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musiclover420
psychonaut



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9-Year-Old Boy Graduates High School and Starts College,
#23692724 - 09/30/16 12:08 AM (7 years, 3 months ago) |
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Wants to Become Astrophysicist: 'I Want to Prove That God Does Exist'
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At 9 years old, William Maillis is like a lot of other boys his age, enjoying video games, knock-knock jokes, sports and hanging out with friends. But William is no ordinary kid when it comes to academics. In May, he graduated from high school and is now a college student already working on his own theories of how the universe was created. Most other 9-year-olds are in fourth grade. William, who lives in Penn Township, Pennsylvania, is among the youngest people ever to attend college. He's currently taking a full slate of classes at Community College of Allegheny County as a way to ease into life as a college student and plans to enroll next fall at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, according to his father, Peter Maillis, a Greek Orthodox priest. "It doesn't bother me" being the youngest student in class by far, William tells PEOPLE. "I'm used to it by now." William, who wants to study the physics and chemistry of space, earn a doctorate degree and work as an astrophysicist, is at ease tossing around concepts like "displacement of space-time" "singularity" and "pure gravity" as he patiently attempts to explain why black holes aren't "super massive" as theorized by such other brilliant minds as Albert Einstein and Stephen Hawking.
Bottom line, according to William: "I want to prove to everybody that God does exist," he says, by showing that only an outside force could be capable of forming the cosmos. Maillis said he and his wife, Nancy, who also are parents to a daughter, 29, and son, 26, – "[William] was our 17-year-surprise," Maillis says with a laugh – realized their young son was advanced when he started accurately identifying numbers at 6 months old and speaking in complete sentences at just 7 months old, he said.
"William was just very sharp," Maillis says. "William remembers everything he sees." He followed with a range of impressive academic feats, including doing addition at 21 months; multiplication, reading and writing at 2 years old; algebra, sign language and reading Greek at age 4; geometry at 5 and trigonometry at 7.
After finishing third grade last year, William then simultaneously attended fourth grade and high school while also taking some college classes and this year enrolled in college full-time, his dad says. Despite his obvious prowess, William was originally turned down when he tried to enroll in kindergarten at age 4 after failing an entrance readiness test when he couldn't, for example, identify gray as a color ("gray is a shade, not a color," his father explains) or recognize a thermometer ("we don't use that kind, we use the kind that goes in your ear," he says).
Maillis then consulted with a college psychologist who studies whiz kids and she declared him a "pure genius" after administering IQ tests, he says. The elementary school reconsidered and allowed him in. Maillis says he and his wife allow William to take the lead in deciding what areas of interest to pursue. "Whatever classes he wants to take, that's okay with me," Maillis says. "I don't want to push him."
William's history professor, Aaron Hoffman, says the boy fits right in with his other college students. "We haven't steered away from any topics: Hitler, Mussolini, the Holocaust, wars," Hoffman says. "If he's here for college, he's going to get college-level material." The only difference he's noticed, Hoffman says, is that William doesn't take notes like the other students, but simply listens, reads and absorbs the material. Through it all, Maillis says his son remains grounded. "I just want him to appreciate the gift he has, which I think he does," Maillis said. "I tell him, 'God gave you a gift. The worst thing would be to reject that gift and not use it for the betterment of the world.' "


-------------------- Don't worry about me, I've got all that I need. And I'm singing my song to the sky You know how it feels, With the breeze of the sun in your eyes. Not minding that time's passing by I've got all and more, My smile, just as before. Is all that I carry with me I talk to myself, I need nobody else. I'm lost and I'm mine, yes I'm free
Edited by musiclover420 (09/30/16 12:10 AM)
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impatientguy
Ganjalf a very mighty lab wizard



Registered: 11/26/14
Posts: 5,054
Loc: USA
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Re: 9-Year-Old Boy Graduates High School and Starts College, [Re: musiclover420]
#23692734 - 09/30/16 12:14 AM (7 years, 3 months ago) |
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That's pretty amazing
I bet he will do somthing awesome with that brain.
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Crystal G



Registered: 06/05/07
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Loc: outer space
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Re: 9-Year-Old Boy Graduates High School and Starts College, [Re: impatientguy] 1
#23692736 - 09/30/16 12:16 AM (7 years, 3 months ago) |
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Quote:
"I want to prove to everybody that God does exist,"
I think he's in for a huge reality check
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Crystal G



Registered: 06/05/07
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Loc: outer space
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Re: 9-Year-Old Boy Graduates High School and Starts College, [Re: impatientguy] 1
#23692749 - 09/30/16 12:23 AM (7 years, 3 months ago) |
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Quote:
impatientguy said: I bet he will do somthing awesome with that brain.
Usually child prodigies grow up to be pretty mediocre adults.
When I think back to the smartest kids that I went to grade school or junior high with, a lot of them are pretty average now. Two of them got a perfect score on their SAT's, one was accepted into Harvard and the other got a full ride to Cal Berkeley. One is now a high school history teacher, and the other dropped out to become a masseuse.
One thing that seems to be commonplace is that intelligent children often end up growing up to be disgruntled with the system and therefore may have a tendency to not maximize or utilize their full potential later on.
http://www.nytimes.com/roomfordebate/2015/05/20/the-benefits-and-pressures-of-being-a-young-genius/often-child-prodigies-do-not-grow-into-adult-genius
http://www.vice.com/read/child-prodigies-all-grown-up-839
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zZZz
jesus


