Christopher Langan, The Controversial Genius With A ‘Theory Of Everything’
Wikimedia CommonsChristopher Langan’s wife, Gina, is remarkably intelligent in her own right and has won multiple international chess competitions.
Christopher Langan is something of an outlier on this list. On paper, he is one of the smartest people in the world, with an IQ reportedly between 190 and 210.
Born into poverty, Langan learned early on that the world was a tough place. He and his brothers largely fended for themselves, owning very little and enduring alleged abuse from their mother’s boyfriend. Despite this adversity, though, Langan taught himself how to read before he entered school. He then proved his genius by excelling in a number of subjects, particularly mathematics and philosophy.
He would have gone on to pursue higher education, and he even attended Montana State University for a time before he was forced to drop out for financial reasons. He also expressed frustration with the academic system and chose instead to work a series of odd jobs, including as a bouncer and a construction worker, while continuing to teach himself independently.
These academic pursuits led Langan to develop what he calls the Cognitive-Theoretic Model of the Universe (CTMU), which attempts to reconcile the relationship between mind and reality. According to a 1999 report by ABC News, the theory “can prove the existence of God, the soul, and an afterlife using mathematics.” The concept has garnered both praise and skepticism from the academic community.
Langan has also made controversial statements about the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, suggesting they were staged to distract the general public from his CTMU. He has also publicly stated that he believes in white replacement theory, leading some to call him “Alex Jones with a thesaurus.”
Perhaps, given his own academic history, it’s fair that Langan would question certain societal norms and mainstream academia, but that also doesn’t absolve him of any criticism regarding his personal views.
