“If I can’t learn how to learn, I fear that I may never reach my full potential”
– Sigma Medolf
Sigma Medolf was a polymath, a person possessing wide-ranging knowledge, who had been inventing products since his early teen years. His most successful invention was an updated AI version of the Magic 8 Ball. Originally created in the 1940s, the oversized billiard ball was a plaything from which people could seek advice by asking it “Yes“ or “No” questions and then rotating the ball to find the answers. Sigma succeeded in updating its mechanism and the questions it could answer.
As a diverse learner, Sigma wasn’t a particularly good student, so although he achieved success as an inventor early in his life, he found it difficult to gain entry into Stanford University due to his low grade point average and standardized testing scores.
Sigma’s unusual learning and teaching style became evident when he was accidentally directed to the image of a Samsonite Freeform Spinner suitcase while on a search for a container to house components needed for an entry in a competition sponsored by the National Science Foundation in 2030.
Over time, Sigma adapted the suitcase to accommodate numerous devices, but eventually scaling the assembly down to a handheld unit, then to an app, and finally to a system devoid of components of any kind. In the process, he partnered with entrepreneurs who shared his passion and helped him develop products that eventually would improve the lives of the blind, foster altruism, and expand the legacies of individuals around the world.
Samsonite is the story of how a creative person adapted his skills to conquer personal inadequacies in order to proactively change the course of human existence and help protect life on our fragile planet from extinction.
