Harold Innis in The Bias of Communication quotes Leslie Stephen referring to a time when there was no system of education in England,(late 18th, early 19th century): "There is probably no period in English history at which a greater number of poor men have risen to distinction. Receptivity of information which is cultivated and rewarded in schools and also in universities is a totally different thing from the education, sometimes conferred even by adverse circumstances, which trains a man to seize opportunities either of learning or of advancement. One need mention only the names of Burns, Paine, Cobbett, William Gifford, John Dalton, Porson, Joseph White, Robert Owen and Joseph Lancaster. These dudes all have their counterparts today. Morals be damned relative to formal education. The jails are filling with guys with degrees.