Ultralearning is necessary to avoid being on the lower-end of the growing inequality scale. As the pace of technological improvement increases and we come to automate more and more, the gap between the haves and the have-nots is widening. In order to stay out of the bottom-tier, you need to be able to develop new skills and knowledge quickly.
The middle ground used to be easy to get in and stay in. Get a degree and you have a sure-thing job. Now the pace of improvements in technology is making lots of those jobs irrelevant, while also demanding the ability to master new skills quickly.