I think you're reading too much into this. For every one that refers to an age, I just see facts. There are many child prodigies, especially in math and physi

I think you're reading too much into this. For every one that refers to an age, I just see facts. There are many child prodigies, especially in math and physics, and I don't see it as a point of pride (or shame). He's not at all the same person he was 50 years ago, and he probably doesn't even remember who he's looking back at. The alternative, that he hasn't changed a bit in 50 years, would be even more damning of himself. As for the other, I don't see how observing that your physics papers contained "amazing formulas" would be praise. Everyone's physics papers do. The field is full of amazing formulas! Perhaps I'm missing something, but he didn't even claim he'd done anything, here, except write them down, and observe that they could be modeled by a computer. Reading any accomplished person write about their accomplishments will sound similarly hyperbolic, when you step back and look at the facts. It's funny to me how some people write about the crazy things they've done, and HN loves it (e.g., Feynman), and others do essentially the same, and HN always finds it necessary to comment about the apparent narcissism. It's enough to discourage me from ever blogging. That's not a coin I'd ever want to flip.