The Visionary

It's one thing to have a bunch of wild ideas but how on earth did you ever get them up? Well, you have a massive power-base and a bunch of sycophantic supporters within the science community - that helps.  Your colleagues provide further insight: 

 He’s a visionary. He is willing to take risks .  

 an activist who.. at the same time is a very big -picture thinker 

 (Not normal big-picture thinker - very big ) 

 He’s massively driven , and a great visionary. 

 Jeremy’s very much a shrewd team player who has brokered funding from several sources in negotiations with .. China. 

 A shrewd ‘visionary’ -  activist - risk-taker - good at brokering funding with the CCP.  

 Most of them i’d agree - but the very big -picture visionary ? Depends how you define visionary .  

 For mine, it’s more than someone having a grandiose thought bubble -  equipped with the mega-power to enact it.

 

 A visionary is someone who has the rare ability to: 

   

 -     think things through

 - 

 All aspects. Not limited to one's power-accumulating self-interest.  Be able to think like a Grand Master chess player. Envision how moves play out - as if you are your opponent - see not only the good that might come from a move - but the bad. Weigh that up.  

 But that’s not how Sir Jeremy approaches life. It’s more your devil-may-care style where ... we are faced with some decisions - we don’t really ever quite understand the implications of the decisions we reach. (or care) 

 Farrar (2018): This week we announced the creation of the Wellcome Leap Fund (the Great Leap Forward?), a new £250 million fund designed to fast forward .. progress  (that sounds eerily like Covid) by taking greater risks and funding ambitious research programmes at scale . .. In the meantime, I am off for a walking cycling and sailing holiday in the Alps – I’ll be in touch when I am back. 

 Nice. Set the dial to maximum risk - then pop off for a holiday in the Alps - we’ll see how it works out when I get back… 

 Now there’s no turning back. 

 Farrar, Nature: We are at a crucial juncture in international health; .. we must grasp the opportunity .. or we will lose our ventures. 

 And grasp it you did. Congratulations - you won your ventures. Freedom lost.  

 Though let’s call it the battle - not the war.