Ok I could have worded that better. My point (of encouragement) was that there are still airlines which value life experience over aptitude tests.
No not really. An airline is a business and these days more than ever it is a very hard nosed one. The individuals who interview for recruitment will normally be senior operational staff (often training captains and/or management pilots) and Senior HR personnel. What they are looking for is pilots who will be cost effective and productive to the business. Most of the attrition will have taken place in the earlier stages of the application process. Your "life experience" and "escaping the surly bonds of Earth" stuff is superfluous to the 30 minute slot allocated to you. They are looking for confirmation of an individual with a mature outlook and a solid training background who is Likely to be a long term asset to the business. Despite what you may think, that is found regularly in fully committed young people.