You forgot to factor in, as I often do, the fact that teachers often begat teachers. I'm a Grand-teacher at least five times over, the lessons I've imparted in creativity, imagination and interpersonal skills are now being filtered through the brains of others into minds of people I'll never meet. This may sound pretentious and somewhat wankery, but I do believe the ROI for good teachers is many generations long. Unfortunately, bad teachers can also do terrible amounts of damage.

I don't think I've reached 10,000 - but a Penguin can dream. Nice to see you out in the wild. :o)