"Ian Watson - Saving for a Sunny Day" - читать интересную книгу автора (Watson Ian)

of thinking to do, for a six-year old chap. But he was bright.
****
"He's very bright,тАЭ Miss Carson told Denise and Mike during a parentsтАЩ evening at school three years
later. тАЬThe star pupil, as ever."

"Ever,тАЭ said Jimmy, тАЬis probably the crucial word. If I'm clever now, presumably I was always clever,
and that can't changeтАФor can it? I mean seriously, does it? Was my predecessor a bit dumb to run up a
nine million debt? A bit lacking in the thought department?"

"Maybe your predecessor had a brain problem,тАЭ suggested Miss Carson helpfully. тАЬI often wonder what
happens in his next life to a kid with Downs. If he gets a normal brain next time, does he brighten up? Do
we have a brain-mind-soul dilemma here?"

"A dilemma,тАЭ said Jimmy, тАЬis two lemmas, not three, from the Greek di, two, and lemma, something
received, an assumption. Mathematically it means a short theorem used in proving a larger theorem."

"Don't be insufferable,тАЭ said Denise, тАЬor else I won't buy you an ice cream."

"Though actually there are lots of Lemmas, such as Abel's Lemma, ArchimedesтАЩ Lemma, Farkas's
Lemma, Gauss's Lemma, Hensel's Lemma, Poincar├й's Holomorphic Lemma, Lagrange's Lemma, Schur's
Representation Lemma, and Zorn's Lemma."

"No ice cream!"

"Mom, I only said such as. I didn't list all the Lemmas."

"He's probably a genius,тАЭ said Miss Carson. тАЬBut he's popular, not insufferable. He'll help anyone with
their homework. He doesn't tee off the teachers much either."

"Enlightened self-interest,тАЭ explained Jimmy. тАЬIt would be dire to be dumb in life after life, the way most
people ... Sorry, that's patronising."

"Well, son,тАЭ said Mike, тАЬhave you thought that maybe there's swings and roundabouts, or alternatively
craps and..."

"...poker,тАЭ said Jimmy. Already he had finessed his pocket money considerably by on-line gambling.

"I may be old-fashioned,тАЭ said Miss Carson, тАЬbut I think that a genius should devote himself to helping
the human race."

"A race is what life is,тАЭ avowed Jimmy. тАЬGeniuses are often a bit twisted. Who knows at any particular
moment in time what'll prove helpful to Homo Sap? Van Gogh earned millionsтАФfor other people after
he died."

"Van Go,тАЭ Miss Carson semi-echoed.

"Goff,тАЭ Jimmy corrected her gutturally in a Dutch way.
****
Of course the other kids in school all knew what they would inherit, or anti-inherit, come the age of
sixteen. Sharon Zaminski particularly boasted about her forthcoming future of lavish self-indulgence,