dialogue at work :

James: " Hey Joe - Question for ya : What does a Teacher do? "
Joe: " Thats pretty self explanitory, isnt it? "
James: " Humor me. "
Joe: " He teaches, so whats your point? "
James: " And what does a preacher do? "
Joe: " Preaches, so what are you trying to get at? "
James: " Ok - so we've established that. So what do you call someone who makes you think? "

Goes away for awhile, ... comes back and answers with :
Joe: " A psyciatrist. "
James: " Naah, how do you figure? They help you with your problems, not make you think. "
Joe: " Well a psyciatrist doesnt give you the answers to your problems - they make you think about them and help you think about your problems so that you can solve them on your own. They just help you think through things "

At this point I saw Joe's logic.
It made sense, but it wasnt what I was looking for - so I called Dennis over.
I asked him what a Teacher/Preache did, then hit him with the " What do you call a person who makes you think? " question.
He responded with :

Dennis : " James Collins! "
James : " No, seriously. "

Goes away - comes back some later time

Dennis : " A sales person. Because they make you think you want to buy some things. "
James: " No, that doesnt work because a Sales person sells you things, sure he makes you think - but what do you call a person who primarily makes you think? "
Dennis: " How about an Operator's Assistant? I make Joe think. "
( Dennis is my B-person, Joe is the A-person, I am a C-person. Operator, Assistant, Helper, respectively )
James : " No, An operator's assistant assists an operator. "

Goes away for awhile - comes back


Dennis : " A philosopher. "
James : " Auuuugh! *CRINGES in horror* "

--------------------------------
To explain why I put up some work dialogue.
I had thought to myself how much I wanted to be a teacher - but upon furthing thinking ... I dont want to be a Teacher.
I want to be something better than a Teacher.

You see - Teachers tell you what is right, what is wrong. How exactly something should be done.
I dont want to show anyone how to do anything - because frankly I dont know everything and there are always some other person out there with a better way of doing something than me - or who knows something more about a subject than I.
I want to make people think.
So - I tried to figure out what sort of profession that would be.

What does a teacher do? I asked myself. A teacher teaches.
What does a preacher do? He preaches.

But then what do you call someone who makes people think?

I couldnt figure it out.

Dennis, sadly - hit the nail on the head.
but do philosophers get paid and is that a profession?

( insert doubt here )