One of the funniest movies ever made,  “This is Spinal Tap”, is a mockumentary about a failing heavy metal band.  At one point in the film, guitarist Nigel is explaining his amplifier to a filmmaker who is doing a piece on the band.   

“It’s very special, because, as you can see–the numbers all go to 11 . . . you see, most blokes are going to be playing at 10–you’re on 10 on your guitar, where can you go from there? . . . Nowhere! Exactly! What we do, if we need that extra push over the cliff, you know what we do? You put it up to 11.” 

Film reviewer Roger Ebert suggests this is a moment not of heavy metal logic, but of theology.  The existential truth is that wherever there is a maximum, it is human nature to look for more. 

This yearning for the next level is certainly manifest in academia.  For most of my school experience, the top grade of “A” was worth 4 points, and a Grade Point Average of 4.0 was the standard of perfection.  A select few individuals had such a GPA, and then there was the rest of us. <continue>