Papa

I’m not sure when the thought entered my mind. The thought as outlandish as it may seem, is a reflection of my restlessness and boredom at my continued success in the physical world. I needed a challenge to counterbalance the reality of being able to have anything I wanted, but therein lay the paradox.

The luxurious trappings that I, George Courtney accumulated became not only meaningless as a source of pleasure, but actually the cause of anxiety. When your financial worth is measured in millions, there are limitations to your acquisitions. When billions become a reality, limitations cease to exist. My situation was unique. I was a billionaire slowly becoming disillusioned and unhappy with my state of affairs. I needed a challenge.

The one ray of sunshine which helps me cope with my vast array of responsibilities is Carol my wife of 30 years. She has provided me with the strength that gives me the mental stability to continue to cope with daily decisions, decisions that continue to mushroom in more acquisitions and more wealth.

Unlike me, Carol is appreciative of the wealth we accumulated. She said many times, “George, God gave us the opportunity to help so many charitable causes.”

I have to admire this beautiful petite woman who has never forgotten her modest background and decided to use her resources to create several charitable foundations.

It was Carol who was the sole person among the dissenters to see the potential of my computer Search Software program, one which I developed while I was a senior in college. My persistence to go ahead and present my program to the computer market was validated by its acceptance and use by 90 percent of the computer industry.

For Carol and myself there was mutual admiration which soon developed into a hot romance. Carol’s pregnancy precluded her finishing school. Carol devoted the next 20 years to raising our son and daughter while I was busy coping with an industry that was exploding around me.

The self induced challenge I accepted was simple. I would explore the nucleus of all living activity…the Brain. My goal is to unlock the secret that would enable humans to communicate with computers solely through the use of brain waves. The ramification and recompense of such a discovery would be endless.

I examined my motivation for taking on such a mammoth task even though my educational training is limited to my degree in Computer Science. Was it that I always suspected that computers and the human brain had a distinctive relationship, and I would go where no one has gone before, or was I unconsciously seeking a goal that would likely end in failure? Failure in my circumstance would also have its merits in that it could only provide the healthy emotional balance I needed to keep my sanity.

The one overriding feeling in choosing a challenge that has been beyond the scope of any scientific endeavor, past or present, provided me with a feeling of excitement, an emotion I had not felt for a long time. I had the resources and the scientific talent available. It was with this knowledge that I decided to discover whatever the 10 pounds we carry on our neck had to offer. Little did I know that I would regret this decision for the rest of my existence?

Aside from the intimacies of love, what Carol and I enjoy most is conversing. We spend endless hours talking. The subjects of our talks range throughout the week from psychological observations (mine) to practical applications (hers). This incessant stream of verbal intercourse between Carol and I is directly responsible for another phenomenon…our ability to communicate through mental telepathy. We became cognizant of this capability soon after we married. If either one of us spend more than a few minutes together, keeping a secret from each other is impossible. Needless to say, the consequence of this occurrence range from humor to embarrassment.

Who among us has not looked occasionally at an attractive person of the opposite sex with more than innocent aspirations? After being the subject of several steely eyed stares from Carol, I made it a point to repress any feelings or fantasies that could be misinterpreted as a lack of desire for the woman I love.

On the flip side, on more than one occasion, Carol’s demeanor in spite of her prudishness revealed a healthy libido when relating to certain males. I never confronted her reaction because frankly I enjoyed sharing the privacy of her thoughts.

The new challenge I created for myself I shared with Carol as I have with every major decision I was confronted with. Being always able to count on her support and practical reasoning, I was taken aback to find she was against my pursuing the project I envisioned.

Carol asked, “George, why are you so adamant about chasing a goal when so many learned men and women in the medical sciences have failed? You have unlimited resources to help mankind in more practical ways.”

George replied, “Knowing I built a cottage industry for the sole purpose of doling out money for good causes is enough practicability. Besides failure can only be measured if the effort is made to begin with. I don’t know of any person or institution that has seriously tried to communicate with the human brain using brain waves.”

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