They didn't even blindfold him during the tests.  What kind of scientists are these people? I bet he's not even completely blind.  This is hardly as 'amazing' as promised.

I've heard of this before; as far as I know, some people started even coaching others in the technique.
dond: just google the name and you will find out that Ben Underwood had his eyes removed at the age of three after he was diagnosed with retinal cancer, of which he also died at the age of 16.
However, could somebody please explain to me why he can play Videogames, where echolocation can hardly work?

I'm legally blind without glasses. I have been since birth. I taught myself how to get around using ambient noise until I got glasses (I still use echolocation in dark rooms.)

Unlike Ben Underwood, my hearing is different than a normal human's. I hear higher and lower ranges than most people. My hearing has not diminished with age as it should have.

Even without super ears, human echolocation is feasible for anyone who knows what they're listening for. I think it's a great tool for the blind and somewhat-sighted.

Discussions about human Nature and potential are great, but I think it's important to realize you're viewing them through the lens of Nuture. 

As for super-cripple stories like these, which seem to be the only interest stories written about the otherly abled, they make me worry for those that don't live up to such an amazing standard.  Seems it's always the tale of the one-armed pitcher who still throws a 99 mile/hr fastball or some harrowing triumph over adversity, and rarely is it a, oh hey, I can't walk and have a boring life with regular, everyday problems, bills to pay same as you.

It's sort of analogous to what Derrida said on the war against drugs and what Foucault wrote about the Victorian's chronicling of a range of physical and social abnormalites: we are implicitly and ambiguously defining who we are, what it means to be Human, not in any positivist sense but rather by detailing what we're against, or at the very least, what is invisible and what is remarkable, what is spectacle, and who is Other...

I find this more interesting than amazing.  While Ben was able to train himself to see using echo, I think one should remember that this is an actual technique that is used and well understood in many other areas of nature.  I hate the use of the word "miracle" in stories like these, it downplays the somewhat ordinary physics involved in using this technique.

Also, lot of the "experiments" presented in this video are not experiments at all.  Getting him to guess which two objects out of four are the same gives Ben a very high chance of getting it right simply by guessing.

As always with a science related post on this blog, the writer illustrates a poor understanding of what science is about.  "The 10-minute video below suggests that scientists have only begun to understand what humans are capable of."  Of course we have only begun to understand.  I find that comment smug, in that to me, it implies that scientists claim to have it all figured out.  Any scientist I've even spoke to usually points out how little we know, not every scientist is a hack like Ray Kurzweil.

To end on a bittersweet note, Ben seemed like someone who made it his mission to enjoy life.  It's too bad that his life ended at such a young age as his curious nature and determination is something that we need more of.

Here's a video about another blind guy who can do a sonar-like clicking - http://www.lfpress.com/video/featured/london-and-region/5828787001/blind-man-navigates-like-a-bat/1000681786001
It mentions research and mentorship efforts.

I have no clue how many people would be capable of accomplishing what he can do though (to respond to the comment about "super-cripple stories").

ben is blind but he can hear what objects is around him and can navigate where he needs to go and that i find very amazing. 

you can tell ben has been doing this since the day he was born and can hear everything around him so its possible people may not even notice ben is blind or doesn't know which direction to go too.

and to top it all off i think hes going to do fine in the future because ben hearing is very accurate and can mostly find what he needs except i dont think he can drive but as long as his friends or family help him he can pretty much work at any job as long as it doesn't require physical things to do.

I don't like these "supercrippy" notions as well. I just find interesting, that after a lesson about bat's echolocation, and realizing that blind people could use this technique too, I am stumbling upon more and more articles and books concerning blind people echolocating.

I would recommend this book, If someone would like to study echolocation further: http://www.amazon.com/Beginners-Guide-Echolocation-Visually-Impaired/dp/1478371080

And from a computer musicians point of view: Its not a miracle. Its just a reverb.