Agreed. I think what's more important than tinkering with computers as a child is to just have willpower to stare at something for hours with no end in sight just to have a small breakthrough. Those breakthroughs, for me, almost seemed to reward me with little releases of endorphins like solving a puzzle.
I lived for those "a-ha" moments too. I remember when the theory of computation clicked and the rush of understanding that washed over me that put everything I'd done in that class in perspective. It was probably the best feeling I ever had in my academic career.