Registered: 12/28/07
Posts: 33,478
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Re: 9-Year-Old Boy Graduates High School and Starts College, [Re: Crystal G]
#23692780 - 09/30/16 12:47 AM (7 years, 3 months ago) |
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if this is true then he obviously has a god given gift.. what ever he was trying to prove he might have already proved it unknowingly..
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zZZz
jesus


Registered: 12/28/07
Posts: 33,478
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Re: 9-Year-Old Boy Graduates High School and Starts College, [Re: Crystal G]
#23692783 - 09/30/16 12:48 AM (7 years, 3 months ago) |
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Quote:
Crystal G said:
Quote:
"I want to prove to everybody that God does exist,"
I think he's in for a huge reality check 
u don't believe in god?..
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abltsandwich
JFK = Jelly Donut




Registered: 06/16/09
Posts: 11,537
Loc: Dildoville
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Re: 9-Year-Old Boy Graduates High School and Starts College, [Re: musiclover420]
#23692809 - 09/30/16 01:02 AM (7 years, 3 months ago) |
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Sounds like the same path as Ted Kaczynski, AKA the UNABOMber. If this kid smells like sour milk and hates technology, he should probably be watched...
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Konyap

Registered: 06/30/07
Posts: 33,945
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Re: 9-Year-Old Boy Graduates High School and Starts College, [Re: abltsandwich]
#23692833 - 09/30/16 01:26 AM (7 years, 3 months ago) |
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I was smart enough at 12 to probably do the same it didn't change for me until college high school was basically baby work from what I recall
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Crystal G



Registered: 06/05/07
Posts: 19,584
Loc: outer space
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Re: 9-Year-Old Boy Graduates High School and Starts College, [Re: Konyap]
#23692839 - 09/30/16 01:31 AM (7 years, 3 months ago) |
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Konyap said: I was smart enough at 12 to probably do the same it didn't change for me until college high school was basically baby work from what I recall
You must have gone to an easy high school, I found my high school was more difficult than college.
This is why public school is such a huge problem in America. My professor says she sends her kids to private school because the public schools produce such low-caliber work.
I would probably hire private tutors to teach my kids math and vocabulary once they are in high school.
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PatrickKn



Registered: 07/10/11
Posts: 20,564
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Re: 9-Year-Old Boy Graduates High School and Starts College, [Re: Crystal G] 1
#23693006 - 09/30/16 05:19 AM (7 years, 3 months ago) |
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Damn, pretty awesome. Seems he's doing both schools concurrently? Or has that ended and he is full time college. Quite the load either way. It would be a trip to be in an advanced college course with some 15 year old teaching the class. 
MusicLover, you seem to be very interested in the idea of scientifically proving the existence of a creator, at least in that it's a consistent theme in many threads you make. What drives this interest, and do you feel like you can't believe in one without scientific validation, or is it the opposite way around?
In my mind, I see it as an impossible task whether one exists or not. It's not something that is provable. I may be missing something though that other people are on though. I'm curious what one would need to do to prove something like this, and how a mathematical concept could even be proof of such a thing in the first place.
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Mr. Magic


Registered: 07/13/14
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Re: 9-Year-Old Boy Graduates High School and Starts College, [Re: Crystal G]
#23693303 - 09/30/16 07:57 AM (7 years, 3 months ago) |
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Quote:
Crystal G said:
Quote:
"I want to prove to everybody that God does exist,"
I think he's in for a huge reality check 
Yeah that's a shame. Lol I was really impressed until i read that, then i was like 
I dont believe it's possible to prove that to everybody, no matter what he thinks hes figured out.
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PatrickKn



Registered: 07/10/11
Posts: 20,564
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Re: 9-Year-Old Boy Graduates High School and Starts College, [Re: Mr. Magic]
#23693318 - 09/30/16 08:05 AM (7 years, 3 months ago) |
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The kids spiritual beliefs don't lessen the achievements of learning all that. I'd imagine he could beat most of us in a mathematics face off.
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Mr. Magic


Registered: 07/13/14
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Re: 9-Year-Old Boy Graduates High School and Starts College, [Re: PatrickKn]
#23693384 - 09/30/16 08:37 AM (7 years, 3 months ago) |
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Oh yeah i know, it is still impressive. Im just saying that he could pursue something more worth his intelligence in my opinion.
How is he going to reach such a goal?
He can do whatever he wants though of course. I dont want to say its a waste...
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Lucis
Nutritional Yeast

Registered: 03/28/15
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Re: 9-Year-Old Boy Graduates High School and Starts College, [Re: musiclover420]
#23693484 - 09/30/16 09:10 AM (7 years, 3 months ago) |
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That's cool and all that he wants to prove God or whatever, but the kids 9 years old, he still believes in the tooth fairy and Santa Clause, I want to see what he thinks about God when he's older.
When he lays his eyes on the LHC, he will see his God before him, muahahaha.
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musiclover420
psychonaut



