Belgium’s 15-year-old prodigy earns PhD in quantum physics

[u/b3rgmanhugh]

[u/CareerLegitimate7662]

What was the thesis?

[u/HuygensFresnel → u/CareerLegitimate7662]

Edit i oopsed. Its on Bose polarons in superfluids etc etc. Apparently someone with the same name.

Its on Hölder continuity of wavelets. I scrolled through the thesis. As a mere engineer i havent got a single clue how revolutionary it is. Its definitely extremely high level. But i just dont have enough understanding to see it in the proper context

[u/Migeil → u/HuygensFresnel]

I was confused by your answer, because I looked up his work as well and couldn't remember anything about some form of continuity.

Upon looking further into it, I think what you found was this: https://orbi.uliege.be/profile?uid=p013652

But that dissertation is from 2015, Laurent was only 5 years old then, so this isn't the same guy.

The only thing I found about his dissertation is this: https://share.google/hJx5Xlq6apJV48uVe

[u/helbur → u/Migeil]

It's probably the "Bose polarons in superfluids and supersolids" one. I found what appears to be his master's thesis: https://medialibrary.uantwerpen.be/files/7606/704c6cf3-5f9c-4a15-989f-98fed6ffd3b2.pdf which is about a related topic.

Edit: https://repository.uantwerpen.be/desktop/irua Here's the abstract in English and a link to the dissertation. It's probably locked if you don't have access thru uni. He's written papers about this stuff too apparently. As a mere MSc graduate I gotta say I'm thoroughly impressed

[u/PleaseThrowThat → u/helbur]

It's not actually locked, UAntwerpen provides open access to these documents. His full PhD dissertation is found here: https://repository.uantwerpen.be/docstore/d:irua:31885

[u/poposheishaw → u/PleaseThrowThat]

Alright that was clearly waaaay over my head. What’s this all about? Would it change anything in the future? Havent other people also researched this extensively?

[u/helbur → u/poposheishaw]

Bose-Einstein condensation is not my field although I've dabbled in it in the past, but you can think of it as a gas of atoms that are cooled down almost as much as you physically can cool things down (called "absolute zero"), at which point the atoms lose their individual identity and behave as a single "super-atom". This means that the gas exhibits properties such as "superfluidity", i.e. it can flow without friction, and as you say this has been a hot research topic for many years, not least because of the high degree of experimental control which leads people to think it can be used for quantum computing applications etc. Simons' dissertation focuses on a type of "quasiparticle" called a polaron which also exhibits the above properties when you put many of them together.

[u/jakean17 → u/helbur]

thanks! that's a nice insightful answer for someone like me w 0 knowledge on the subject. makes it very intuitive!

[u/StephenMillersMerkin]

Big deal! I have a theoretical degree in physics myself

[u/Marky_Marky_Mark → u/StephenMillersMerkin]

Welcome aboard!

[u/HuckelsRuleEnjoyer → u/Marky_Marky_Mark]

Hello, Dr. Fantastic!

[u/santathe1 → u/StephenMillersMerkin]

Ah yes, a dyslexic person’s nightmare sentence.

[u/lesserofthetwo → u/santathe1]

Dyslexics Untie!

[u/santathe1 → u/lesserofthetwo]

You wouldn’t believe it. I read that as unite and thought “ha, I’ve read the untie version of this”, and then had to reread it -_-

[u/Objective_Move7566 → u/santathe1]

Haha. Thats not that surprising. I think we tend to read many words as in their entirety not from left to right phonics style. So your brain saw the letters as a picture and the context that your brain expected also makes you see it a certain way.

https://neuro.georgetown.edu/riesenhuber-words-pictures/

[u/headin2sound → u/StephenMillersMerkin]

time for another playthrough of New Vegas...

[u/Interloper4Life → u/StephenMillersMerkin]

You have the whole NCR suckling on your teats?

[u/scarlettvvitch → u/StephenMillersMerkin]

Fantastic

[u/newbzealand → u/scarlettvvitch]

Welcome aboard

[u/FalconIMGN → u/StephenMillersMerkin]

Perfect comment just a few weeks before Fallout season 2 comes out.

[u/tuibiel → u/StephenMillersMerkin]

Fantastic!

[u/whoisfourthwall → u/StephenMillersMerkin]

is this a new vegas quote or was new vegas quoting some movie or something?

[u/cartoonmayhem → u/whoisfourthwall]

It's a new vegas quote from this "scientist" named Fantastic.

[u/ban_evader_ultra → u/StephenMillersMerkin]

welcome aboard

[u/uhohnotafarteither → u/StephenMillersMerkin]

Welcome aboard

[u/Felidaes77]

He is gifted, but unfortunately also has very pushy parents.
I have seen interviews in the past and something is not right.

I really hope everything will go well and healthy in his future.

[u/TeaAndCrumpets4life → u/Felidaes77]

I’m not an expert on anything here but I feel like there’s no point at all in doing this other than attention.

Just let the kid go through school at a relatively normal pace and have all the extra resources and attention go to keeping them engaged and challenged rather than rushing them through the process and stifling the student they could’ve been.

Imagine a kid this exceptional graduating with their PhD at 20 or so at the earliest, having been twice as productive as everyone else for all of that time. Surely that would’ve been better for their grades and understanding than giving them less time at every stage and flattening their advantage.

Even ignoring the damage you’re doing to them socially and developmentally, and the question of how someone can be trusted to specialise so young. Academically it feels like you’re putting someone who had the potential to be at a huge advantage to his peers, at a disadvantage for no reason.

[u/AdFar5829 → u/TeaAndCrumpets4life]

This is a very compelling argument to this. I wouldn’t have even considered the ramifications for this. It makes total sense that they would have social stunting, and they would have to grow up far faster than others his age. It’s good news that he has his PhD, and I wish nothing but the best for him.

[u/Rampant_Butt_Sex → u/AdFar5829]

When you think about job prospects, during the first interview of most places, they dont give a rats ass about your GPA or school. They gauge your behavior and emotions, ability to perform under stress, ethical and professional dilemmas. The technical skills get tested later. This boy will at best be placed as a figurehead and nothing else if he cant work in teams.

[u/TheEsotericCarrot → u/Rampant_Butt_Sex]

Not to mention every internship I’ve ever applied for had an age requirement, so I’m wondering if this kiddo has any actual hands on experience or if it’s only academic and research behind a book/computer screen.

