Once in a future time the earth was scourged by cancer. Instead of increasing, life expectancy decreased, and all people were afraid. Great minds turned their intellects on the problem of defeating the disease and a new and powerful drug was developed. The drug worked by reversing the metabolism of dividing cells and turning them back to one original stem cell. The drug was very dangerous, because it could work on any cell, not just cancer. Although the strictest care was taken, a crazy person sold a batch of the drug to Otherworld terrorists, and the terrorists contaminated the water supplies of the cities of the earth. When word of the crime got out the politicians said there was no cause for concern but they knew better and soon more and more people were becoming ill as their organs shrunk and lost their function. There was a great panic. At a meeting of the World Council of States a decision was made to turn all resources to defeating the menace. New labs were built. Research centers worked twenty four hours a day. All other problems were left alone. A system for dealing with questions and suggestions was set up so that no stone was left unturned in the great effort.
One day a boy of twelve asked a very simple question. It stopped the scientists in their tracks. They stared at each other in amazement. Why hadn't they thought of that? Their research took a new turn. Many of them were already dying. Time was running out. As despair swept the world an antidote was developed and made available in a matter of months. The antidote worked, but it left the world once more without a cure for cancer.
In the years when no other problems were addressed, people began to realize that most difficulties tended to resolve themselves. Even cancer resolved itself. The question people now asked all the time was ``Does it really matter?''
The world became a different place. The boy who asked the question that paved the way for the antidote was given a medal which he lost. Great things were expected of him, but he grew up to be just an ordinary person ...and did it really matter?