Whether that so-called "trouble" is good or bad and for whom is another thing, which can be quite subjective even.
Problems at school aren't necessarily an indicator of a failure. There are many examples of bad school performance which doesn't result in bad performance in whatever the person pursues. As far as I am aware, even Einstein didn't really like being in school and had problems concentrating, yet his scientific achievements are undeniabe.
Hence the problem with focusing on educational background is that it gives the false impression that bad background -> bad person. What Snowden did is, as far as I am aware, considered an extremely good thing when it comes to privacy of US and non-US citizens alike. So again, Snowdens lack of educational background could be viewed in similar light that of those others who haven't been hindered by the lack of school performance in the past(and in the future).
I claim that school and educational performance doesn't mean a shit in individual basis(as in case of Snowden, he's an individual after all), although it might mean when one evaluates people collectively as a group. And even then exceptional individuals come up.
I think what Snowden did is a great thing, but it probably isn't great from the NSA's perspective. The NSA probably wants smart people who can do what they're told and keep their mouths shut.
He certainly excelled in many scientific subjects but the rest didn't interest him.
I don't have anything to cite this with(apart from knowing that there's talk about this in Wikipedia) due to time constraints right now, but many very well developed individuals get bored at school because the education is outright boring for them, the rest are so far behind to them that they are forced to deal with stuff which they already excell at very well and thus they get bored. I think this is how people like Einstein must have felt, and there are many cases of this happening all the time.
People simply are different, others learn faster and are more developed than others, and for many of those the slower pace of education feels outright boring and demotivational -- it's not the lack of intelligence, willingness or ability to learn but rather the school system itself.
Such people are among school dropouts for sure. I too dropped vocational school because of the mere reason that I'd rather study math and compsci on my own than about metal surfaces and lubricants with a bunch of retards. Yet, I have "failed" the most basic secondary education in this country. Yay, what a failure with tons of willingness to learn and understand. This is partly the reason why I hate it when people judice others based on their education, there are cases where it tells absolutely nothing about the person's ability and motivation to learn when the subjects match it.
Problems at school aren't necessarily an indicator of a failure. There are many examples of bad school performance which doesn't result in bad performance in whatever the person pursues. As far as I am aware, even Einstein didn't really like being in school and had problems concentrating, yet his scientific achievements are undeniabe.
Hence the problem with focusing on educational background is that it gives the false impression that bad background -> bad person. What Snowden did is, as far as I am aware, considered an extremely good thing when it comes to privacy of US and non-US citizens alike. So again, Snowdens lack of educational background could be viewed in similar light that of those others who haven't been hindered by the lack of school performance in the past(and in the future).
I claim that school and educational performance doesn't mean a shit in individual basis(as in case of Snowden, he's an individual after all), although it might mean when one evaluates people collectively as a group. And even then exceptional individuals come up.