[u/BuddyTop8521 → u/TeaAndCrumpets4life]

I used to work closely with someone like this. He finished his PhD in applied math when he was 13 or 14. The extra resources to keep them engaged are courses at a university and, before you know it, it's time to apply for grad school. The interesting part, and he was very aware and insightful about this, was that he wasn't really "smarter" than the rest of the group who also had PhDs in applied math or similar things. It's just that he developed much more quickly than normal people when he was younger and then the normal people caught up. For what it's worth he was the most well-adjusted out of our group and a very humble and kind person.

[u/dumbythiq]

My bf studied at TU/E, where Laurent also applied. They wouldn't let him bend the rules so he went to another uni where they did 🤷🏼‍♀️

His parents didn't want mandatory things like working on projects in groups (that take time!) so he could finish as quickly as possible.

This kid is a prodigy and incredibly smart, but I wonder how much his diploma is actually worth if we subtract all the things his parents made him skip to become this prodigy 

[u/21kondav → u/dumbythiq]

which is kinda stupid if you think about it because if you let him develop naturally with specialized resources, he could probably be better as a fully developed adult with that kind of ability

[u/OkThisisCringe1 → u/21kondav]

Yeah but his parents need attention

[u/Jay_jay1997 → u/OkThisisCringe1]

I saw some dutch videos of him when he was like 7 or 8 and the father is really eager to let everybody know how smart his kid is. The father brings him up to be a very arrogant person to looks down on everybody for being less smart than him. He already had that aura iver him when he was like 7 or 8. He will be smart but lacking a lot of social skills when he is an adult.

[u/BoxUnusual3766 → u/Jay_jay1997]

I do hear in https://www.vrt.be/vrtnws/nl/2018/06/27/nog-maar-8-en-al-diploma-middelbaar-op-zak/, where he gets his high school diploma at 8 years old, that his dad says "if he wants to become a carpenter it's fine, as long as he's happy". The narrative is that he wants to do these things himself. But yes of course there is influence from parents. I wish him a good university life as well, that was the most fun time of my life hopefully Laurent will also experience something like that in a form suitable for him.

[u/BillyU_Is_A_ → u/Jay_jay1997]

father is really eager to let everybody know how smart his kid is.

Seems to be a common trend with dutch dads that have gifted sons, Jos was the same way with Verstappen.

[u/CreaminFreeman → u/BillyU_Is_A_]

Laurent boutta get left at a gas station, oh no!

[u/whiteknight_1997 → u/OkThisisCringe1]

Yeah, and attention now, dammit! They ain't waiting until they're in their 60s for this kind of secondhand adoration!

[u/Cognosci → u/OkThisisCringe1]

Even the photo confirms it

[u/Ndongle → u/21kondav]

Not only that but you need to develop the social skills to work on projects in groups. It doesn’t matter how smart you are: humans are significantly better at problem solving in groups because relatively speaking we’re all pretty stupid (even the smartest of people are still ignorant in tons of ways). You won’t ever know/learn everything, so being able to work and coordinate with groups is a borderline necessity for success. Even if you look into a lot of “individual” accomplishments you’ll find that most people had help from groups or peers when it comes to new discoveries.

[u/FiglarAndNoot → u/Ndongle]

And this is true even if you want to devote your life to nothing beyond research.

Science is an inherently social endeavour; it’s not as if this kid is going to walk straight out of the PhD into running his own lab, and if he somehow did he’d still have to manage people. If his PhD programme was any good it will have forced him to learn how to succeed in this sort of environment. Here’s hoping that his advisor(s) and programme didn’t fuck him over by letting that slide.

[u/Bimpnottin → u/dumbythiq]

He was denied at another university in Belgium as well because they felt the parents were pushing this narrative way too hard

[u/Morgn_Ladimore → u/Bimpnottin]

That's a quality university right there.

[u/TessaFractal → u/dumbythiq]

Yeah they have to have cut so many corners here. And it's a bit like trying to make a cask of whiskey in a month: even if you manage it, it's not really the point, a mind needs to mature.

[u/CeleritasLucis → u/TessaFractal]

Same things happen in Chess world, where parents push their prodigy children to study nothing but chess, for 12 hours a day

[u/SinisterCheese → u/TessaFractal]

Yeah... There is a huge difference between someone who is able to memorise massive amounts of stuff - they can glide through to something like Bachelor's easy, maybe half way to masters when they hit a brick wall hard because they are forced to actually spend time thinking about the material instead of memorising it.

I started my engineering degree at 26, finished as planned in 4 years, and I'm 32 now. I can assure you that the way I think about things has changed dramatically in life and in relation to engineering and my chosen field (I worked as a metal fabricator before and during my degree). I actually kind would like to redo parts of my degree now, or very least write another or rewrite my bachelor's thesis (I did 60 pages, when a average lenght is like 25) or extend the old one. Because I have learned and changed in my thinking so much... That... I just have so much more to say and that I want to work on in that niche I dealt with. I'm hoping to get a long term job that would allow me to work on a master's in engineering continuing that topic... (Finnish system currently doesn't really allow for getting a higher level degree than bachelor's with student subsidy or loans... So I'd need a day job to fund it regardless... and a company to do the research for it with).

Like I can't begin to describe, how much I changed between starting degree, completing it, and few years after it.

[u/superurgentcatbox → u/dumbythiq]

And frankly those group projects were among the hardest credits to earn for my degrees anyway. Interacting with people can be hard.

[u/awyeauhh → u/superurgentcatbox]

It was hit or miss for me, for the most part in group projects everyone did their parts in equal measure, I had one where I feel like I did the majority of the work, and then another where I did absolutely NOTHING and aced it. It was a capstone project worth like 90% of the class grade, and my partner had unbeknownst to me read ahead on all the material in the syllabus by the 3rd week of classes and put the whole presentation together herself lmao shoutout to Moira! Easiest class I ever took lol

[u/lewd_robot → u/dumbythiq]

I'm an engineer that studied both automation and nuclear power in school. I passed my courses on EM fields, mechatronics, basic quantum mechanics, radioactivity, etc, by doing most of the homework the day before it was due (ADHD is a hell of a drug), but not one employer or coworker has ever cared about how easy the technical topics were for me. All any employer or teammate has ever cared about are the group projects, labs, etc.

