Jump to content
Objectivism Online Forum

Yaron Brook on the Meaning of an Independent Life

Rate this topic


Recommended Posts

ARI posted this on their website, and broadcasted its availability on various feeds, such as Facebook.

 

Entitled: Yaron Brook on the Meaning of an Independent Life

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xnl1ZSIr_YM&feature=player_embedded

 

In this talk at Chicago Ideas Week 2013, Yaron Brook offers an inspirational message to those who are young and still struggling to figure out what to do with their lives: Pick up the novel which fundamentally changed his life for the better, by showing him the meaning of an independent life: Atlas Shrugged.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Yaron is inspiring but not correct about mental calcification... not for high functioning thinkers anyway... I know of 3 people, myself included, who had the biggest mental growth after 30.  Maturity, and distance from those crazy socially dependent hormone filled teens and early 20s proved optimal for independent thought. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hear, hear! I questioned everything through those years, It was in my 30's I discovered Rand. It is only now I am addressing how I adopted it then. Did he say the mental calcification happened for all, or most? I do not recall having caught that specifically.

Edited by dream_weaver
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I will agree that the world does open up to a person in the teenage years and twenties... most educated people go through highschool, then college and/or university, have summer jobs etc. and some argue that the raw capacity to learn at that point in time is very high.  So while being exposed to so many ideas, many invalid and others valid, why not throw in Rand?  In some sense I think it is a valid point but to understand Rand I think one must have a strong sense of self, a level of independence socially and mentally.  

 

The issues is this, perhaps there is a time where it is too early, at least to fully understand.  This is a gross exaggeration but indulge me.

 

Imagine humans are literally dependent, impressionable, second handed, essentially mental and social chameleons or imitators wanting to fit in, having no real independent thought up to year X.  Then there is a period afterward during which they are now free (no longer disabled by the crippling mental state they were previously in) during which they can learn to be independent in thought, in spirit, in social orientation, etc. During this latter phase they really discover they must decide for themselves.

 

Adopting ANYTHING in the early stage is like accepting dogma, it's true because daddy says its true, it's true because everyone thinks it is true, I accept it as true because I want to fit in and make everyone happy... yes the first stage is debilitating and sad.  I theorize this stage is amplified by hormones of adolescence which amplify the need for social acceptance to near insane magnitudes (of course this varies from person to person but in general ... teenagers are in some ways literally insane... and some people never recover). Query whether or not or perhaps more to the point how one can introduce something which really requires (and yes encourages) independent thought... during a time when it is impossible? (again an exaggeration but you get my point)  The truth can become just another "viewpoint" of others to be chosen from, just another kind of dogma, which ... because it is NOT accepted by everyone ... is not to be trusted.  Is it possible introducing it too early will be counterproductive?  I do not know... perhaps it is not a bad thing to introduce some concepts from it... but one should certainly not expect understanding. 

 

Perhaps, it is like a toy given to a child who for many years keeps it as worthless baggage, or a boring curiosity, to the perspective of the dependent child, but being familiar with it years later discovers that in fact it is a priceless gift for the purposes of living and thriving as a rational adult.

 

 

I do think the ideal time to actually benefit from AS, to really understand and finally understand it, occurs after one is faced with independence and has begun to think and live independently.  Perhaps it is being pessimistic but introduction to AS and Rand I think can occur starting from early childhood but full understanding... and the real benefit probably comes to fruition after the mid twenties.

Edited by StrictlyLogical
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I take issue with most of the second paragraph. Not in that it is an exaggeration, but that it doesn't reflect the progression. I think as children we are eager to learn and discover things, and continue to do so until we are confronted by something we can't grasp, and those around us are unable or unwilling to assist. It is what we choose to do at that point that sets the course for becoming second handed, or deferring to what someone else thinks, in turn questioning our own efficacy in our ability to understand.

 

On a side note,

I shared that link with one person who retorted along the lines that it is sad that Yaron needed to read a book to tell him his life is his own. The person is near their 40's.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

Loading...
  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...