EC Posted January 10, 2005 Report Share Posted January 10, 2005 Hello everybody, My name's Eric and 9/11 is what brought my attention to Objectivism. I had just started back up at school to obtain a degree in physics. I have always implicitly lived by the basic premises and principals of Objectivism just not consistantly or without some contradictions. However this should have been expected since I had never heard of the philosophy up to that point, and like most people I didn't have a high appraisal of the subject from the little I had absorbed. But when 9/11 occurred it really did change me(and still is). I could not understand why a group of people would hate this country so much. I could not understand why in the months after the attack there were groups of people on campus with signs that were against are responce in Afganistan, such as "No war for Oil". As if they did not remember a world changing event that had happened a month prior, but instead blamed a clearly retalitory attack on "Imperialism". In other words I "saw" the irrational left for the first time. Prior to this event I had only given politics, philosophy, and idiology only peripheral thought because I thought they were either relitively unimportant or unaffectible by me. But then I saw pure evil one attacking this country by planes and shortly later one attacking this country from within. I joined the Conservative Union at my university because at the time that group was all I really knew of that cared about defending America and its values. It quickly became apparent that I am no Conservative though. Some of the members suggested my views sounded more libertarian, a term I had barely heard of up till that point. I did some internet searching ect., and realized I agreed with most of what libertarians had to say. I even scored 100% on their Self-Government Quiz, but still everything in their literature didn't seem to be backed up logically,and morally. Something with libertarianism just seemed wrong. One of the members of the Conservative Union mentioned something about laissez-faire capitalism, a term I had never heard of(laissez-faire not capitalism) and mentioned something about Ayn Rand. Well, I was off to the internet again and learned the basics. I have since read a great deal of what Miss Rand has written and others such as Peikoff. I didn't just find Objectivism because of 9/11 though. Actually, in a weird way and without trying to sound "new ageish" I found myself. It was almost like I was one of the industrialists from "Atlas Shrugged" and 9/11 was my John Galt coming to tell me to live my values because they are the correct ones and it its the rest of the world that is morally corrupt. In other words the events of 9/11 caused me to Shrug. Not shug and close my eyes, but to Shrug from the irrationality that inhabits this country and the world today, and open my eyes to what could be and what "I" can do to accomplish it. Well, that's me in a nutshell, I hope you enjoyed it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete Posted January 10, 2005 Report Share Posted January 10, 2005 Hey Eric, Welcome aboard. Ayn Rand's philosophy saved me from a life of condemnation. I left a church that had condemned me to hell eternal, thinking that since I had forsaken Christ on the cross, he would forsake me at the final judgement. I was taught that I needed "forgiveness of sins" to exist in the afterlife and to forsake this life altogether. With Objectivism, I discovered something better than the forgiveness of sins: knowing I had nothing to be sorry for in the first place! Enjoy your journey, stick to your physics degree if that's what you want to pursue. Don't drop your passions because you think you need to spread Objectivism: you'll do more good for Objectivism by following your passions. Afterall, that's what the Philosophy is all about. Good Luck! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redfarmer Posted January 10, 2005 Report Share Posted January 10, 2005 ... Don't drop your passions because you think you need to spread Objectivism: you'll do more good for Objectivism by following your passions. Afterall, that's what the Philosophy is all about. Good Luck! I couldn't agree with you more, Pete! Not everyone should be a philosophy major. Remember, John Galt was a physicist! *Edited to take out some phrasing which sounded too mystical for my tastes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aurelia Posted January 10, 2005 Report Share Posted January 10, 2005 Hello Eric, welcome to Atlantis. I'm a physics major too, but I'm just a freshman. I've only just started introductory courses. Even though I have limited experience I have decided to make my major in the area of plasma and high energy physics (I think that's what it's called). I want to develope new and better ways for man to create and control energy. I think that the success or failure of mankind is contingent on the amount of power we can yield over our environment, which is man's essential tool for survival. So that's my rant in ten seconds . What are you aspiring to do in physics? Aurelia Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Citizen Publius Posted January 10, 2005 Report Share Posted January 10, 2005 Welcome, Eric. There are several people on this forum that are interested in physics. I am one although my knowledge of the subject is limited at this time. An interesting thread on this forum is Cool Site. This is a test that tells you what philosophy you believe in. It is really just an advertising gimmick of sorts but it is fairly accurate. