I do not want to encourage shallow, not-thought-through ideas so we can fluff the ego of children. The problem is not that we're encouraging kids, the problem is that duller adults prefer simple ideas to working ones.
This was actually a well thought out idea. He took the time and tried to do some research and analysis. While some of his conclusions were off, this is a great way to learn and think. But publicly humiliating him (which I think is the result of the media response), we're telling kids that if you make an attempt, you're going to be ridiculed. I don't know if you've ever been in a classroom, but one of the biggest problems is that kids feel like they can't fail because they'll be labeled as an idiot. Calling the ideas of a 14 year old trying to solve a problem "shallow" is pretty sad. I understand why kids don't want to tackle topics in mathematics and computer science with attitudes like this.
