Reply #86: Well, First, [View All]

You've gotten your data about spirit poles (Totems) completely backward. The lowest image on the pole is the most revered ancestor with the highest level of clout. Spirit poles are built upward. The guy at the top is the newbie.

And second, I dispute the interpretive outcome of your anecdotal data. I know a great many students who've shifted from a mediocre grade in some field of the Arts to an exceptional showing in some field of Maths or Science. Two 'C-average' students in Fine Arts so enjoyed their coursework in mixing media from raw material that they transferred to organic chemistry and performed above their previous averages in studies.

I have known no students to 'flunk out' in the pattern you describe, but would be inclined to see such a pattern as evidence of pathologically poor study habits (these people don't seem to be able to pass any courses at all) before I would interpret some intellectual superiority inherent in their pursuits.