You become an expert by tinkering and experimenting.
I understand a lot about how bicycles work because I tinkered and built my own. It isn't exactly the same as hacking, but it is very similar. When you work on old bikes, motorbikes, cars you sometimes have to come up to novel solutions to problems.
The fact that you and the author can't see the similarities is exactly the issue I and others have pointed out.
It is not the same thing, because back in 1986 the "hacker" concept was new, associated with criminality, and not with 'curiosity', information processing and thinking. It is not really the same as bikes and cars, which are around for quite some time and are made of tangible, mechanical stuff, whereas information are just abstract '0s' and '1s'.
I understand a lot about how bicycles work because I tinkered and built my own. It isn't exactly the same as hacking, but it is very similar. When you work on old bikes, motorbikes, cars you sometimes have to come up to novel solutions to problems.
The fact that you and the author can't see the similarities is exactly the issue I and others have pointed out.