Thanks for the musings. I appreciated reading them because they had a kind of optimistic spirit behind them, and I identify with optimism. To quote Futurama (or was it the Simpsons?): Always look forwards, not backwards! Upwards, not forwards! And always twirling, TWIRLING towards the future! (Last part said as you float away into the sky holding a parasol, I think). (It's late, can you tell?)
Oh, one last thing:
"and that it has destroyed probably hundreds OF thousands of lives."
Well, I agree with you about the things that you said were better about college and after-college than high school, so I don't think it's just a shift in perception. Or possibly, it IS a shift in perception that you and I (and probably many others) have gone through as a result of learning to see and create one's own opportunities (especially after college) rather than learning to obey rules (high school)... possibly, the opportunities were always there, we were just never taught how to utilize them.
Yay! It's nice to know that there's life after graduation and it isn't scary and evil. (Not that I didn't know it already, but it's good to hear it again, especially around graduations.)
One, people have matured a lot, but I think also in our situation there is an issue of selection assisting in people being more pleasant, both in the general pool and our specific pool. I am fairly certain that a place like Stanford at least partly selects for non-assholes (although certainly a lot get in), if only because intelligent people tend to realize they can get what they want more if they don't piss people off. Also, in college one has a greater ability to select the people they spend time with, furthering one's ability to avoid assholes.
I don't think there has ever been a point in my life when I'd have answered that question in the affirmative. But I get the impression I am the exception. However, that doesn't mean I've never been melancholy (as you no doubt noticed last year) - it just means I've never felt things were that bad, just worse than I vaguely thought they 'could be'. Also, I think I just naturally am optimistic.
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Oh, one last thing:
"and that it has destroyed probably hundreds OF thousands of lives."
Fixed!
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I don't think there has ever been a point in my life when I'd have answered that question in the affirmative. But I get the impression I am the exception. However, that doesn't mean I've never been melancholy (as you no doubt noticed last year) - it just means I've never felt things were that bad, just worse than I vaguely thought they 'could be'. Also, I think I just naturally am optimistic.
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