Rant my ass. Your lack of humility, and your inability to step outside of your box, is appalling.
This kid is eleven years old. WTF were YOU doing when you were eleven years old.
Give him some TIME.
By the time he's twenty, don't worry, the Ivory Tower nimrods will have convinced him that not only doesn't he have proof of God, but that he has no proof of his own existence. There is no I. There is no self.
BULLshit.
Dear William, it is not a lack of humility that causes me to observe that an 11 year old is still an eleven year old, even when they are extraordinarily intelligent. I stepped out of my box long ago when I had to decide if it was okay for my 6 year old to continue reading Carl Sagan's book that he grabbed off the shelf because I couldn't remember whether there was sex in it, or when I had to develop a personal spelling curriculum for him because he was spelling at a 12th grade level, but his second grade teacher did not have appropriate materials for him, or when I had to explain to him at 7 that Michael Crichton was indeed an entertaining author, but that he had to memorize which words Crichton used in his books that were NOT allowed to be repeated in elementary school, and also no, you cannot lick your friends to see what they taste like, and just because you can pee in our yard doesn't mean you can pee in anyone's.
The kid in the OP is 11. It is not humility to assume he will do something in 10 years that no other human being has ever done. That's not humility, that's sycophancy; and I certainly hope his parents behave more like me than like you. These kids still need parenting.
edited to add - this sounds kind of rant-ey but it's actually written with humor and a smile.
Rhea:
Okay, I can live with this. I sometimes get hot under the collar, which, if you have noticed, I am all too willing to admit.
If you have seen any of my recent spate of posts (I am in a HIGH manic phase, and could probably write a 200 page manifesto in a few hours), I am aware of my sickness, while also being a victim of it.
My reasoning mind is atheist. My emotional mind still has a strong attachment to religious feelings brought on by what I can comprehend is most likely due to a brain disorder. Somewhere, in another thread, I link to a video, the first in a series, by neuroscientist
Vilayanur S. Ramachandran, who, as you may or may not know, has studied the particular brain disorder which is associated with siezures and/or behavior which brings about religious conversion, euphoria, etc.
He is singularly sympathetic to patients who suffer from this disorder, ie he maintains his objectivity as a scientist while allowing for an emotional, or at least warmly qualitative, response and relationship with such people. In this respect he is more receptive and nurturing than the more hardened Sam Harris, while still maintaining an appropriate scientific disinterest and/or detachment. He is quite something.
I have described my journey in this kind of thing over the years, on TFT, formerly FRDB, and Internet Infidels. I began here, 14 years ago, a hardcore atheist. My first thread, which should be in the archives, was called "Trifling with God", wherein I went toe to toe with a Catholic and pretty much walked all over him.
Please accept my apologies for any offense. I do not mean to offend, but I DO get mighty defensive, as you can see.
*
barbos:
This is a child of eleven. Do you have kids? No child of eleven can or ought to be expected to even know what humility is, let alone practice it! Yes, he is incredibly bright, but he's still a kid. His views as to his potential may be overstated and egocentric, but appalling?
Not.
I assume you are an adult. You have lived long enough to have acquired wisdom, which brings humility.
Like I said, give this kid some time. Mozart didn't live long enough to learn humility; Brahms did, just to name
one example of a composer who was wickedly, fiercely talented at a young age, but lived long enough to see it mellow into wisdom. The same can be said of many artists and scientists.
So, I respectfully disagree with you. There is no swaying me on this, but, sure, go on and try if you'd like. And not to worry, soon I am going inpatient in a mental hospital for a minimum of 30 days, and I will be out of the collective hair of TFT.
But when I come out...
Lol. Let's just hope I still have a few marbles left to come back and rejoin the peanut gallery and not get myself cast into the Flames.
Peace and Christian - cum* - Noodly, unconditional LOVE to all.
*Latin. Get yer minds out of the gutter, people!