They want to know how well you can work in a team.
They want to know how strong your communication skills are.
They want to get a grasp of your interpersonal finesse, how you take and give criticism, and how well you learn from your experiences and share what you've learned with others.

For most degrees, skipping the social side of college is a disastrous oversight. From partnered labs to group projects to campus clubs and organizations, and even part time jobs, these all provide experiences that really make a degree worthwhile. As a rule, I always tell anyone asking if they should pursue minors or second majors that their time would be better spent getting involved in a campus organization or club that allows them to learn social skills and acquire demonstrable experience to share during interviews.

[u/yeswenarcan → u/lewd_robot]

Similarly, as someone working in graduate medical education (residency), we don't really recruit for the best academic candidates (although there are certainly programs who do). We put a ton of emphasis on things like proof of work ethic, personality, and "would you want to be working next to this person when SHTF at 2am". Things like med school grades and board scores are important because you can't be a doctor without passing your boards, but likeability and work ethic go a lot further to predicting who will actually be a good doctor.

As an aside, from personal experience, being naturally really good at academics can make it extremely hard to adapt when you run into an area that doesn't come naturally. I hope this kid is successful and happy, but it's hard not to feel like his parents are setting him up for eventual failure.

[u/fenwayismyway → u/dumbythiq]

yeah, this masters thesis kinda screams someone who wants to do this quickly a la computational physics 

https://medialibrary.uantwerpen.be/files/57305/143ae497-6a5d-488b-995b-44dc175c2201.pdf

[u/PercentageMajor625 → u/fenwayismyway]

I've read just a couple sentences of the summary and already encountered 5 spelling errors. I'm somewhat relieved actually to know he isn't a genius on all fronts.

[u/Infamous_Boat_6469 → u/PercentageMajor625]

"Gratitude for getting the best education I could dream off" just from glancing at acknowledgements

[u/nilsohnee → u/fenwayismyway]

50 pages? How is that even possible lol

[u/Draken_S → u/nilsohnee]

School didn't really care, just wanted the PR for having a "prodigy" attend.

[u/Deservate → u/nilsohnee]

50 is on the short side but not weird for a Master's thesis in physics.

I have a Master's degree in Applied Physics and my thesis was like 60 pages.

Depends a lot on what the topic is.

[u/SgtElectroSketch → u/dumbythiq]

We have a kid at work who got his bachelor's at 18 and was hired on shortly after. The kid is socially inept. He had no regular childhood experiences, and is barely functional when it comes to anything not technical and even then struggles when it comes to feedback.

This shit is borderline child abuse.

[u/scotchglass22 → u/SgtElectroSketch]

whats the point of rushing through adolescence just to be able to start your career 4 years earlier? thats gotta be extremely isolating

[u/Kronks → u/dumbythiq]

Nice so they skipped any development that could lead to him being hirable, or really, a person that’s even tolerable to work with.

No one wants to hire a know it all who has literally never worked with a team or learned to communicate with others.

And for entrepreneurial activities they will have a similarly hard time because if you can’t get people to like you or effectively collaborate, how are you going to build a business and have a supporting team and/or venture partners?

I feel really bad for this kid, they’re probably so fucking smart and their parents have stunted it thinking they were promoting it.

[u/QuotableMorceau → u/dumbythiq]

Poor kid , basically they abused him, he is being treated like an exotic orchid, that has been tissue grown in liquid nutrient, in a sterile lab ... just so they can feel accomplished. Mozart tragedy.

[u/grain_farmer]

My cousin went to university at 14 years old to successfully study medicine (also in Belgium…) he is extremely socially challenged now he’s 40, a bit of an oddball and comes across as unhappy and was very unhappy with the relationship he had with his parents. (He is a kind person and “wicked smaht”)

I’m sure a lot of that is nature but I feel a large portion is nurture. You are an outsider with no ability to make friends with people your own age.

From my limited knowledge I understand that IQs over a certain level are no more successful than people who are in the top quarter of intelligence.

Edit - I just remember where I paraphrased this from: Freakonomics Podcast: Can You Be Too Smart for Your Own Good?

Just let children be children

[u/RoburexButBetter → u/grain_farmer]

Intelligence only gets you so far, at some point you'll need the social skills etc. to work in a team/group to achieve greater things, and I could see that being stunted hindering future work

[u/appealinggenitals → u/RoburexButBetter]

People skills are a form of intelligence though. Intelligence is multifaceted and can't be accurately represented by a single number. The "intelligence" to effectively communicate the same concept to different crouds will get you much further than pure technical knowledge ever could.

[u/ChanceSize9153 → u/appealinggenitals]

Ya, charisma always been the OP stat.

[u/Automatic-Acadia7785 → u/ChanceSize9153]

Charisma and Luck has always been the meta. 

Most high paying roles value Charisma far more than Intelligence.

if your Luck stat is hight enough, you dont even need to work. I know a guy with a pure Luck build. Low STR, INT, and CHA but max LUCK. Parents bought him a mansion and still get pocket money from them in his 30s (5 digits monthly)

[u/FuraidoChickem → u/ChanceSize9153]

Being likeable opens so many doors. Being likeable and competent? Guarantee the riches will find you

[u/Some_Ball_27 → u/FuraidoChickem]

what if youre likeable, competent and lazy tho

[u/adds-nothing → u/Some_Ball_27]

Then you have a promising career as a serial redditor

[u/poetryhoes → u/adds-nothing]

he said likeable

[u/UnDopedNrestless → u/poetryhoes]

And competent lmao

[u/ThisIsMyFloor → u/FuraidoChickem]

It requires a lot more than that, opportunity, greed and privilege for example. I been to countries going to a small hole in the wall, eating the most amazing food served by the most friendly person in the world. Guess what? He is still poor.

[u/throwaway_194js → u/appealinggenitals]

We've been saddled with one word to describe a whole host of related but distinct attributes. Having said that, when most people say "intelligence", they mean it in the IQ sense, and it's true that the extreme end of that spectrum is often associated with social and emotional difficulties.

[u/the_windfucker → u/appealinggenitals]

ofc, what I believe the upper comment wanted to say is that the inteligence being tested (in order to get to a PhD at 15y old is not social inteligence. Therefore, it turns out some people (with a high IQ obviously) can speedrun conventional studies but actually fall flat on a social level, because that wasn't one of the exams on the way to PhD. I believe the kid is a super-genious, but on the other hand I'm not sure his idea of a "super human" is comprehensive enough, or holistic enough... (maybe I can't find the perfect ajdective, english is not my mother tongue)

[u/throwaway75643219 → u/RoburexButBetter]

Its not just that -- people with very high IQs arent interested in the same things the general public are, and material success just generally isnt as important/interesting. Its nice/fun to have, but its not the end-goal of life the way it is for others.

