Whoa, same here. Got disillusioned with academic physics in college (though astronomers are cool). Been working through Haskell's Write Yourself a Scheme in 48 Hours tutorial. There must be a few dozen of us.

One more here. I don't think we're extremely common but we're also not alone. I'm coasting in community college while my parents pay for room and board and I try to get some revenue off of projects. I've realised that the only way for me to survive is to create something of my own or find an environment where I have enough intellectual freedom to stay engaged.

Heh. Just getting started with SICP. This reminded me even before college..