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Intro (take II)

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This is what I said in my OP.

I know that under the right circumstances I am capable of committing murder, and so are you. I know under the right circumstances I am capable of following whatever my hearts desire is. And so are you, even if that included having an affair with your wife or girlfriend, after all, I’d be following one of the core principles of Objectivism.

The hardest thing to explain is the glaringly evident which everybody had decided not to see.--Ayn Rand

You all have asked me to provide proof. I knew I didn't have to because one of you would.

Now the question you have to ask yourself is, under these same circumstances that Fletch has provided. Do you think you could keep yourself from doing things any differently than these two people?

I have not come here to offend anyone, I have not come here to make false accusations. One thing none of you have asked me is if I agree with Ayn Rand on any of her teachings. To answer that question, yes, but as you can see there are things I do disagree with. But I can see too that I want to know more about "why" I do the things I do also. And perhaps this isn't the board for me. I would like to say that it's been nice talking to you all, and I do appreciate all of your input. I apologize for not addressing each one of your posts. I would like to give you something to consider if I may. Take it for what it's worth.

Being nobody is a freedom in itself. I don't have to compete with any one of you in any area, all I have to do is be the best that "I" can be, and if that just happens to be the best there is, then that's just a bonus. One of the reasons I chose this username is based on the western with Terrence Hill and Henry Fonda called "My name is Nobody". I recommend it, I think you'd enjoy it. Thanks again for your input.

Edited by n0b0dy
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I have not come here to offend anyone, I have not come here to make false accusations. One thing none of you have asked me is if I agree with Ayn Rand on any of her teachings.

That would be because a.) it doesn't matter whether you *claim* you agree or not, and b.) experience has shown me, at least, that you're most likely the least qualified person to make that determination either way. Quite a large percentage of the people who come here have no idea what they're talking about and must either be shooed away or corrected through a long, painful, laborious process.

But I can see too that I want to know more about "why" I do the things I do also. And perhaps this isn't the board for me.

It certainly isn't if you're looking for an answer other than "because you chose to" or "I don't know, why?" You want a behavioral psychology board or something like that if you're looking for explanations of that kind. :huh:

Being nobody is a freedom in itself. I don't have to compete with any one of you in any area, all I have to do is be the best that "I" can be, and if that just happens to be the best there is, then that's just a bonus.

You don't have to compete with anyone, anyway--why hold yourself to a comparative standard in the first place? Why do you have to be anonymous in order to avoid comparing yourself to other people?

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Now the question you have to ask yourself is, under these same circumstances that Fletch has provided. Do you think you could keep yourself from doing things any differently than these two people?

Consider this fact. The most important attribute distinguishing one person from another is the contents of one's mind. It is a person's values, their thoughts, all the products of a lifetime of their using their mind to direct their life. It is not the sum of their body parts. Although you have not explained why any one of us is just as capable of murder as anyone else, you seem to be basing this argument on the notion that as physical beings, we are physically capable of murder, and are physically capable of changing from a peaceful psychology to a muderous one, presumably through some change in our brain chemistry.

I would reject that by saying that while it's true that anyone is physically capable of murder, that is not what makes your assertion true, because for any person to undergo such a change would require them to essentially become someone else. I, as who I am, am not capable of murder. All my thoughts and values make murder a literal impossibilty. In order for my body to commit murder, my mind would have to be emptied of what makes me me and replaced with the mind of a monster. I wouldn't be Kurt Colville anymore -- I'd be someone else with the same name and body, but a different mind. It is on that basis that your claim is false, and the recognition of which is critical to understanding both Objectivism and human identity.

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You all have asked me to provide proof. I knew I didn't have to because one of you would.

That does not prove your assertion. You leave here having made a series of statements without underlying proof. Do not expect that you have made some indelible mark on minds which typically want to have claims substantiated by reality, something you have failed to do so far.

But if you leaving, you really don't have to worry about that do you?

Edited by RationalBiker
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Now the question you have to ask yourself is, under these same circumstances that Fletch has provided. Do you think you could keep yourself from doing things any differently than these two people?

Yep.

Being nobody is a freedom in itself. I don't have to compete with any one of you in any area, all I have to do is be the best that "I" can be, and if that just happens to be the best there is, then that's just a bonus.

Sounds like a bromide for people who aren't really good at anything at all. Everyone is the best at being themselves by default because nobody else has the option to even try to be them. Turning that into an achievement is pointless and dumb.

Not everyone views everything as a competition. I'm not looking to be the best classical guitarist in the world, I'm looking to be a good enough classical guitarist to make extra money off it and entertain people (specifically women ;D). I don't freak the fuck out every time someone else in my class learns a piece that I don't know how to play yet. Nor do I look for excuses as to why I don't know that piece, I just weigh the pros and cons and decide if I'd rather learn that piece or a different one. It has nothing to do with competition. And I'm certainly not a nobody because of that.

Quite frankly I feel bad for you. If you're really such an "expert" on human nature and sociology (though given your methods of study I am extremely fucking skeptical) you could use that talent to write a book, get an article in the paper or a magazine, write some song lyrics for your favorite local band, etc. Produce something besides incoherent ideas and outlandish claims and maybe you'd see yourself as somebody.

Also, I am skeptical that your username choice was that much influenced by the movie "My Name is Nobody" because you're name isn't "Nobody," it's "n0b0dy." The O's are zeroes, a number representing nothingness or equilibrium. It is not capitalized, as a proper noun is. In the English language only unimportant words that do not refer to people or important places or events are not capitalized. These two factors lead me to believe that you see yourself as unimportant, insignificant, not a person. The fact that you put "I" in quotation marks, as if it were an abstract concept instead of an actual concrete reality, supports this. You combat these feelings by acknowledging them as the correct and proper worldview and placing yourself on a pedestal of supreme divine understanding about human nature and relations. This is basically the same way I behaved before I discovered and understood Objectivism. I would recommend you re-read what you've read by Ayn Rand and this time, cast aside any pretense you have about how much you understand human life and philosophy.

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