There are lots moreof us AFLs than you’d ever imagine.
I bet that there are lots of closet AFOL’s around. The LEGO technic stuff is great, I’ve used it to explain about gear mechanics and 4 bar linkages to my 7 year old son. In fact, in a kinematics class at school, the teacher handed our technic LEGO bricks and we used them for the same thing, understanding the fundementals of linkages.