Do you ever wonder what if the Doctor exists, and walks among us? That ‘Torchwood’ is real and the television show ‘Doctor Who’ is just an elaborate cover up ? If the answer to that is yes, ever wonder who he might be?
Well, in the grand tradition of me not wanting to discern between fact and fiction, let me tell you exactly who I think the Doctor is. Last month I told you who I thought the Second Doctor was in real life. This month:
The Third Doctor: Lester Brown
For those of you who are familiar with Lester Brown, you may be surprised that I chose him, if only because he’s not actually a scientist, as my last two choices and probably my next eight will be.
But you know what? You try and find a scientists with curly hair that isn’t Steven Pinker, or any of the esteemed members of the The Luxuriant Flowing Hair Club for Scientists.
So, why did I chose Lester Brown, aside from the fact that he and the Third Doctor do look uncannily alike? Several reasons. The first, of course, is the bowtie.
But the next reason, and the most important one, is that the Doctor is a bit a of a superhero, who dedicates himself to saving humanity from mass destruction more often than not. If that is a qualification, then Brown definitely fits the bill.
Lester Brown was among the first people to advocate for climate change awareness, and actively pursued changing government policy and population habits that contributed to it. He is also credited as one of the most influential thinkers of our time, and is one the pioneers of sustainable development. In fact, the Library of Congress in 1986 requested his papers, saying his works “have already strongly affected thinking about problems of world population and resources”.
Bet you never thought that someone with an education in Agricultural Economics would be so instrumental in our current world views today. Pretty cool, huh?
Of course, there is one more reason I thought Lester Brown would be a good choice for the Third Doctor, and that’s that the the Third Doctor is stuck on Earth, and therefore would feel more obligated than normal to protect it.
