First posed in 2004 by students at the University of Liverpool this is the theory that the number of highlighter pens a person owns is directly proportional to that person's capacity for intelligent and rational thought. Thus someone who owns no highlighters is some sort of general thicket, whereas someone who owns many is a genius in the making.

This theory is founded in the presumption that those who do the best work in an educational situation are the cleverest, and that by the best work we mean the most well presented, studiously laboured over and perfectly formed submission presented.

Of course this is not true to many of us as some of us value content over form, and creativity over conformity. However the education system, especially in primary years, leans this way penalising intelligent children with wild hand writing, and grubby exercise books.

The highlighter, in essence nothing more than a glorified felt tip pen, is in fact a symbol for all that is well formed, and precise in the education system. It shows a willing to studiously research, and make reading easier for the prospective marker.