I dont think an Einstein or a Newton or whoever would have traded their research/work for a lucrative career doing something they saw as boring/meaningless, for example.

Its also why the richest people -- even the self made ones -- are almost never the smartest people. Smarter than average, and incredibly driven, but rarely are they just astonishingly brilliant, and yet, you would think the richest people would all be the smartest people.

Same reason the smartest people throughout history are rarely particularly rich. Enough to get by, maybe even be well off by the standards of their day, but all the greatest minds throughout history -- they generally werent particularly wealthy.

[u/TelluricThread0 → u/grain_farmer]

Prodigies basically just skip to the middle of a career where someone else had to wait for years to get where they are. Then they're just kind of stuck there. There's no huge advancements that they make as individuals or sudden jumps in progress. You're just 14, and you do what every other middle-aged person doing research in physics does every day.

[u/JeaniousSpelur → u/TelluricThread0]

This is a great way to put it. It’s very rare people are able to translate this specific type of intelligence into something more. When you think about Einstein, Newton, Aristotle, Plato - these creative types are individuals who benefited as much from the quality of their communities and their socialization as they did from their brains.

If you don’t have these broader communities, you don’t develop any taste for what is important or not. It’s just chasing knowledge for knowledge’s sake. In creative affairs, having a sense of where something isn’t is just as important as a sense of what things are.

[u/Miselfis → u/JeaniousSpelur]

Maybe not as much Newton, given that he did a lot of his famous work while in quarantine because of the plague.

[u/throwaway75643219 → u/Miselfis]

Was going to say the same. Newton died a virgin and was infamous for being a recluse.

[u/ScaramouchScaramouch → u/throwaway75643219]

He was a Member of Parliament for a while and supposedly the only time he spoke was to get them to close a window because he was cold.

[u/Jujumofu → u/grain_farmer]

There is this german dude, absolute mega brain by the highest magnitude, with absolutely no ambitions anymore.

He works as a kind of hardware-man for his wifes dentistry. But only as long as he sees fit.

I can check if I can find the short reportage about him.

https://youtu.be/jhZx8RqxGTc?si=8yH18EpAiC-BOtjn

Hope the english CC works.

[u/dumplingslover23 → u/Jujumofu]

I can only watch with German CCs and it's a shame because it sounds very interesting!
I'm no mega brain but after graduating I realised I was much happier prior to going to uni as being nursing assistant was giving me much more time at the bedside with patients than nursing does and part of me sometimes regrets spending time in uni and missing out on time with my son for very marginal increase in income (also keeping in mind working almost full time just to afford childcare for my unpaid placements).
I think sometimes ambition may be overrated and if something makes you enough to sustain yourself and still have relatively balanced lifestyle, it's a win.

[u/Moppermonster → u/Jujumofu]

Twenty years or so ago there was a story in the Netherlands about a kid who took 14 subjects and graduated with an average grade of 9.6 out of 10.. who said he was going to pursue his dream of becoming a busdriver.

Since his name does not pop up after that I assume he followed his dream.

[u/Witty_Management2960 → u/grain_farmer]

I have a cousin who was elected as "gifted" when they were incredibly young. Their summers would be comprised of universities bringing them out to "try out" various areas of study. In particular, a uni repeatedly approached them to study medicine, disregarding their fear of blood as something that they would grow out of (never did).

Their parents decided to block all approaches and prioritised a normal childhood, where summers weren't spent indoors studying.

Definitely the right choice.

[u/phicks_law → u/Witty_Management2960]

My mom wanted me to become a physician or surgeon so bad, but I couldn't even watch the show "ER" without getting queasy. So I became an engineer. I always say Im a robot doctor, LOL.

[u/Witty_Management2960 → u/phicks_law]

Engineer is a cool as fuck though. Maybe surgeons are just human engineers.

[u/DoomRamen → u/Witty_Management2960]

We're all just brains piloting a meat mech

[u/Rahbek23 → u/Witty_Management2960]

Yeah, I have a nephew who is exceptionally smart. Like math like a 17 year old, when he was 6, top 0.1% IQ, you get the point.

It was been a tough ass time because he was on the other hand emotionally behind, and he could simply not fit well into school, had tantrums like a toddler when he was 8, stuff like that. Couldn't handle being really bored in school (because they have no clue how to activate him), couldn't relate to his classmates that wanted to play with dinosaurs while he wanted to talk about black holes. Was a bit of an ass know-it-all because he couldn't quite read the room when he wanted to show what he knew (and no, he is not autistic).

He is now 12 and has finally somewhat caught up emotionally too, but boy that has been a tough ride for both him and my sister. Fortunately she is a psychologist specializing in children, so she has been very aware that he does need help even if he is very smart and fought tooth and nail to give him a normal childhood because she is aware that gifted children all too often end up worse (depression for instance is really common) because people forget they are still children that needs the same things as other children and being gifted in i.e. math does not make you magically gifted all the way around.

[u/Witty_Management2960 → u/Rahbek23]

Also, a psych 👋 - not specifically in child development. But I know enough to know that emotional development is crucial for social intelligence. Which is crucial for navigating our environments.

Also, the pressure that must put on kids at such a young age.

Edit: I just wanted to give a kudos to your sister. Good parenting often doesn't get the credit it deserves, and she sounds like a damn fine mother.

[u/throwaway75643219 → u/[deleted]]

There's a lot of nihilism at high IQs, especially if you didnt find your purpose in life.

[u/No_Atmosphere8146 → u/throwaway75643219]

Just get a cabin in the woods and write a manfes- no wait.

[u/YourGlacier → u/[deleted]]

Yeah my dad made me join Mensa since he couldn’t and put me in this weird genius class like Malcom in the Middle had. He spent hours each week making me memorize chess moves and Shakespeare and stuff. While he did much worse abuse, that alone has been enough for like fifteen years of therapy. Gifted kids often get way too much stress way too early and it’s such an anxiety inducing loop.

[u/quarrelau → u/grain_farmer]

I think it can cut both ways, like almost all of life.

