Genius Dies in the Shadows

Back in the 80s (boy, am I old), there was a Spanish band named Duncan Dhu. Originally from San Sebastian, a town in the Basque Country, they became famous throughout not only their home country, but also in every corner of Latin America. Their style was based on an acoustic and simple pop-rock with a touch of rockabilly. Sounds interesting? Perhaps even more enticing than the sound were the lyrics of their songs. One in particular, En algun lugar (which means 'somewhere') is widely regarded as not only a catchy tune that has become a classic of Spanish-language rock, but also for its lyrics. With the folksy, happy spirit of the music, the words decrying the tragedy of life in many places of the world can be overlooked.


I was recently thinking of this after listening to a speech given by pop-star Shakira at Oxford University (of all places!). My Dad sent me the video, and I hadn't gotten around to viewing it until yesterday. She speaks a great amount of truth, but one phrase in particular jumped out at me:

"Universal education is the key to greater prosperity and stability in the world."

Indeed. Many a totalitarian and repressive government has suppressed education as well as the free access to information as a means of keeping control over its population. This is tragic in itself, but being some sort of humanist as I am, to me the most terrible loss is that of human potential. A small child in Bolivia who can't read or write might otherwise have become the next Nobel in Literature; a young girl in Mexico who will be fortunate if she manages to finish elementary school before having to drop out might have gifted the world with a solution to hunger; and that inner city boy from Detroit who dropped out of high school just might have turned out to be a bright surgeon, able to save many lives.


We will never know, and it won't be just their loss - it is a loss for all mankind.


This brings me back to Duncan Dhu's song. There are a couple of lines which go "Y en las sombras, mueren genios sin saber de su magia concebida, sin pedirlo, mucho tiempo antes de nacer". In the shadows, genius dies without learning of its magic, conceived a long time before being born. This just makes reference to the fact that, even if a person lives, their genus might not: it needs to be nurtured in a different way. If we keep genius in the shadows, it will wilt and die faster than the plants in my German flatmate's room.


We have to give these unknown geniuses the chance to work their magic, so that we might all benefit from it.