Many tweens think they’re going to live forever, but an 11-year-old boy from Belgium is serious about making it happen. Child prodigy Laurent Simons is a recent graduate of the University of Antwerp, where he earned a bachelor’s degree in physics with the highest distinction. And he achieved an 85% graduating score – higher than anyone else in his class.
So what now? The ambitious whiz kid has some bold and extraordinary plans for his future.
“I don’t really care if I’m the youngest,” Simons told local newspaper De Telegraaf about his graduation from Antwerp. He’s the second-youngest graduate ever. “It’s all about getting knowledge for me.”
It’s what the precocious 11-year-old plans to do with all that knowledge that is truly remarkable. Little Laurent Simons intends to achieve immortality. But first, he’ll have to become a cyborg. That’s right, just like Mandroid, Trap-Jaw, and Dynomutt the Dog Wonder. What, weren’t those the examples you were thinking of?
“Immortality, that is my goal. I want to be able to replace as many body parts as possible with mechanical parts. I’ve mapped out a path to get there,” Simons told Newsweek, seemingly describing a desire to become the next RoboCop. “You can see it as a big puzzle. Quantum physics – the study of the smallest particles – is the first piece of the puzzle.”
I don’t know about you, but this kid makes me feel super dumb. Like uncommonly stupid. But I don’t want to turn myself into a robot. Yeah, I know robots aren’t the same as a cyborg, please don’t @ me.
“Two things are important in [a quantum physics] study: acquiring knowledge and applying that knowledge,” said Simons who, incidentally, has over 62,000 Instagram followers. “To achieve the second, I want to work with the best professors in the world, look inside their brains and find out what they think.”
I hope he doesn’t mean that brain thing literally. I mean, who’s to say he wouldn’t open your head if he needs something? Like, you know, to make you part of the Borg Collective. Yeah, I know the Borg don’t open human skulls, don’t @ me.
Now, if you’re wondering when Simons might reveal his new cyborg self to the world, you’re going to have to wait a while. The young genius plans to take it super casual. One by one, he’ll replace his bodily organs and limbs with machine upgrades until he’s unrecognizable and probably horrific.
Until then, check out Simons’ Instagram page at laurent_simons. There, you’ll find a photo of a very famous – and sometimes very bad – cybernetic organism. Let’s hope Simons doesn’t follow in his large footsteps.
Laurent Simons, Child Prodigy — Sources
Futurism
Input
Newsweek
De Telegraaf