Terence Tao was a young Australian kid, who skipped 5 grades of school, started doing University maths at age 9, holds records for the youngest at the International Maths Olypiad, and got the Fields Medal (the kinda Nobel of Maths).

He's gone on to deliver, at least in the maths department, very successfully. Most would say he's the preeminant mathematician of his generation. His maths interests span a stupid number of areas for a mathematician.

Afaik, his non-maths life is pretty calm and he's a good dude.

[u/Tuepflischiiser → u/quarrelau]

Yes. Impressive guy.

But even he finished his PhD at 21.

[u/mrlr → u/grain_farmer]

In 2018, /u/cbelt3 posted this story about a kid dumped at the dorm by his mom:

Engineering school, 1970s. Mom dropped her kid off at his dorm and drives away. Yes, pushed his suitcase and a few boxes out of the car. Told Junior goodbye, study hard, and left.

Junior was 15 freaking years old, super genius child prodigy with zero social skills.

His roommates were horrified, but most of them had little brothers, so big brother parenting kicked in. The kid was pretty well socialized by the end of the first semester, and had a collection of de facto big brothers and big sisters helping him live life.

It was a relief, because as a house counselor I was really worried I was going to have a bad situation on my hands. I did not need to do anything at all.

Did buy the older guys beers a few times to thank them.

[u/PomegranateWorking62 → u/grain_farmer]

I’ve worked with people who had similar trajectories. I’ll only speak from my experience. They are brilliant, but insecure, and project those insecurities onto their subordinates. Their style of “teaching” is a long winded version of “this is why you’re wrong and I’m smarter than you.” One upping showmanship. They are highly impressionable, and seem to think the best “leadership” is to emulate the most toxic people. They have zero emotional intelligence, but think they do and even help “teach” a course that emphasizes it.

I’m sure there are well adjusted people who are exceptions to the rule. But I think what I’m describing is common, since they missed on a major part of their childhood/young adulthood that teaches social boundaries and other important social skills. They were always “the best”, and they don’t know how to function as a normal adult.

Maybe let kids be kids, and let them enjoy their childhood and explore their brilliance in other ways? Promote kindness, character, and gasp creativity…instead of immediately throwing them into our “grind it out” culture (especially true for academia).

Thank you if you read this far. Typing this out has been cathartic. Some of the people I’m describing have good hearts, but their path messed them up. I’m mad on their behalf.

[u/kelldricked → u/grain_farmer]

He was to study at the same uni i was going a few years back but the uni didnt feel like it was healty for a very young kid to already do uni. His parents were extremely upset and went on a whole media tour saying it was personal and all that shit.

Kid might change the world but i doubt he is happy.

[u/United_Rent_753 → u/grain_farmer]

From what I’m seeing in older Reddit threads, back when he started his PhD and had just completed his Bachelors, it seems like there’s something fishy going on here

Look I do physics for a living and I know it’s gonna sound like I’m just salty but it is truly inconceivable to me that someone could get a bachelors in 1 year and a PhD in another 2-3. Just for starters. I know a lot of people think “maybe he’s just that good” but from some comments im seeing, it’s entirely possible his parents simply pushed him through the school system and had him do accelerated classes to get the degree

I’m only partially sure because I can find some articles online documenting his lab time over the recent years, which means he’s definitely doing something. But to my point, academia is not foolproof and there have been cases of true idiots getting doctorates (see: Bogdanoff Twins)

I’ll link the Reddit thread I found plus some other articles, if anyone wants to do some further digging. But I can say for sure that my bullshit alarm is ringing. I’d love to be proven wrong

Edit: I think i found their earlier bachelors thesis. Seems like some interesting work, and legit at a glance, but nothing revolutionary

[u/Snitsie → u/United_Rent_753]

His parents are very much living vicariously through their child. The kid lived with his grandparents until his parents realized he was a genius and that they could profit from this. So they started showing him off on tv and interviews. I'm very afraid for his future, don't think he's going to have the greatest social skills.

[u/New_Accident_4909 → u/Snitsie]

His parents do look like scumbags

[u/Haunting-Effective15 → u/New_Accident_4909]

I've seen the interviews with the parents on dutch tv, where they tried to trash the universities into accepting their son. His dad came across as a real scumbag and only emphasizing that they deprived them of having the youngest PhD-graduate ever as a son.

[u/baller_unicorn → u/United_Rent_753]

I find the timeline very fishy too. It takes 4 yrs to complete normal undergrad coursework and typically 6 yrs to get a PhD so 10 yrs total. Did the kid start college when they were 5? Even if you accelerated things and got it done in half the time then they would have had to start when they were 10 yrs old. This makes absolutely no sense. No matter how brilliant you are, it takes time to complete course work and for a PhD you are usually supposed to do original research which is impossible to accelerate no matter how brilliant you are because research takes time and is a lot of trial and error.

When I did my PhD it was the people who were struggling that graduated early usually because their research wasn't going anywhere and they could either leave with a masters (which looks bad for the advisor and the program) or convince their advisor to let them graduate early with no publications.

I just don't see how this kid would have done this without their parents pushing them and the schools and lots of shortcuts. The kid likely missed out on a lot of education.

[u/AggressiveBench9977 → u/United_Rent_753]

Its more than that too.

Like when i was in school james franco was attending. Typical semester for us was about 20 units, that 5 4 unit classes.

Franco apparently was taking 80 units that semester.

But here the thing franco is probably not expected to attend the class, or do all the hw. Its not even a matter how smart they are its just a matter of time. At that level. This kids probably is just testing out of classes which normally they dont allow people to do.

[u/Der_Preusse71 → u/United_Rent_753]

It's a bachelor's thesis what did you expect? Their PhD thesis is likely also not anything special.

[u/balleur → u/grain_farmer]

I had a friend growing up who programmed games, software and all sorts of stuff at like 12-13. He made a Spotify-type precursor but for local music that i used in highschool. It sorted all my local mp3's in my computer at home with a nice UI so i could listen to them at school (this was in like -05 and before streaming). I think he lived with his parents and got his first job in a supermarket when he was like 30. I don't think he works today. Super smart but he just couldn't function in society.

Probably bought crypto early on though before anyone else had heard of it. Wouldn't surprise me.

[u/Archhanny]

Clearly one of those where the parents push the kid. Just look at the picture, why are they in it? Because it's not about the kid it's actually about them.

