coffee-beans

EXCELLENT analysis of probability. This is precisely what I've been trying to formulate in my own head, but the best I could come up with was something akin to "probability has to do with our lack of knowledge about of a specific event." I appreciate your thoroughness. My background is Protestant, and I'm well versed in Creation theory -- but I've come to the point where I'm open to all reasonable explanations about human origin. My one basic premise is that something exists independently of anything, which is Rand's idea that "existence exists". Most Christians claim that the only self existent thing is God, and everything else is dependent on Him. They usually cite the second law of thermodynamics to "prove" that the universe couldn't be eternally self-existent. If you have any further reading material critiquing this view, I'd appreciate any references. Thanks!

Something I noticed when I finished The Fountainhead and Atlas Shrugged was that the villains seemd to be the focus of The Fountainhead, and the heros seemed to be the focus of Atlas Shrugged. Ellsworth Toohey and Peter Keating were definately more sinister than James Taggert, and Galt and Dagney were far more powerful than Roark or Dominique. I wonder if this shows a conscious shift in emphasis on Rand's part, from the evils of altruism/collectivism to the virtues of egoism/individualism. I did read the novels in correct order, and found the latter building on the former in substance and style.

Too bad he didn't use the holy hand grenade of antioch--