Chris Langan, the American intellectual frequently described as the “smartest man in the world”, has weighed in on one of humanity’s oldest questions: does God exist?
Langan’s IQ has been reported as falling somewhere between 190 and 210, placing him above the estimated scores of Albert Einstein and Stephen Hawking.
But rather than working in a major research institution or tech company, Langan leads a quiet life as a horse rancher, while developing theories that attempt to explain the nature of existence itself.
Inside Langan’s Theory Linking Mind, Reality and Existence
Langan is best known for his "cognitive-theoretic model of the universe" (CTMU), a sweeping philosophical and mathematical framework aimed at explaining how consciousness and reality relate to one another.
The theory argues that the universe and the mind are interwoven in a self-processing, self-defining structure – an idea that, while controversial and unproven, has attracted intrigue from those interested in metaphysics and theoretical philosophy.
During a conversation on CTMU Radio, Langan discussed several aspects of his work, including his views on what happens after death. But one moment that captured particular attention was his response to a direct question about the existence of God.
Langan Says the Structure of Reality Points to a Divine Identity
Unlike many prominent scientists who identify as atheists, Langan’s answer was unambiguous. When asked if God is real, he replied, “Yes. Yes, reality has an identity. The identity is that as which something exists.”
He added that referring to “reality” itself is already an act of naming an identity, one that, in his framework, aligns with how many religions describe God.
Explaining how the CTMU applies to the question, Langan said the theory builds a mathematical structure for reality, from which properties naturally emerge. “Once you’ve built the preliminary framework, you start deducing the properties of this identity and you find out that those properties match those of God, as described in most of the world’s major religions,” he said.
According to Langan, God should not necessarily be thought of as a figure watching from the heavens, but rather as the foundational identity of existence, the underlying structure that generates the universe and everything within it.
Credit: CTMU Radio / Getty Images.
Langan’s Views on Death and What Comes After
The discussion about God is not the only metaphysical topic Langan has addressed publicly. In an earlier appearance on the Theories of Everything with Curt Jaimungal podcast, he shared his interpretation of what happens after death.
According to Langan, death marks the end of a person’s relationship with their physical body, but not the end of consciousness.
“When you are retracted from this reality, you go back up toward the origin of reality,” he said, suggesting that an individual could be provided with a different kind of “terminal body” that allows continued existence.
He also proposed the idea that reincarnations may be “meta-simultaneous,” meaning that if a person experiences multiple lifetimes, they may unfold at once in a non-physical domain. In his view, what lies beyond death is not an afterlife in a traditional religious sense, but a return to a deeper reality from which consciousness originates.
Langan’s theories remain speculative, but his willingness to tackle existential questions, and his unusual personal background, continues to draw fascination from those curious about the boundaries of science, philosophy and belief.