I have an idea for new book, one I think will make a good movie. It's about a person -- could be a man or a woman -- who is born a genius, and unlike some geniuses is also socially gifted. Our genius, let's call him/her Alex, is also unlike a lot of very smart people today, in that he/she is philanthropically inclined first and foremost; making a lot of money is not on his/her (oh, hell, let's make it a 'he') bucket list.
Alex starts school and his innate knowledge and intelligence prove to be way beyond what our conventional schools and teachers can improve upon (which, I realize, doesn't take much these days). He is placed in schools for the gifted and then other "special" schools (not Hogwarts), but to no avail. Alex is ultimately withdrawn from formal schooling and instead provided the freedom and wherewithal to seek his education wherever he chooses to find it.
Alex's quest for learning takes him to the far reaches of the globe; to the world's great libraries, it's churches, mosques, monasteries, and museums. Alex visited not only the great archaeological sites, such as Ephesus, where he walked the Street of the Curetes, but lesser known sites, as well. Sites devoted to ancient pagan gods, or astronomy, or healing.
During his travels, Alex participated in certain of the practices he observed or only read about. In Mongolia, he participated with the shamans in achieving altered states of consciousness. With the Inuit people of Eastern Siberia he achieved the ability of remote viewing, a technique they used to find game as they hunted far and wide across the frozen tundra. In central Mali he sat with Dogon sorcerers to learn their methods of healing and divination. Everywhere he went, Alex learned not just by study and observation, but by immersion.
When he returned home, Alex agreed to join his father in business. Alex's father had formed a medical devices company and although it wasn't making a lot of money, it had developed some promising technology. Of course Alex's genius leads to one technological advancement after another and the company begins to prosper. Alex donates most of his earnings to charity and does pro bono work in his off hours. When Alex's mother dies of incurable brain cancer, Alex takes the company in new directions, using stem cell research to attempt a cure for cancer. Along the way he develops cures for Alzheimer's and Parkinson's disease, among others, but the cancer cure remains illusive. Still, Alex's father and the company become one of the top Fortune 500 companies.
All this time, Alex has managed to keep a very low profile. His father is the face of the company. He announces the new discoveries and, at Alex's request, simply chalks it up to the company's "outstanding research team." And they do have an outstanding team, but it's due to Alex's genius that the breakthroughs occur.
'Big Pharma' companies make periodic raids on the company's staff, and manage to steal away a few minor scientists, but due to Alex's charisma and his father's fairness in sharing the company's success with its employees, most people stay. Still, Alex is well aware that other companies, domestic and foreign, will attempt to steal his company's technology and its formulas. He develops an impenetrable firewall to prevent hacking, and an encryption system for blueprints and formulae, that only he, his father, and his wife know how to decode.
Alex's wife is an epidemiologist at the National Institutes of Health. He met her while traveling in Burundi, where she was dealing with an outbreak of typhoid fever. They have decided to postpone having a family until they feel the time is right in their work. Both are very dedicated to finding cures for some of the world's most devastating diseases.
When Alex's father dies in a hunting accident, Alex inherits the family's wealth and control of the company. Wealthy in his own right, Alex uses his inherited wealth to set up a charitable foundation, much like the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. He turns over the day-to-day running of the company to a trusted member of management, and devotes his time entirely to researching a cure for cancer. Alex's wife takes a leave of absence from the NIH when it appears that Alex is near a breakthrough and needs help setting up control tests.
Success! The control tests reveal that Alex has succeeding in developing a cure for cancer. Alex arranges an internal announcement for company employees. The whole team will be there to share in the joy of developing a cure for one of mankind's most intractable and heartbreaking diseases. The champagne is poured, Alex stands and asks for attention, he looks down and smiles at his wife, and that's when the gunfire erupts.
Everyone is killed by a few crazed gunmen with AR-15s they've converted to fully automatic. They are traced to an extremist religious organization that opposes stem cell research.
The world is shocked. Attempts are made to decode the files and learn the secret to curing cancer, but Alex did too good a job. Experts pronounce that the code will never be broken. The cure for cancer is lost.
