Long before I studied computer science concepts, I was enamored with computers. I was a power user then. When I was in elementary school I couldn't have Internet access any time I wanted (it was literally a call on the family telephone) so I spent lots of time playing around with the operating system and the installed applications. Many nights were spent exploring the nooks and crannies of Windows and Office. I learned about the cmd.exe and wrote batch scripts before I had any idea what computer science was about.
Later when I moved from Windows to Mac in the early 00's, I did the same. The same kind of curiosity led me to naturally explore the various system utilities, from Mac-specific like hdiutil or diskutil to general Unix-y.
I don't know whether this is fighting a losing battle, but I doubt anyone who's not curious enough to learn about the innards of their computers can really become successful CS majors and hackers.