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A comment on 18-year-old built a better computer monitor that doesn't strain your eyes. Parent comment

Re:18-year-old built a better computer monitor that doesn't ... by anon291 on Friday October 27, 2023 @01:17PM (#38041195)
> I think the point is just that more often than not, the kid is only where they are because they happen to have someone else taking care of the bigger challenges that end up being the barriers for most other would-be young innovators.

So what? If the child did nothing, nothing would have happened. He did something. It might be worthwhile. That should be celebrated.

> Eg 12 year old me could only throw together a solar powered buzzer through trial and error with electronics as I had no one who could do anything beyond resistor networks, but my kids would be able to do much more advanced things because I would be able to handle/simplify the complex stuff for them.

Which is why our emphasis on social mobility ought be at the family level. Families move socioeconomically. Individuals are just brownian motion.

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Re:18-year-old built a better computer monitor that doesn't ... by TeMPOraL on Friday October 27, 2023 @01:22PM (#38041273)
> So what? If the child did nothing, nothing would have happened. He did something. It might be worthwhile. That should be celebrated.

That's the thing though. The kid could've done anything between something and approximately nothing, and you wouldn't be able to tell. It's just like with the science fairs - the especially well done projects sometimes are just 100% done by parents.

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Re:18-year-old built a better computer monitor that doesn't ... by dotnet00 on Friday October 27, 2023 @01:37PM (#38041481)
It just makes the "18 year old does X" thing a lot less impressive compared to how it's presented.
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