Investigations determine the guns were obtained legally, at gun shows. Their conversion was illegal, but most experts claim that can't be controlled. There are calls for tougher gun control measures. The NRA makes a statement to the effect that it's a shame the liberal media and gun haters are attempting to use this tragedy to once again push their leftist liberal agenda. An attempt to craft a bipartisan bill closing the gun show loophole doesn't make it out of committee.
People continue to die of cancer, and gun violence.
Congress passes a law outlawing stem cell research.
Alex starts school and his innate knowledge and intelligence prove to be way beyond what our conventional schools and teachers can improve upon (which, I realize, doesn't take much these days). He is placed in schools for the gifted and then other "special" schools (not Hogwarts), but to no avail. Alex is ultimately withdrawn from formal schooling and instead provided the freedom and wherewithal to seek his education wherever he chooses to find it.
When he returned home, Alex agreed to join his father in business. Alex's father had formed a medical devices company and although it wasn't making a lot of money, it had developed some promising technology. Of course Alex's genius leads to one technological advancement after another and the company begins to prosper. Alex donates most of his earnings to charity and does pro bono work in his off hours. When Alex's mother dies of incurable brain cancer, Alex takes the company in new directions, using stem cell research to attempt a cure for cancer. Along the way he develops cures for Alzheimer's and Parkinson's disease, among others, but the cancer cure remains illusive. Still, Alex's father and the company become one of the top Fortune 500 companies.
All this time, Alex has managed to keep a very low profile. His father is the face of the company. He announces the new discoveries and, at Alex's request, simply chalks it up to the company's "outstanding research team." And they do have an outstanding team, but it's due to Alex's genius that the breakthroughs occur.
'Big Pharma' companies make periodic raids on the company's staff, and manage to steal away a few minor scientists, but due to Alex's charisma and his father's fairness in sharing the company's success with its employees, most people stay. Still, Alex is well aware that other companies, domestic and foreign, will attempt to steal his company's technology and its formulas. He develops an impenetrable firewall to prevent hacking, and an encryption system for blueprints and formulae, that only he, his father, and his wife know how to decode.
Alex's wife is an epidemiologist at the National Institutes of Health. He met her while traveling in Burundi, where she was dealing with an outbreak of typhoid fever. They have decided to postpone having a family until they feel the time is right in their work. Both are very dedicated to finding cures for some of the world's most devastating diseases.
When Alex's father dies in a hunting accident, Alex inherits the family's wealth and control of the company. Wealthy in his own right, Alex uses his inherited wealth to set up a charitable foundation, much like the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. He turns over the day-to-day running of the company to a trusted member of management, and devotes his time entirely to researching a cure for cancer. Alex's wife takes a leave of absence from the NIH when it appears that Alex is near a breakthrough and needs help setting up control tests.
Success! The control tests reveal that Alex has succeeding in developing a cure for cancer. Alex arranges an internal announcement for company employees. The whole team will be there to share in the joy of developing a cure for one of mankind's most intractable and heartbreaking diseases. The champagne is poured, Alex stands and asks for attention, he looks down and smiles at his wife, and that's when the gunfire erupts.
Everyone is killed by a few crazed gunmen with AR-15s they've converted to fully automatic. They are traced to an extremist religious organization that opposes stem cell research.
The world is shocked. Attempts are made to decode the files and learn the secret to curing cancer, but Alex did too good a job. Experts pronounce that the code will never be broken. The cure for cancer is lost.
Investigations determine the guns were obtained legally, at gun shows. Their conversion was illegal, but most experts claim that can't be controlled. There are calls for tougher gun control measures. The NRA makes a statement to the effect that it's a shame the liberal media and gun haters are attempting to use this tragedy to once again push their leftist liberal agenda. An attempt to craft a bipartisan bill closing the gun show loophole doesn't make it out of committee.
People continue to die of cancer, and gun violence.
Congress passes a law outlawing stem cell research.
The End
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