Theory: Bill Gates is autistic enough that he views other people as objects, (as do many vaguely nerdy folk – this tendency is much more common than people think, but nobody likes talking about it) but has overcome this natural inclination through hard work. As a side effect, people in other lands are just as “real people” to him as people locally, thus necessitating his hard work on problems of world famine, etc.
As a side effect of his realizing that people aren’t numbers, he can’t look at numbers without thinking of the people they represent. And so the cure for mild aspergers turns out to also be the cure for malaria.