Registered: 11/06/12
Posts: 19,563
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Re: 9-Year-Old Boy Graduates High School and Starts College, [Re: Lucis]
#23694212 - 09/30/16 02:28 PM (7 years, 3 months ago) |
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Quote:
PatrickKn said: MusicLover, you seem to be very interested in the idea of scientifically proving the existence of a creator, at least in that it's a consistent theme in many threads you make. What drives this interest, and do you feel like you can't believe in one without scientific validation, or is it the opposite way around?
In my mind, I see it as an impossible task whether one exists or not. It's not something that is provable. I may be missing something though that other people are on though. I'm curious what one would need to do to prove something like this, and how a mathematical concept could even be proof of such a thing in the first place.
It was actually kind of a coincidence with this article, I was going to post it anyways for the inspiring and impressive story but the proving god stuff was just a bonus. My interest in proving "god" stems mainly from wanting to better understand the universe, also I think most peoples concept of god is archaic and prevents them from taking it seriously.
As a living conscious creature I can't think of any greater question then how we came about being here and I believe if you look around enough for it there is plenty of evidence for some sort of "higher power." I will choose to believe in "god" regardless of evidence or fact becouse beliefs are very powerful and its possible just believing in it makes it real to some extent. And I would much rather spend my energy believing in the fantastic then the mundane.
That said if there is a god I am positive it isn't the all powerful man in the sky religion likes to paint. Proof is very subjective, some would probably argue parts of the psychedelic experience are evidence of god or some kind of higher power. I think the common beliefs from different corners of the globe around spirituality are strong evidence as well.
But you may be right, it could be impossible to prove it in our current state and there will always be believers and skeptics Personally the idea that we as 3rd dimensional beings are the only intelligent life forms seems incredibly close minded. There could very possibly be higher dimensional beings that we cannot perceive that from our perspective would be gods. Currently we have no way of knowing for sure so I will keep my mind open to the possibilities.
-------------------- Don't worry about me, I've got all that I need. And I'm singing my song to the sky You know how it feels, With the breeze of the sun in your eyes. Not minding that time's passing by I've got all and more, My smile, just as before. Is all that I carry with me I talk to myself, I need nobody else. I'm lost and I'm mine, yes I'm free
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1234go
Ban Lotto Champion


Registered: 07/08/09
Posts: 53,898
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Re: 9-Year-Old Boy Graduates High School and Starts College, [Re: musiclover420]
#23694259 - 09/30/16 02:50 PM (7 years, 3 months ago) |
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He'll grow up, get offered a lot of money, and end up with a job that goes against everything he's ever believed in.
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impatientguy
Ganjalf a very mighty lab wizard



Registered: 11/26/14
Posts: 5,054
Loc: USA
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Re: 9-Year-Old Boy Graduates High School and Starts College, [Re: 1234go]
#23694272 - 09/30/16 02:56 PM (7 years, 3 months ago) |
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Pretty much
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musiclover420
psychonaut



Registered: 11/06/12
Posts: 19,563
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Re: 9-Year-Old Boy Graduates High School and Starts College, [Re: 1234go]
#23694283 - 09/30/16 03:02 PM (7 years, 3 months ago) |
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1234go said: He'll grow up, get offered a lot of money, and end up with a job that goes against everything he's ever believed in.
We shall see. He is 9 and already in college so he could end up being a serious entrepreneur.
-------------------- Don't worry about me, I've got all that I need. And I'm singing my song to the sky You know how it feels, With the breeze of the sun in your eyes. Not minding that time's passing by I've got all and more, My smile, just as before. Is all that I carry with me I talk to myself, I need nobody else. I'm lost and I'm mine, yes I'm free
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Mad_Larkin
Registered: 11/29/07
Posts: 18,606
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Re: 9-Year-Old Boy Graduates High School and Starts College, [Re: Mr. Magic]
#23694345 - 09/30/16 03:28 PM (7 years, 3 months ago) |
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Quote:
Mr. Magic said:
Quote:
Crystal G said:
Quote:
"I want to prove to everybody that God does exist,"
I think he's in for a huge reality check 
Yeah that's a shame. Lol I was really impressed until i read that, then i was like 
I dont believe it's possible to prove that to everybody, no matter what he thinks hes figured out.
what if he is God
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thirtygoats

Registered: 12/29/11
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Re: 9-Year-Old Boy Graduates High School and Starts College, [Re: musiclover420]
#23694350 - 09/30/16 03:29 PM (7 years, 3 months ago) |
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When he becomes of legal age, they need to get his sperm and give it to women who want to get pregnant. We need more geniuses... hopefully ones that won't get bought out and used against the public.
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zZZz
jesus


Registered: 12/28/07
Posts: 33,478
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Re: 9-Year-Old Boy Graduates High School and Starts College, [Re: thirtygoats]
#23694377 - 09/30/16 03:37 PM (7 years, 3 months ago) |
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U know the military already got their eye on him
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