To anyone considering going into aviation as a career, I tell them this: Find out what exactly it is about aviation that makes you love it so much, and try your hardest to find some other career that will fulfill that desire. I always hear people say things like "Aviation has always been my passion, I can't see myself doing anything else", but what does that exactly mean? It's especially odd hearing this come from an 18 year old who doesn't even have a private certificate (not necessairly directed at the OP). I like walking my dog and skateboarding, but that doesn't necessairly mean I should try to make dog walking or skateboarding my career.

To answer the OP's question, no. A lot of people out there (I used to be one of them) who want you to think piloting is akin to brain surgery, and that only a small slice of the population has the special breed of talent and smarts required to take on the task. But this couldn't be further from the truth. This is just a ploy to make people think we should be paid $250,000 a year.

A few months ago people were walking into ATP and places like that knowing barely what a propeller is, then coming out 3 months later with a job interview at Pinnacle. And those people did it. They pulled it off. They aren't failing checkrides, or crashing airplanes. They are out there right now as we speak flying the jets (if they're aren't furloughed). I honestly can't think of any other "white collar" career where you can do the same. Heck, there's people out there that go through our training programs for fun. The point I'm making is that it doesn't require much to make it through pilot training.

If all major airlines were to fire every single pilot they have on payroll, then replace all of them with 300 hour pilots straight out of flightschool, the airline would do just as good as it's doing right now safety wise, all with about $100,000,000 a year less in salaries apiece. The only think stopping them from doing this are the unions, which are getting wearker and weaker as time goes on.