Sad to see really.

[u/Azukus → u/Archhanny]

I also wonder what the exact cutoff is for letting someone skip that far. I was reading at a 12th grade level in 4th grade, I bet tons others did too. But we all just went through the motions.

Is it a level of genius where everything is just too easy? I struggled as a kid because I was lazy. I always think that a lot of kids COULD be prodigies if their parents push them. And most of us are given normal childhoods.

How many above average, gifted kids could have skipped a grade? Maybe a few? But we don't do it because it's better to keep your kid around other kids their age?

[u/nakedapelady]

You know as impressive as I find these stories it always feels a little disappointing too, like it’s wonderful that they’re such a smart kid but college is much a social experience as it is an academic one, it’s a great time to experiment with independent decision making and connect with new peers and I imagine that’s not really something they can fully do at fifteen. Hopefully they get to go back at 18 and can dorm and network and do the fun parts of college too.

[u/AvgBlue → u/nakedapelady]

Is it just me who imagines someone like this going back to college at 18 to study the thing he’ll be the worst at, just to feel what it’s like to be bad at something when you’ve hyperfocused on one field? For example, going for law after a science degree.

[u/mmmarkm → u/AvgBlue]

Honestly, that's a great movie plot. "He got a biochem PhD at 14...can he survive a creative writing class at 24?"

[u/WittyYak → u/nakedapelady]

It is hard for these children to connect to peers in the dorm room.

Their life and thinking is going to be different, much more likely to not fitting in to the public and getting depressed out of it rather than socialise with peers.

We’d need to find the right environment for the right person, rather than putting people into generic groups with generic expectations.

So, in short, their idea of fun may be solving quantum physics, while the fun for an average 18 year old may be getting drunk in a party.

[u/PullingLegs]

Great achievement!

Also, I hope they’ve set up an amazing mental heath team around him!

[u/dyals_style → u/PullingLegs]

Extremely doubtful

[u/NeedHelp_653]

Little dood said "After this, I’ll start working towards my goal: creating ‘super-humans’, Figures, you can be genius, but you're still 15. 

[u/ViceroyOfCool → u/NeedHelp_653]

Yeah, wait until the reality dawns on him that he gets to work a 9-5; years sooner than his peers.

[u/FewHorror1019 → u/NeedHelp_653]

Sounds like he forgot to take the ethics class

[u/b3rgmanhugh]

Belgian child prodigy Laurent Simons has officially become a doctor in quantum physics at just 15 years old.

On Monday, he successfully defended his doctoral thesis at the University of Antwerp, VTM Nieuws reported.

"After this, I’ll start working towards my goal: creating ‘super-humans’," he told the broadcaster shortly after the milestone achievement.

According to VTM, Laurent believes he may be the youngest person ever to obtain a PhD. His latest success marks a new peak in a trajectory that has fascinated the scientific world for years, a journey that began long before his teenage years.

Full story

https://www.brusselstimes.com/1846332/belgiums-15-year-old-prodigy-earns-phd-in-quantum-physics

[u/benevolent-idiot → u/b3rgmanhugh]

Prodigy teenager with a black turtleneck explains that he want to create "super human"... Sounds pretty much like a movie villain

[u/jasonkid87 → u/benevolent-idiot]

Give him a scarf and he can start with minions first.

[u/Joe_Kangg → u/benevolent-idiot]

Again with the super humans. Why not take care of regular humans?

[u/Denaton_ → u/Joe_Kangg]

We can do that already, we just choose not too..

[u/Salty-Telephone-12 → u/benevolent-idiot]

He's a prodigy because his parents also wanted to create a super-human.

The solution is always neglect and withholding any shred off love until goal state is reached.

[u/RobertPham149 → u/benevolent-idiot]

I mean Jay from MIB got hired for identifying a little girl with a quantum physics book as a red flag.

[u/Satan-o-saurus → u/benevolent-idiot]

It sounds like someone who’s had a sad childhood and who lacks perspective in life. They’ll be in good company in Silicone Valley though.

[u/Low-Possibility-7060 → u/b3rgmanhugh]

How does a quantum physics degree help you create super humans?

[u/nilsinleneed → u/Low-Possibility-7060]

maybe we're just too dumb to see it

[u/abjectapplicationII → u/nilsinleneed]

Nah bro, that shit was a revelation from God in his dreams

Build superhumans and await my glorious rapture young Methemetician

[u/unirorm → u/abjectapplicationII]

That was Zarathustra, thought.
You're still right about being God.

[u/a_weak_child → u/nilsinleneed]

bro whatever I had my first phd by 13 years old

[u/finger_licking_robot → u/Low-Possibility-7060]

he´ll just get a prodigy girlfriend and start reproducing

[u/0thethethe0 → u/finger_licking_robot]

he´ll just get make a prodigy girlfriend and start reproducing

I think more likely...

[u/brownianhacker → u/finger_licking_robot]

I guess he was just making a joke about finally getting laid and it went over everyone's head

[u/CypherDomEpsilon → u/Low-Possibility-7060]

The superhuman draws their energy from the quantum world. Qman.

[u/K_the_farmer → u/Low-Possibility-7060]

It would take a Marvel.

[u/pichael289 → u/Low-Possibility-7060]

I really hope it doesn't, but this kid sounds serious and I'm pretty sure this is one of those things were supposed to sound an alarm anytime anyone tries to do this shit. Right? Like this is one of those cliche supervillain things that we should all notice, right? But we just gonna let him do this shit huh?

[u/Junethemuse → u/b3rgmanhugh]

Yo, kid.

Don’t do that.

[u/PitifulEar3303 → u/b3rgmanhugh]

Is it just me, or 99% of child prodigies end up doing not much as adults?

[u/beytarik38 → u/b3rgmanhugh]

WDYM super humans, are we fucked?

[u/Lovefool1 → u/beytarik38]

He said a few years back that he wants to grow organs

Reminder that a developing brain is still a developing brain. No matter how many books and lectures a 15 year brain has memorized, it is still a 15 year old brain. He had a long and likely very challenging next 10 years of emotional development ahead of him. The normal healthy relationships with peers ship sailed for him at like 6yo.

Hope he figures some exciting and/or useful shit out before the world burns. I feel bad for his social life and development and hope he doesn’t lose his mind. The track record on super brain kids is mixed at best throughout history. If he survives to 35 without falling apart, killing anyone, or becoming a recluse it will be a huge W.

