A short story – How David Crumb almost saved the world.

I went to sleep with this one buzzing round my head last night. I think it was the back-stabbing of Jeremy Corbyn that sparked it off. I determined to remember it when I woke. I woke up and it was still there.

How David Crumb almost saved the world.

There should be statues all over the world of David Crumb. He should be the most famous and celebrated human being who has ever lived. Instead he is reviled.

David Crumb came up with the greatest invention there has ever been. It would have transformed human existence and saved the planet from ruin – if he had not made one crucial mistake.

David Crumb was a scientist, not a politician. He was simply too naïve.

It all began when David was a young research psychologist. He chose to study how the human brain worked. Being exceptionally gifted he soon made use of the latest three-dimensional imaging systems using magnetic pulses to study a variety of living people. David was particularly interested in what made individuals behave in a violent, intolerant and selfish manner. David focused his work on criminals who displayed these dispositions to a greater extent than ‘normal’ people.

Very soon in his work David identified two regions of the brain rich in neuronal networks which seemed to be responsible for these negative attributes. When comparing different segments of the population he found that there was a range in size and complexity of these areas between individuals. He began piecing together a theory concerning how these areas of the brain might be responsible for creating the negative actions of characters. He found that caring people, who felt compassion, love and empathy to a higher level, had much smaller neuronal networks and activity in these areas. David Crumb suspected that altruism was hardwired. He named these centres ‘The Nyx Centres’ after the Greek Goddess of the night who spawned dark spirits.

That was interesting but unremarkable. If it had stopped there David Crumb would have been of note in psychology circles but the matter would have gone no further. But David had other ideas. He set about seeing if he could affect the operation of those Nyx Centres. After many years of treatments with various drugs, with absolutely no success, he stumbled upon a discovery that would impact on the whole world. Although not quite in the way he had imagined.

David Crumb’s laudable dream was to control the Nyx Centres so that their negative influence was annulled. He believed he could put an end to all violence, greed and selfishness if he could only eradicate the effects of these centres. He could alter human behaviour and create a kind, harmonious, happy world.

It was quite a dream.

Nobody believed him. They thought that his research was interesting enough to fund, but they did not really believe he would achieve anything.

David did. While operating the magnetic imaging machine, using the very latest MRI scanner, he found he was able to adjust the type of magnetic pulse being directed at the subject. Being a scientist he was curious to see what the effects might be. As with a lot of scientific breakthrough it was a combination of serendipity and observation. The opportunity arose and David was left in charge and twiddled with the controls. A lesser practiced technician or less observant scientist might not have noticed, but David Crumb did. At a certain combination of magnetic pulses he observed that the Nyx Centres became extremely over-excited. He noted this phenomenon.

The criminal concerned was a particularly unpleasant character who was a homicidal maniac and sadist. David Crumb had special permission to study such individuals. The criminal’s Nyx Centres were highly developed.

The second observation that David Crumb made was that following the exposure to the high level of activity in the Nyx Centres the level dropped right off and the centres went quiet. He noted that too.

That was the beginning.

Following this success David Crumb repeated the experiment on other subjects with the same result. His follow-up work on the subjects showed that the centres remained dormant, their blood supply and neuronal complexity began to reduce substantially and the centres shrank. The prison officers reported marked changes in personality in the subjects from surly and aggressive to friendly, pleasant and helpful.

People started talking about David’s work.

David began working on a machine to deliver the exact magnetic pulse as well as investigating the way in which it might be operating on a cellular level. He did not make huge progress in discovering why the pulse only seemed to affect cells in the Nyx Centres, although he ascertained that there was a definite movement of ions through membrane gates in these areas, but he did manage to develop a machine that could deliver a strong pulse over a wide area. It was small enough to be hand-held and effective over a large range. It even penetrated most materials.

In a euphoric moment David named it his ‘Love Gun’.

He had a vision that he could use this ‘weapon’ against belligerent individuals.

Kenya propositioned him to use the weapon in their fight against poachers. Gangs of such poachers were systematically destroying the last of the wild-life. As it became rarer the price had shot up. Soon there would be no wild-life left. There was a war going on. David Crumb equipped the soldiers with his devices. They directed the beams at poachers they encountered with dramatic results. The poachers were transformed from callous, cruel hunters, intent on butchering animals for their own profit, into caring individuals who became distraught at the suffering they had created.

David was propositioned by prison governors and carried out experiments on volunteer inmates with the same dramatic effects.

David was propositioned by the army. Around the world there was a relentless war being fought with the religious fanatics of fundamental beliefs whose intolerance and sadistic practices were horrific. The ‘weapon’ was completely effective. The previous intolerant, barbaric jihadists developed compassion, love and empathy, downed their weapons and embraced their victims as brothers and sisters. The savage killing and raping came to an abrupt halt.

For a moment it seemed that David’s invention would be put to good use to remove the evil of war, brutality, greed and selfishness from the planet. The relentless destruction of the natural world might be halted. Poverty might be vanquished.

It was the dawn of a new age – a harmonious paradise on earth.

The Prime Minister called him in and David proudly took his invention to show it off. That’s when it went wrong. With one pull of the trigger David could have changed the course of history, but he didn’t.

George Maverick was a genial, pleasant man, well used to dealing with the media. He was a seasoned politician. You did not get to the top in his trade without being skillful at manipulating, wrong-footing, conniving, back-stabbing and deploying chicanery. Behind the congenial physiognomy lurked a shrewd mind and lust for power. He had already ascertained the potential of David’s gun.

Within months George Maverick had mass produced the ‘Love Guns’ deployed them with his army and used them on all his enemies. His enemies included, his fellow politicians of all parties, the population of the country and the rest of the world.

It took a remarkable short period of time for George Maverick to conquer the world and become the first global tyrant.

Every tyrant judges their own power by what they are able to impose. George lived in opulence behind magnetically opaque plastic walls while his subjects toiled and suffered greatly. He loved to watch their misery.

George Maverick, like most of our leaders throughout history, had highly developed Nix Centres. If you measured brains on that alone – he was a genius.

David’s mistake was to trust a politician. He should have known that all they were interested in was power.