Ramanujan

I do not agree with much of the song, but I sure do agree with, “you may say I’m a dreamer, but I’m not the only one.”
The day was my day off.  I was pleased when it was raining at the start of the day.  I was a bit miffed when the sun came out around mid-day, but I was determined to follow through on my commitment.   I watched a movie.
It was based on a true story about an obscure Indian fellow who was a genius at maths.  A genius on the level of Newton.  He was invited to Cambridge and despite the opposition and prejudice of some, became a Fellow of the Royal Society.
What caused me to think about the line of John Lennon’s song was there was a guy at Cambridge who was brilliant that went off to war (the first world war).  It turned out he did not die but it had me thinking how wasteful war so often is.
I do think that sometimes war is necessary to stop brutish behaviour that will not be dissuaded from a course of action by any other means.
This guy was a nobody from a nobody family.  Brilliance to me can spring up in the most unexpected places.  I think of Edison - one of eight kids.  From obscurity a bright light (pun unintended) shines.
Yet in war people are often a means to a despot’s ends.  So much potential is lost in the pursuit of often destructive gain. 
To me brilliance is not just a matter of the acknowledgement of academia.  Often brilliance is doing something well.  Maybe loving someone well or improving the lives of others well.  All are flawed but flaws need not define.  To me it is not how I start that counts, but how I finish.  I can work towards what is right and good and maybe flaws are obvious, but so too are motives.
That is one of the reasons I have a problem with the wastefulness of war.  The potential of a multitude of good lies unrealized.  I am a great believer in obeying those who have the rule over me (when the commands do not infringe upon what I am told not to do).  Yet there are commands of some I will follow that are ill-conceived commands.
This is where the dreaming comes in.  I am looking forward to the day when war is a thing of the past.  When lives are not laid to waste needlessly.  When the potential of life is not a despot’s plaything.
That train is pulling into the station soon.