abaya

This point doesn't relate much to the rest of the thread, but I wanted to mention that a *lot* of people in their late teens and early 20's seem to feel this way. I certainly did. Now, I don't mean to put you down, JinnKai, for you may very well be "above average" (many TFP'ers are, in my opinion). All I'm saying is that for me, having been a teacher for high-school and college-age Americans for the last five years, I can easily say that many people think they are above average when they are really just average. When did being "average" become such a bad thing, anyway?.. people have such a sense of entitlement these days, it's insane. I think when people question authority out of that sense of entitlement, then I get irritated (not attributing that to you, Jinn, but it does happen a lot in my position).

If you ask me, a shift occurred in American public education in the 80s and 90s (yes, that's when I was in school, too), leading teachers to emphasize how "everyone's a winner," "no one deserves to fail," etc... thus resulting in a large portion of the US population having inflated ideas of their brain capacities. I see this most often during grading periods; Average Joe and Jane kids think that a C is an insult, and that their parents and teachers always taught them that they were the best, they deserved an A, no matter how little work or independent thinking they did in class. Class averages range MUCH higher than they used to, say, 30+ years ago... when a college degree meant something. Heck, a high school diploma used to mean something... but now it's "below-average."

/steps off thread-jacking pedestal..

__________________
And think not you can direct the course of Love;
for Love, if it finds you worthy, directs your course.
--Khalil Gibran