You've seen Stephen Hawking, the way he is obliged to painstakingly tap out one letter at a time for hours. Then his computer drones out a sentence.

I feel that this describes the way I ponder. It's as if enlightenment dribbles into me drop by hesitating drop. I'm not a fast thinker. I don't think it is possible to be, or at least not if you want to be sure of your conclusions. (The number of times that I had to go over the reality of my first marriage before I could be 'satisfied' that dissolving it was the right thing to do . . .)

I'm deeply suspicious of logic. Science, Philosophy, Religion, Common sense -- none of them do it for me. I need to heft an hypothesis. I need to weigh it, toss it around, taste it, test it, try it on for size. In short, I need to grok it fully.

I do IQ tests reasonably well (step this way for Mensa, Sir). But I'd do even better if it weren't for the inbuilt time factor. What's the point in rushing? What good does it do? What does it prove?