Say hello to Simon from us, Dave.
>who didn't do nearly as well as me (in terms of on-paper
>qualifications) in school, and he really loved it, and was right
>up there with the evolutionary theory arguments. But of course
>he's not thought about the stuff as much as I have,
The world seems to be cruel, Dave. People who are not as bright as you are,
and who do not think as much as you do (how do you measure the "amount of
thinking" BTW?) get the whole fun out of life and steal your share. Bastards.
>because (and I would suggest mainly because) he wasn't
>encouraged to do so as much as me. And also probably
>because he was socialising with friends more than me.
I am glad you found an explanation. The fact that he "loved it" is really
scary. We, philosophers, think too much. Lucky those who are not
encouraged to do so. They can enjoy and love what they do and we have to
take all the shit on out shoulders. And those dumb bastards are not only
happy, but also have fun with friends! This world is so CRUEL.
Dave, I have a feeling that you are confusing endless joking, complaining,
and insisting that the world is impossible to figure out (see Ayn Rand's
axioms) with *thinking*. The same way, some people confuse masturbation
with real sex.
Regards, Tadeusz (Tad) Niwinski from planet TeTa
tad@teta.ai http://www.teta.ai (604) 985-4159