> > So getting back to the "different is good" vs "different is bad" debate, it all depends on how you word it. Too few people actually think about the philosophies they condone and promote, and too many philosophies are condoned and promoted purely *because* they help somebody, somewhere, feel a little better about themselves. A smart person will sit down and think about meaning first. Maybe different is just different, neither inherently good nor bad (well, depending on the difference -- one of a different race is neither inherently better or worse, while a stronger than usual moral character can be considered a good difference), and it is how those differences are used or not used that makes the difference.
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> The whole concept of "being differrent" being good or bad makes no sense to begin with, just from a logical, grammatical standpoint: "different" is a comparative term, and, as such, is meaningless on its own. To say that "different" is good makes no more sense than to say that "taller" is good. I always used to respond to this silliness by saying that, rather than being different, I am exactly the same. It makes no more sense, nor any less sense. But it's easier for people to spot the absurdity because it's not something they hear all the time.
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> As you say, being different *from certain things in certain situations* can be good, but that's neither here nor there. People - again, as you say - are lazy, and can't be bothered to think. They don't want to spend time examining their lives and the world around them to find what would truly be best, instead choosing to latch on to stupid platitudes like "it's good to be different."
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> And, as for me, I thought of a black spade. Why? Well, a spade was the first thing that leapt to mind, and I associated the colour "black" with it because that is the colour borne by the suit of spades in a standard deck of cards. What does this say about me? Well, the most one could reasonably draw from this is that I have a somewhat logical mind, since I picked my second choice from a logical association with the first. That is all. Not that I'm a "rebel," or a "free thinker" or any such rubbish.
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> Dar "I'm a rebel, and I'll never be any good" ien

I think a lot of perhaps too close inspection has gone into an innocent statement. I know when I was celebrating the fact that I had not thought the way I was supposed to the logic was, "Ha. I have beaten the system." which gives me pleasure just because I like to prove people wrong. When I was glad that everyone else had similarly unorthodox opinions it was because I felt the triumph of all of us beating the system, a closer kinship to other people who were also different in this regard, and a feeling that perhaps the difference would account for the rulingness that is the Rinkworks community.
As for the employment of minorities which people have argued about I think that has been taken much too far. When people will not hire someone because of their race you should take action, or else those people will never work. But making people hire people who could be incompetent simply because of their race is stupid. A lot of people do not think before they implement programs, but only do what sounds good. It is hard to make idealistic decisions in a realistic world. That's not entirely the fault of those who make the programs. They are only trying to make their constituents happy. People just seem to want to "have their cake and eat it too" which is not always possible in real life. Personally I think television has made people far too idealistic, more so than every before.
Anyway, some of us have felt bad for being different our whole lives. So we joke about it. It's the old laughing with versus laughing at situation. If you think being "different" is good, you can feel good about yourself even if everyone else tells you you are worthless. I don't know. That's just my feelings on the situation.

Melanie