Teacher as machinist

Ok, maybe this is a little far fetched but as I was describing what I liked about "The Celestine Prophecies" to a friend, several thoughts occurred:
1. The story is pretty hokey.
2. Still the idea of "coincidences" really grabbed me.

So here's my little epiphany:
A good teacher knows how to present knowledge to a student or group of students. In the case of simple information, they use terms and metaphors that are pretty universal.

In some cases though, people have a hard time learning some things, either through their particular neuro-psychological profile, or their prejudices from their experiences. In this case, the educator must shape the knowledge to fit the "shape" of the receptive part of the student's mind.
In some cases this happens in little bits, and the fitting of the "keys" actually change the "shape" of the mind, making it more receptive to more of the concept being taught. The shaping can be individual, based on what the teacher knows about the student's background, how they learn etc. or it can be based on the "shaping" formed by common cultural experience. When this is the case, I believe this is what creates a Meme.
James Redfield even talks about our culture leading us to our receptivity for his "prophecies". I think his particular genius is in constructing the story in such a way to work on our minds conditioned by the confusion and dissatisfaction engendered by our modern society.

Even though I don't buy the story, I like the ideas, and I really respect his construction (note I didn't say his writing, it's not that good.)