Interesting, Terry, as usual.
“This conversation about secrets reminds me of a movie plot. Have you ever seen Cary Grant and Audrey Hepburn in "Charade?'
...
“At the very beginning, Cary Grant's character introduces himself to Audrey Hepburn's character and she thinks he's trying to hit on her, so she tells him that her list of friends is full and she couldn't possibly meet anyone else until someone who's already on her list dies.”
...
Audrey's character starts to fall in love with Cary's character and then she finds out he's not who she thinks he is. It sets up a very complex and intense game of death and romance and comedy, because she has something very valuable that some people are willing to kill to get, and she has absolutely no idea where it might be or even what it actually is. And after that, things move so fast that she can hardly keep track of what's happening to her.”
Wow, Terry. That's really fascinating. And I can't believe you'd mention this movie unless its plot is a bit like the plot of your story. May I guess that Audrey's character is Rebecca? She is starting to fall in love with Cary Grant's character, who would be Clark. She has something very valuable that some people would be willing to kill to get hold of, but she has no idea where it is, or even what it is. Maybe that treasure that she is somehow in control of has something to do with the fact that she is a scientist and a computer wizard? She knows something that she hasn't yet realized that she knows, and people would be willing to kill to get hold of it?
And someone close to Rebecca is going to die?
Or maybe Audrey Hepburn's character is Lois? She is beginning to fall in love with Lex Luthor, but he is not what she thinks he is. And someone close to her is going to die? And Lois knows something that people - Lex? Nigel? Asabi? - would be willing to die for?
In any case, we seem to have reached a juncture in your story where both Lois and Clark are falling in love with others. Clark seems to be falling at least a little bit in love with Rebecca, and Lois, of course, purrs like a kitten when she is in Lex's company (even though the adult feline in her forces her to behave herself somewhat). Rebecca seems like a very nice person, even though, of course, I'm not exactly happy about Clark falling in love with anyone who isn't Lois. But Lex... you've been hinting that maybe Lex isn't a criminal or a bad person in your story, so it might be acceptable for Lois to love him. Yeah, well. You know, Terry, I might just possibly have believed that Lex was an okay person if he hadn't been so rich. I mean, the third richest man in the world? How does anyone get so rich? Not by asking nicely, I'm absolutely sure. No, by being ruthless, undoubtedly. Okay, I'm not saying that
all extremely rich persons are ruthless... necessarily... but chances are, they are. A person like Bill Gates is perhaps not ruthless. He had a brilliant idea, or several brilliant ideas, about computer technology and the internet. Then again... how come no one else had similar ideas? Maybe they did? And maybe Bill Gates was just more ruthless than the other guys, so that he defeated them? My favorite intellectual, my colleague Arnost Rusek, says that no one ever comes up with a totally original idea all on his own. (I know, I know... Arnost is exaggerating. I keep telling him so.) Anyway, according to Arnost, the level of scientific and technological understanding and know-how in a society keeps accumulating until it reaches a "critical level". When that happens, several people will have a brilliant new idea, except it will be the same idea, at more or less the same time. But it will be the most ruthless person who capitalizes on the idea. And that's why I can't believe that anyone can be the third richest person in the world
and be a nice guy at the same time.
Another problem about being filthy rich is what I think that such enormous wealth does to you. How do you explain your enormous wealth and good fortune to yourself?
I think most people tend to take their good fortune for granted. As an astronomy fan, I'm constantly amazed at the fact that humanity exists at all. I'm bowled over by the fact that there is life on Earth, and that a planet like the Earth exists in the first place. I mean, it's just plain incredibly amazing!!!
![[Linked Image]](http://www.michaelscott-therapy.com/paleblue.jpg)
This is the Earth, as seen from the outer reaches of the solar system. Maybe it takes a picture like this to realize how just about
incredibly tiny the Earth is. How shockingly unlike the rest of our solar system it is. And how amazingly, unbelievably fortunate we are to have inherited a planet like the Earth. And yet, when I talk to other people about the miracle that is the Earth, they usually get a little glassy-eyed. "Yeah, yeah," they say, and then they start discussing what was on TV last night, or what they'll have for dinner.
Most of us take our good fortune for granted. Most of us are rarely amazed at the good things we have. I think that most people just automatically assume that they deserve to have all the good things that they have. But what then if you are the third richest person in the world? I find it likely that such a person, too, would tell himself that he deserved to have whatever he had. If he has more than almost everyone else, he may conclude that this is because he
deserves to have more than almost everyone else. But does that way of thinking about himself make him a good person? No, I don't think so. It makes him contemptuous of others and probably ruthless, too.
So as long as Lex is the third richest person in the world, I'm not going to believe that he is a good man, Terry. And I sure wish Lois wasn't so attracted to him, even though I was happy to see that she came at least somewhat to her senses at the end of this chapter.
Ann
