[amatecha]

hmmm, I don't feel too skeptical about it - I think it just sounds more impressive in hindsight where it can be described in full clarity (and probably underestimating how much was picked up in the months/years afterward). I was writing HyperTalk around the age of 9, after learning the "secret" command of "set userlevel to 5" [0], although it was kinda difficult without any documentation (I just opened other existing Stacks to see how stuff was done). If you grew up around computers and had a knack for it, well, a youthful brain just soaks up everything it's exposed to, really.

This actually reminds me of how valuable it can be to expose kids to complex/depthful things from an early age -- some will dive right in and embrace it, and potentially enjoy a rewarding experience with the particular subject.. For me it was computers, and at the time I really couldn't get enough.

[0] https://hypercard.center/HyperTalkReference/Set-the-user-lev...