Eh, Thomas Edison is a ... Was a Rogue.

Bro & I had a conversation where I missed all the geniuses of the past & said what would happen if they didn't die? If only they didn't die, how much much farther humankind would be now. All those genius men.  What a pity.  (Looking out the bus window) It would certainly be better than now. Or... (come to think) would it be worse?

Bro: Didn't you say Da Vinci invented things for warfare?
Me (frowns): Yeah. Tanks, catapults & stuff.  He would destroy the world rather than make it better.

Previously,  Bro had said Edison was very enterprising in his time. So I wondered how he would fare adapting to our time if he were still alive today.  He would certainly revolutionize & put his hand to everything in improving things including his own light bulb & the current trouble with so-called energy saving bulbs.

I saw Edison in a good light.

Now I learn he was actually, a rogue. Using mobster style (with guns) to bully others as this narrator says in the video. Pretty surprising but then again, looking at Edison's eyebrows & look, he looks like a bad fellow.

And copying old-fashioned films on negative was surprisingly easy. Just shine a light on a strip of negative & it's done.

He really looks like a pirate.   It's fitting that he died rather than lived on.  He would certainly make things worse with his greed in this new money world that's worse than before.

I always felt that it's a pity all the geniuses of the past died.  But now I have come to understand that geniuses cannot be allowed to live forever because they have their bad sides just like everybody else.  The world could be worse if they continued living on.  Or the world might well no longer exist because they put their genius to destructive use.

(I was looking to re-watch Fifth Element. Bro was telling me about a funny scene in 5th Element where the villain choked on a cherry despite all his gizmos, his fumbling hand pressing all the buttons, all the gadgets popping up, cactus etc... & the priest asked where's the robot that will pat him on the back? I saw the scene on Youtube & that's how I came upon this Edison video).