[Off-topic] Dirk:
As a study of the human condition, there's something that's always intrigued me about the human mind. It's hard to put into words but it's something that's always piqued my interest. There's a definate duality about the way people comprehend the world, and their place in it.

I've spent plenty of my working life amongst those that have what i would call acamemic learning and those that have what i call life learning. The former seem to have an aptitude for passing tests and remembering information. They'll be able to tell you how to do a quadratic equation years after leaving school, but couldn't hold up their end of a philosophical debate for love or money. The latter might have a difficult time doing simple arithmetic, but could speculate for hours upon the true nature of the universe and could debate the finer points of evolutionary psychology until the cows come home.

Even the scientific community now recognises this duality. Once upon a time IQ was the standard for judging somebody's intelligence. Until somebody else came along and said, 'hey, this isn't right, i'll design a test that puts the emphasis on somebody's ability to empathise rather than solve math tests'. So was born the EQ test.

I'm sure everyone has experienced this phenomenon to some extent. For me personally, the people i've met who have faced adversity in their lives, who have been reflective and have 'come up the hard way' have also been the most interesting to be around. They tend to have the most bull**** free and realistic outlook on life, and they tend to have the most insightful and thought provoking things to say about the universe and their place in it.

The latter camp, those that never faced adversity, those that never learned life lessons, but did well in school and tested well and got good jobs...man, those dudes are as shallow and interesting as a plate of Tapioca pudding. You can see in an instant that their brains have never had a decent workout! They bore me to tears to be honest.

When you hear somebody, certain celebrities for instance, talk about how miserable their life was, how hard it was for them coming up..and would they do it differently if they could..? '****, no', is what they would usually say. Why? Because they know that coming up hard and having a functional brain is more important than coming up easy and being a boring dumbass. Of course, the boring dumbass' of the world don't know any better, so they live in a state of blissful ignorance, while the people who have suffered, those with the greatest understanding, know all too bloody well what it's like to be intelligent and still be on the bottom rung of the ladder.. and they have enough insight and wherewithal to torture themselves because of the unfairness of it all!

The common labourers that i've worked with, the tree surgeons, the landscape gardeners of the world.. have also been the people that have challenged my mind the most, had the more interesting things to say, and given me the best conversations of my life! The middle class, stuffed shirts that i've worked with have never even come close to being able to hold an interesting conversation!

There's no real point to this ramble. You either get it or you don't. If there's a point to any of this it's that if you fail at school or life, there's a good chance that you are a better person than those who didn't. There's also a good chance that if you have a ****-load of qualifications, but have never looked to the stars and wondered 'why', i'd probably find you a tedious bore if we ever met in real life! :p

Those of you who have doubts about your academic or social abilities, but have spent hours staring at a wall agonising over the mysteries of the universe, would find themselves welcomed into the select group of people who are far more valuable to this planet than the dogmatic, tunnel visioned, vacant minded sheep that make up the rest of this planets population!

I reserve my respect for those who fought to earn it. If you reached the top despite your circumstances, i applaud you. If you are stuck at the bottom because of your circumstances i applaud you too! If you got anywhere in life without knowing how you came to be there.. well, **** you! :)