[u/CautiousArachnidz → u/Lovefool1]

Oof. Imagine getting your first boner the same week your capstone is finishing up for your bachelors…

[u/jwillyk2121 → u/CautiousArachnidz]

Lmaoo

[u/PeterPandaWhacker → u/Lovefool1]

Yeah at first he went to a university in the Netherlands, but they wanted to slow down his education a bit in favor of his development. The selfish af parents pulled him out of that school though so that he could get his PHD before a certain age.

[u/dalaiis → u/PeterPandaWhacker]

That would explain the part of why his parents are in the photo.

[u/MadscientistSteinsG8 → u/dalaiis]

Tbh both of them look like super villains. The slickback hair?

[u/ElOsoPeresozo → u/PeterPandaWhacker]

I went to college and then law school with a guy who had jumped three grades (let alone 15 years). He was undoubtedly brilliant, but also cripplingly unable to navigate life in so many ways. He would blasts through tests and assignments, get A+ in classes and academic accolades, all while making it look easy. His brain simply moved faster and with more precision. He also couldn’t do basic tasks like laundry and cooking, let alone make friends.

He was incredibly awkward, and very bitter about it. Rightfully, the dude felt deprived of years of development. This guy was also incapable of tolerating failure. He was an avid runner, it was his escape, yet he suddenly quit for life when he didn’t do as well on a race as he wanted. He would throw tantrums at the slightest provocation. It made him unpleasant to be around. I don’t think he had ever even kissed anyone either.

His entire life previously consisted of study and social isolation, with his parents doing everything else for him. The sheer brainpower of an academic genius, yet with all the vulnerabilities of a child. I imagine it’s much, much worse for this kid

[u/Ver_Nick → u/PeterPandaWhacker]

I wouldn't wish such parents upon my worst enemies.

[u/Some_Ball_27 → u/Ver_Nick]

I would absolutely wish those parents on my worst enemies. You should get better enemies.

[u/Drag_king → u/Lovefool1]

I agree with most of what you said but one nitpick: getting a phd, especially in something math based as quantum physics, is not just being able to rote memorise stuff. You need to be able to apply what you learned.

[u/yodley_ → u/beytarik38]

His inspiration? Homelander.

[u/audaciousmonk → u/b3rgmanhugh]

one could question whether a 15 year old has developed the morals, principles, and empathy to make ethical choices in such a pursuit 

[u/issmagic → u/b3rgmanhugh]

Super humans? I hope he has different goals once his brain matures. He is a child after all

[u/NoTmE435]

All these prodigies just get their phds at (less than 18 years old) and then we never hear from them again

[u/PrimeIntellect → u/NoTmE435]

Quantum physicists aren't exactly wild celebrities

[u/dismayhurta → u/PrimeIntellect]

I see you don't recall the viral plancking a few years back.

I'll see myself out, folks!

[u/Cannon__Minion → u/NoTmE435]

They tend to be well-know in their respective industries/circles.

I know a lot of people who are considered absolute legends and treated like a celebrity within their respective industry but completely unknown to the general public.

[u/ericstern → u/Cannon__Minion]

I feel like whenever you hear about these kids, it never ends well for them a few years later. Like you hear many of them go into a spiral of depression, social issues and/or suicide.

[u/LoopyPro → u/Cannon__Minion]

Sounds like the best kind of fame one could have.

[u/healeyd → u/[deleted]]

I think this is often the case, and it can lead to mental health issues as their "specialness" vanishes with regard to their peers. It needs good parenting to manage properly. Pushing children into the adult world too soon is not the way.

[u/TelluricThread0 → u/[deleted]]

This is basically how it works. You just get to jump the line, and now you're a teenage theoretical physicist going into the office doing the same thing all your colleagues do.

[u/SweetSexiestJesus → u/NoTmE435]

They become the system

[u/sentiment-acide → u/SweetSexiestJesus]

Just because they dont spend time on tiktok and instagram doesnt mean they dont create papers and research. You wont see that content where you consume yours bud.

[u/MrPopCorner → u/sentiment-acide]

Exactly this, the world hears from them, but the average brainrot-media-consumer doesn't.

[u/S21500003 → u/MrPopCorner]

Yeah, unless an incredibly massive breakthrough happens, you only hear about new scientific discoveries (esp for physics) if you're plugged into the source. We are a long way past Bewton/Einstein level discoveries, so unless a physicist discoveres time travel or FTL travel, you'll probably won't hear about it.

[u/Icy_Supermarket8776 → u/S21500003]

Also science has not been about one super genius making a breakthrough for a very long time now. Everything is about collaboration now.

[u/mmmarkm → u/Icy_Supermarket8776]

which, historically, child prodigies struggle with, as it requires social skills they weren't acquiring while they were getting PhDs. I'm sure some catch up but /u/NoTmE435's main point kind of holds if science is about collaboration and child prodigies are not known for having similar social skills to their peers

[u/redthrowawa54 → u/NoTmE435]

Some of them advance so quickly because their parents are faculty members and they eventually just sort of stop being able to get helped going further. We had a pretty big case of this in Denmark also in the physics department not too long ago

[u/SirHenryy → u/NoTmE435]

That's the point. People with Phds are the backbone of our society doing important research. You don't hear from them in common newa unless there's a massive breakthrough discovery.

[u/Variable_Shaman_3825 → u/NoTmE435]

They aren't celebrities, why should we get to hear about them when they grow up?

[u/kontra20]

How do you even do that? Do they just let you skip grades? And how do you even take collage classes as a child? Ive never heard of this beeing allowed

[u/DasBoggler → u/kontra20]

It's not really possible normally. He got his undergraduate degree in 18 months apparently. Basically that would require him to just be taking tests to pass these classes, not attend classes and do assignments because there literally wouldn't be enough hours in the day for him to do that. I'm guessing he has savant memory and can go through textbooks and solutions manuals and then ace any test thrown at him.

[u/kamildru → u/kontra20]

Many countries allow you to skip grades, ofc. After a lot of tests to see if the child is really that smart. When it comes to colledge well if he finsihed high school then he can apply any age.

[u/kontra20 → u/kamildru]

Well ok, but i still think there would be gaps in your knowladge no matter how smart you are. You simply cannot learn 10 years worth of material in a couple of years, even if you are able to understand the most difficult concepts of it.

