How young did the person start?
When I was in sixth grade I drew up detailed invasion plans for taking over the United States. Much later, I found out that my plans closely resembled Pentagon projections of how the Russians would invade if they were to do such a thing.
I also created several of my own languages soon thereafter, rediscovering independently (because I had no books about linguistics I could access easily) several principles and ideas that form the core of linguistics and sociolinguistics and then using them in ways that were pretty unique (because I had no one to compare to, or with).
The difference between me and Larry Summers: I had no connections. My parents never went to college. I was not bound for college. There was no chance I’d get into an Ivy League school. I was a total misfit surrounded by people who mostly deeply hated me.
I’m happy with my life — but I was never afforded the opportunities of Summers, nor the chance to flourish. I was always getting the shit beaten out of me for the stuff I was doing and how weird I was.
That matters.