It sounds more or less like something I could write when I was 14 years old, perhaps even including the misunderstanding of what WPA-PSK hashing does.

I agree. There are still some posts on Usenet archives that I wrote when I was 14, and there are no telltale signs that they were written by a 14 year old, except for not understanding certain programming conventions.

I wasn't particularly bright. I think we underestimate the capabilities of children.

I see no reason a 14 year old shouldn't be able to program and say, do multivariate calculus. If anything, they are more intellectually capable than someone going through the pains of late adolescence.

Crystallized intelligence at that age might be low, but fluid intelligence is at or near its peak.

I'd have to say free time is also a huge factor! I have exams coming up, but for now in free to hack stuff in my spare time. I was also looking into newer echo models, according to hackaday they have a hidden debug port but still use mediatek processors, maybe I'll buy one on ebay in the future and have a look...

I was given a 3rd gen dot at a conference and haven’t even set it up. It’s yours if you want it.

> I think we underestimate the capabilities of children.

Probably to a large degree because we lock them up in a room all day where they spend their time listening to information targeted at the bottom decile of the room.

A smart 14 year old can often out-think adults in my experience, because adults are weighed down by 'adult' content like power relationship between the speakers, social appropriateness, real or imagined legal obligations, yesterday's news, thirst for alcohol and triple-X sex, you know "everyday stuff" whereas the 14 year old is relatively unburdened by all that baggage. What a 14 year old lacks is 14 years of reading on a subject, of course, or previous training. YMMV

Well said.

I agree with everything you said except the thirst for sex. That one is melting your brain as a teenager.

I miss the clarity of mind I had when I was younger than that, perhaps 10 or 12.

I suspect you are smarter than you give yourself credit for. Many 14 year olds could not have written that well. That's totally okay and they can still learn how to later in life.

Most 14 year olds simply don't spend most of their free time learning how to hack things. Only some do.

When I think about it, I could have done algebra by the 5th grade, calculus by the sixth, etc. But what is not being considered is what’s going on with those neurons, at this time, instead. It is not obvious that maximizing purely academic results is optimal.

True. It's not a good idea to swamp kids with topics they might not care about.

However, I do think they should be encouraged and tutored to go REALLY deep into anything they might be interested in.

Just me, I'm currently studying computer science. Sorry for the misunderstanding of hashing, I've updated the page with a correction

My original comment was not meant to downplay you. Quite the opposite. It is a bow to you and the article. It was thorough enough that i had to ask if it was a 14 year old who wrote. Really happy for you and keep at it. I see you are looking into getting a mediatek processor after your exams, send me a message and I would be happy to get it for you. t e n d i @ o u t l o o k . c o m

If he were older, it would be more stilted and self-congratulatory.