'Life,' so many philosophers inform us, 'is a journey.' 'We have come to this Earth,' say those same sages 'to learn a lesson.' How very wise. What a pity that they don't go on to explain where the journey is to and from; and that they so frequently fail to identify the precise nature of the lesson. What if we have enrolled in the wrong class? What if we are labouring under a delusion about the destination?