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EC Posted January 12, 2005 Author Report Share Posted January 12, 2005 I never meant to imply I was giving up Physics to study or spread Objectivism. I must have been unclear. But I will continue to study both and when I meet people who I think might be open to the Objectivist viewpoint I won't hesitate to try to influence them. That's all I meant. Eric Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Al Kufr Posted January 16, 2005 Report Share Posted January 16, 2005 Hello everybody, My name's Eric and 9/11 is what brought my attention to Objectivism. I had just started back up at school to obtain a degree in physics. I have always implicitly lived by the basic premises and principals of Objectivism just not consistantly or without some contradictions. However this should have been expected since I had never heard of the philosophy up to that point, and like most people I didn't have a high appraisal of the subject from the little I had absorbed. But when 9/11 occurred it really did change me(and still is). I could not understand why a group of people would hate this country so much. I could not understand why in the months after the attack there were groups of people on campus with signs that were against are responce in Afganistan, such as "No war for Oil". As if they did not remember a world changing event that had happened a month prior, but instead blamed a clearly retalitory attack on "Imperialism". In other words I "saw" the irrational left for the first time. Prior to this event I had only given politics, philosophy, and idiology only peripheral thought because I thought they were either relitively unimportant or unaffectible by me. But then I saw pure evil one attacking this country by planes and shortly later one attacking this country from within. I joined the Conservative Union at my university because at the time that group was all I really knew of that cared about defending America and its values. It quickly became apparent that I am no Conservative though. Some of the members suggested my views sounded more libertarian, a term I had barely heard of up till that point. I did some internet searching ect., and realized I agreed with most of what libertarians had to say. I even scored 100% on their Self-Government Quiz, but still everything in their literature didn't seem to be backed up logically,and morally. Something with libertarianism just seemed wrong. One of the members of the Conservative Union mentioned something about laissez-faire capitalism, a term I had never heard of(laissez-faire not capitalism) and mentioned something about Ayn Rand. Well, I was off to the internet again and learned the basics. I have since read a great deal of what Miss Rand has written and others such as Peikoff. I didn't just find Objectivism because of 9/11 though. Actually, in a weird way and without trying to sound "new ageish" I found myself. It was almost like I was one of the industrialists from "Atlas Shrugged" and 9/11 was my John Galt coming to tell me to live my values because they are the correct ones and it its the rest of the world that is morally corrupt. In other words the events of 9/11 caused me to Shrug. Not shug and close my eyes, but to Shrug from the irrationality that inhabits this country and the world today, and open my eyes to what could be and what "I" can do to accomplish it. Well, that's me in a nutshell, I hope you enjoyed it. That sounds almost like my story, 9/11 really changed me and it led me do discovering Ayn Rand also. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EC Posted January 16, 2005 Author Report Share Posted January 16, 2005 That sounds almost like my story, 9/11 really changed me and it led me do discovering Ayn Rand also. I'd be willing to bet theres are many like us, in fact yesterday's TIADaily links to an article in the the Washington Post that says as much. However, the actual article explains how they are all Conservatives while the TIADaily summary attacks all the 9/11 right-leaning converts as Nihilists. Maybe this is true but in so attacking them they are refusing to notice diamonds in the rough such as us thereby losing a very good chance to expand the base of Objectivism. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oldsalt Posted January 19, 2005 Report Share Posted January 19, 2005 Welcome to the forum! Your's is a very interesting story. Unfortunately, there are many people who recognized that they needed to change but who have chosen the equally bad conservative "side". I don't blame most people. I think that they are sincere in their quest for values and all they know is conservatism and religion. Objectivism is usually lumped with either Libertarianism or with an amorphous "secularism" (which usually describes the left), or both, and thus dismissed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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