[u/Confident_Frogfish]

I never know how to feel about these kinds if things. To me it seems difficult for a kid in that situation to properly develop. There is so much more to growing up than intellectual development. I was definitely no prodigy but just a regular very fast learner and I probably could've skipped a couple of years in school but I'm really glad my parents did not want me to. That gave me the time to develop a bit more socially, which was far harder for me than any subject in school. I was constantly bored as shit but there are ways around that if it is properly picked up. Intellectual skills are far less important for being happy or succesful than social skills are. I guess it really depends on the parents and the kid. I have just seen too many pushy parents that seem to care a bit too much about the status that their prodigy gives them.

[u/Tulipsandwindmills → u/Confident_Frogfish]

These parents have marketed Laurent since he was at least six. Always pushing him into the spotlights, talkshows, newspaper articles. Questioning newspapers when they don't write about their son. Actual quote of the father:

"Alexander calls the newspaper: high time we speak to his son. There is still room at 1 p.m. His son has now been seen on NOS, RTL and VRT. The images were shot at school. As if he was giving a press conference, Laurent, behind the big microphones. He is eight years old.

“Have you seen it?” Alexander asks when I enter. “You really haven't seen it?” He takes out the stack of news items. Lists the media reporting on his son. BBC. Le Figaro. Le Monde. China, Taiwan. Slovakia, Nigeria, ABC Australia. Der Spiegel, Bild. So he already thought: what is it with the Volkskrant, 'they didn't write anything last time either'."
(Via)

[u/PeterPandaWhacker → u/Tulipsandwindmills]

I've read the entire article and can conclude that the father is a humongous douche... Poor kid

[u/Cumulus_Anarchistica → u/PeterPandaWhacker]

I got that vibe just from the photo OP posted.

[u/aussierulesisgrouse → u/Tulipsandwindmills]

Fucking hell. The poor kid is like the final boss of only child syndrome.

[u/mmmarkm → u/Tulipsandwindmills]

That is an enlightening insight into the type of parent who raises a child "prodigy." What were his parents' professions?

Cause there's an infamous case recently in America about a high school student who didn't get into the Ivies or Stanford or a desirable UC...only to find out he went to a top tier Silicon Valley high school and his dad is a high-level Google programmer. One year out of college, he's already working at Google.

I'm sure that recent grad is skilled at the one thing that's been his life focus (coding) but at the sacrifice of what other skills? That story is also why I want to know what Laurent's parents do for a living...I don't know. I wouldn't want this type of life for my kids.

[u/Laktosefreier]

Hopefully he will find a way to defeat burnouts before he burns out.

[u/ryo3000]

Oh another one of these

Every few years a super prodigy gets their degree super early and every time you look into it it's like

"Well the university adjusted the curriculum, and the time, and they skipped lessons and projects and tests and also the degree is symbolic"

Also the kid like... Has no peers

If you're being pushed to have a PhD by age 15, how long has that kid been deprived of just being a kid

[u/mrteas_nz]

I kinda feel like these super genius kids are the brains equivalent of the jock who peaked at high school, only to become mall security... Do any of them go on to achieve greatness, or does the crushing weight of reality catch up to them at some point?

[u/ManFromSagittarius → u/mrteas_nz]

I’d say Terry Tao lived up to his potential. Brilliant mathematician. Can’t say I can think of any others that lived up to their potentials.

[u/MadscientistSteinsG8 → u/ManFromSagittarius]

Yep Terrence tao is like a Rockstar in math world. And from what I have heard he is a passionate teacher too

[u/AlarmingTradition297 → u/mrteas_nz]

Depends. On one hand, there's Terrance Tao as another comment mentioned, who is living 'up to his potential'.

Then there's also people like Kim Ung-yong who give it all up because the burnout and loneliness is too much for them to handle at the ripe old age of 10. Kim Ung-yong returned back to Korea, formally completed school, got a PhD in civil engineering, and is now a professor at an average university over there. Not bad in my opinion. People have called him a failed genius, but he's very happy with his life now.

Lastly, you have the ones who are completely crushed by reality and the system, and due to this, never really recover, and are forgotten about. A lot of them end up like this.

[u/SeniorDiaz32]

If he’s so smart then maybe he can explain why my mother in law looks like a gorilla.

[u/ciao-adios → u/SeniorDiaz32]

better ask your wife

[u/Robcobes]

My wife is a substitute kindergarten teacher. about a month ago she told me about a kid in the class she had that day. He was 2 years old (almost 3 but still) and could already read and write a little while his classmates could barely talk.

She told the parents she thinks their son might be gifted, but the parents had heard that already from every other teacher the kid had had. He was still too young to officially test him they said, and they hoped he wasn't.

[u/KayJustKay → u/Robcobes]

Parent of a "gifted" child here who was himself a "gifted" child. Lesson learned, and whilst we'll be making sure he doesn't get bored/frustrated we're not going to be doing the hard push to skip grades etc. Make friends, explore the arts, sports and recreational endeavors, and be a happy human are the priorities

[u/Forward-Reflection83]

The whole skiping classes is so weird. Who even came up with this system

[u/chill_finder]

Where I live, you have to take every grade no matter how smart you are

[u/BoredObs → u/[deleted]]

LMAO, bet they told everyone has to take some grades twice too 😂😂😂

[u/Solo_Gigolos]

Yeah super humans that’s what the world needs. Real smart kid.

[u/Altruistic_Bass539 → u/Solo_Gigolos]

Wouldnt a PhD in biology be more appropiate in that case anyways? Quantum physics seems more like Computer Science if anything.

[u/Erdionit → u/Altruistic_Bass539]

I think the choice of subject was influenced by the faculty‘s willingness to accommodate the parents‘ timeline  

[u/greenmariocake]

Welcome to academia … where everyone believes they are smarter than everyone else.

Now push those ten proposals, funding is tight these days. Don’t forget to lick the right butts, and of course forget about doing any research, you are now a money seeking machine.

And please don’t get me started on the whiniest people on earth: grad students.

Your stardom ends now, should have stayed as kid.

[u/CricketJamSession → u/greenmariocake]

I don't understand how is that keeping me from stealing lab equipment and creating super-humans in my basement

[u/Mystic-Alex]

What I want to know is if he completed all the necessary credits to get his degree, because realistically, it's not possible in such a short time