Who are you to clap for their achievements? There's a story about China's leap in science at the top. Maybe you should read it. Tunnel visions and echo chambers helps noone.
He's a skilled techie with a developed bullshit radar. That already puts him above an average layperson.
Over the last 20 years, there's been untold amount of hype from different sources, each wave of which wanted the public to believe that this time it's different.