> 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.

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.

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."

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.

Dar "I'm a rebel, and I'll never be any good" ien