Everyone experiences disadvantages in life. Some disadvantages are the result of forces largely beyond the control of any one individual, including genetic, political, social, and historical disadvantages which no amount of trying is apt to overcome. Some disadvantages are self-inflicted, including being deliberately narrow in viewpoint; avoiding anything that is "second-rate" (every writer compared to Homer and Shakespeare is second-rate); and not allowing oneself to be alive to the difficult, the unfamiliar, and the contradictory. A third kind of disadvantage is imposed on an individual by others who exercise control. Those exercising control are themselves individuals who can be influenced to change their minds, however. Recognizing this, it is possible to work to change policies which put one at a disadvantage, replacing them with more advantageous behaviors and attitudes. (TJ)