Recently, a Dutch-Flemish boy of eleven years graduated cum laude in Physics at Antwerp University. He started studying at Eindhoven University of Technology at the age of nine (Brussels Times). What does this event imply for topics like our biological clock, consciousness, epigenetics, learning vs teaching, nature vs nurture, talents, and/or the age when our brain is mature?
Moreover, the boy has a clear goal, focus and perspective: human immortality through transhumanism. Essentially, he wants to assist the human race in migrating from homo sapiens to humanoid sapiens. In this concept, human consciousness is unique and the rest consists of replaceable body parts.
At the age of nine, I was still a child, like most humans are at that age. At the age of twelve, my high school advice was not very ambitious given that I was still (too) young for my age. I was rather slow in development for my age. Probably, I was a late-bloomer. This boy is developing extremely fast for his age. Why?
My initial thought was that there might be a negative correlation between IQ (mind) and lifespan (body). Actually, research suggests a positive correlation between intelligence and lifespan. Hence, the exact opposite of my initial thought. Sources: Scientific American, Men’sHealth, NIH, Quora.
Intelligence follows the statistical pattern of a normal distribution (eg, source). Life expectancy does not (eg, NCBI, Stanford). The combination of IQ > 145 and life expectancy may not even result in enough data.
Possibly, our consciousness (mind) is separate from our ageing (body). The boy’s goal, focus and perspective indicate that he believes this to be true. An upload of our consciousness and a subsequent download to a humanoid may result in potential immortality. It would also allow for long-term initiatives (eg, space travel).
There are some basic problems with respect to capturing human consciousness, like How, What, When, and Where. Actually, we don’t even know Why we are conscious whereas Everything follows Why (my blogs).
Nevertheless, I’m optimistic as this boy seems to have an interesting connection with universal consciousness (eg, panpsychism).
“A human being is a spatially and temporally limited piece of the whole, what we call the “Universe.” He experiences himself and his feelings as separate from the rest, an optical illusion of his consciousness. The quest for liberation from this bondage [or illusion] is the only object of true religion. Not nurturing the illusion but only overcoming it gives us the attainable measure of inner peace.”
The original 1950 quote by Albert Einstein (1879-1955).
Belfast Child (1989) by Simple Minds
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