difference/ - just sharing it :)