11-Year-Old College Grad Wants to Pursue Astrophysics to Prove God’s Existence

[Anomalocaris]

He clearly does not understand astrophysics is for adults.

[ignoramus]

But first he wants to sue the tooth fairy for unconscionable conduct for not passing on the full amount left under his pillow and then he'll get onto Santa!
That fat lazy bastard has derelicted his duty of care to no end! He asked for an Xbox and got a used Playstation1 from cousin Mo.

[I_am_not_mafia]

“I want to prove that God does exist through science,” William said, his robed father [an Orthodox priest] looking on. “So that the world can know.”

To be fair to him, he is only 11 and has obviously been raised in a religious household so has had no real chance to find out that his god does not exist. He's probably got the same drive as many scientists, to understand the world and to make a big discovery but because of his upbringing this gets translated into something religious. After all, has he really had any need to question whether his understanding of reality is fundamentally flawed.

Saying that though ... if this kid is supposed to be ready to enter college, then even a rudimentary perusal of pop-science books on astrophysics will reveal just how large the universe is. Does he genuinely expect to look through a telescope and see Heaven? Or has he been inspired by some bullshit argument about fine tuning and thinks that he can prove this. Moving from an arts education to astrophysics is tough for anyone, yet alone an 11 year old.

He'll soon crash and burn and will need to pick himself up again. If not then he'll be introduced to the scientific method and critical thinking skills which means his religious belief will quickly fall away. And that will be painful.

[Gawdzilla Sama]

Why doesn't he go ahead and declare that God is real? I mean, he's a college graduate, right? Checkmate, atheists!

[Brian37]

The kid's an asshole.

He's just a kid dude. Most of our species 7 billion get sold the religion of their parents/society at birth.

The real "assholes" to me are the adult apologists who try to retrofit science to match old mythology, then sell this to kids.

There is not one religion in the world that does not have apologists who attempt to mix science and religion. Even Hindus and Jews and Buddhists try to mix science to get it to point to their clubs.

[Amarok]

And while he tries to unlock the secrets of the universe his mommy cuts the crust off his grill cheese sandwich  

[Gawdzilla Sama]

And while he tries to unlock the secrets of the universe his mommy cuts the crust off his grill cheese sandwich  

Mommy protected his stomach and paid no attention to the rot being put into his mind.

[polymath257]

An AA degree? That's a 2 year degree that is a prep degree for entering a *real* university bachelors degree program. Then he will have grad school for a Master's and then the work for a PhD.

Give the kid some time. He's bright, but not exactly an expert on anything. That goes double for astrophysics. Let's see how he deals with General Relativity before we take any pronouncements on physics seriously. I suspect he will hit a wall when he is actually required to think through some things.

I went to university at 15. Admittedly, that is 4 years older than this guy, but I don't see it as completely unreasonable. But he has yet to hit puberty, which has few effects on our thinking.....

I'll bet his immersed theism will crack by the time he is 18.

[brewer]

Don't forget that orthodox dad is standing right there in his flowing robes. How could that not influence an 11 yr old's statement.

[Brian37]

An AA degree? That's a 2 year degree that is a prep degree for entering a *real* university bachelors degree program. Then he will have grad school for a Master's and then the work for a PhD.

Give the kid some time. He's bright, but not exactly an expert on anything. That goes double for astrophysics. Let's see how he deals with General Relativity before we take any pronouncements on physics seriously. I suspect he will hit a wall when he is actually required to think through some things.

I went to university at 15. Admittedly, that is 4 years older than this guy, but I don't see it as completely unreasonable. But he has yet to hit puberty, which has few effects on our thinking.....

I'll bet his immersed theism will crack by the time he is 18.

I wouldn't count on it. If science cured religious belief there would be nobody trying to mix the two.