Or rather, an analogy.
Once upon a time, not so long ago, in a place not all that far away, there existed a class. This class was full of people of differing viewpoints and background, but they got together because most of them wanted to learn in a lively way.
One day, the class had an assignment to do, a simple question to answer, and a new student arrived. Lets call him Bob, a nice generic name.
Well, Bob showed up with a smile and a smirk, for he knew he was smarter than everyone else in the class. How did he know he was the smartest? Because that is what he believed, and believed it he did with all his being.
Well Bob had been checking the answers that the other students had for the question, and he smiled to himself, for only he had the right answer, and he knew this because with his intellect, he must have had the right answer.
What was this question? A simple one. What is 2 +2? And it was advised that the students should show how they arrived at their conclusion, for even if the answer was wrong, insights could be gained from how the answer was arrived at.
So Bob walked up to the front of the class with his smirk. And he announced to the class, "2+2 equals.. orange!"
The silence was deafening. No-one said a word, and Bob grinned even wider, knowing that everyone was overwhelmed with his vast knoweldge, and ability. Then one student raided their hand, and said, "But isn't 2+2 equal to 4?"
Bob raised his hand, and pointed at the student who spoke. And he laughed, "Look at you! I can't believe you said that! Everyone else is laughing at you too, because of your stupid answer!" But no-one else was laughing. Only Bob. The students were confused by his statement, for indeed, no-one else was laughing.
Another student raised his arm, and asked, "Well, how did you come to your conclusion?"
Bob grinned as he shook his head, "I can not believe I came to this class. I was told that these people were smart, but it is obvious that this is a poor class, and no-one here is worth my time. I should not have to do your work for you, for if you can not find the answer, then you aren't smart enough!" Bobs friend, Bill then jumped up clapping, "Alright Bob! You show them!"
Again the students were confused by the answer, and started muttering to each other. Clearly the class was overwhelmed by the greatness that was Bob. A third student raised their hand, and asked, "Well.. Uh.. Would that be the colour orange, or the fruit?"
At this, Bob rolled his eyes to the heavens, and said, "Oh.. Why am I here, and not with the gifted students, its so obvious that you are all mentally incompetent if you do not even know the answer to such a simple question!" He then compared himself to a great athlete who managed to win a game against others who were useless in the sport. This was a strange comment, for it always seemed that Bob was the last one picked in sports for he wasn't very good there either.
Bill of course jumped up and down, clapping and laughing, "You show 'em Bob!"
The class then broke up into smaller groups to discuss their answers, which were all vastly different from Bob's 'conclusion', for they actually used math, and numbers for the solution. As it turned out, everyone started to ignore Bob, which only reinforced the thought that Bob was far too smart, and perfect for the class, they were awed by him. And so, Bob basked in the glow of what he felt was his own greatness.
And yet, fires can still be damaged, and altered by fire. 2+2 equals 4.
