"it's pretty much impossible to listen to Dylan's lyrics and not be taught something"

Yeah. Unless you don't listen. :-) It's my impression that about 85-90% of the public doesn't really listen to song lyrics. They just groove with the beat and sing along on the chorus. They are not looking for content, and they don't find any. They are bereft of philosophy or self-analysis, they seek entertainment only. They are beings of the status quo, grooving to the trends, consuming the consumable, questioning nothing. They are sheep.

Dylan is as challenging for his time as the greatest writers of the past were for theirs...if you listen and think about it. He's nothing if you don't. Just "a big noise", like that guy complained in "Don't Look Back".

Irate young English guy: "You're just a big noise!"

Dylan: "I'm a bigger noise than you."