Because we have to. It's obviously survivorship bias. I don't have a single chance at interviewing against someone with a degree unless I can undeniably prove that I am head and shoulders above the pack. And so you grind and grind and grind in a way that someone with that piece of paper to rely on doesn't feel the need to, because the bar is that much higher.

It wasn't always this way; making it without a degree used to be a badge of pride in this industry. But the glut of CS grads these days has made it something of a handicap to be brushed around at this point.