_Now the underdog finally has his day._

__

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Alastair looked out at the crowd, feeling none of the usual dread, his hands steady. He opened his mouth.

“The meaning of life is like being trapped in a dungeon: first you reach into the bucket, then you rub the lotion on your skin, thus avoiding the hose altogether.”

Stunned silence. Then, inexplicably, a solitary clap, which grew in momentum until it echoed throughout the auditorium. Soon, everyone was clapping, and they all stood, like morons, applauding the folly of the most accomplished philosopher of the 21st century.

“Bravo!” they shouted.

What should have been the end to a man’s career had become his great manifesto instead.

And Alaistair realized he had made a grave error. He had overestimated the intelligence of the common man.