It is unfortunate that the most driven, intelligent person won't accomplish much if they don't have the network. But I don't see why that diminishes this person's accomplishments.

Also, "If you wish to make an apple pie from scratch, you must first invent the universe" -Carl Sagan

Nobody accomplishes anything of note alone.

This also seems like a gimmick. In what way is this better than just reducing the monitor brightness using software, e. g with xrandr?

What if you then discover that the teenager was born to a rich family with supporting parents which were themselves geniuses in the field and nurtured his learning since he was five, while the senior was born in poverty in an isolated village and didn’t even know the subject matter existed until a year prior? Suddenly the sixteen year old isn’t that impressive.

This focus on the age of the person who did something is utterly boring. Especially since more often than not it doesn’t lead to anything. Go to any of these “teen does X” stories from years ago and try to figure out what it lead to. If you can even find any information on it, chances are it turns out what they came up wasn’t practical for some reason. Which is fine, just stop with the age worshipping.

But play the cards you’re dealt

There are plenty of people with resources that do nothing with their lives, all the way to ultra high net worth trust funders, so celebrate that they applied themselves

If you have nothing, then you need to get a job and it doesn't matter what your drive or intelligence commands, nobody is going to back you. These stories of epiphanies dont apply to you

I respect people that apply themselves