One of the marvelous attributes of the M'cat family is the way in which subtle humor is often used to great positive effect. A case in point is Mcmoo's post above. I was intently reading my way through the mostly profound commentary, and when I reached his post I just sat and chuckled for a minute. It had the effect of completely "refreshing" my mind, saying to me "let's not take ourselves quite so seriously." Anyone wo has ever been in the role of "teacher" knows the joy of teaching students to think, instead of simply propounding dogma and cliches. Some "students" take longer than others to cross that bridge, but it's the mental nurturing by the "teacher" that helps it happen. That, dear friends, is what I see as the central value of Mudcat - the "teacher-student" relationship thriving in a way that might be next to impossible in the formality of a classroon setting, because interactions here are more in the nature of "among peers".