Cringely raises an important point regarding student motivation and its effect on learning. He quotes a reader:

"...I'm finding that the real key to student success is not so much how you teach but how you go about motivating students to want to learn..."

This consideration carries significant weight in universities where many faculty prioritize research over teaching.

But not every school can be a Stanford and even there, as at many research universities, much of the faculty doesn't really want to teach.

This serves as a valuable reminder to prioritize cultivating one's own motivation to learn alongside dedicating time to the learning process itself.

via I, Cringely