Monte Cristo

Why does Objectivism need to have an official stance on every topic or issue? The Objectivism philosophy provides the tools to come to a reasonable conclusion, but it is unreasonable that the same conclusion will be reached by everyone. I feel that the beauty of philosophy is that there are no restrictions on thought processes. By developing an official stance, the necessity for thinking has evaporated. Oh, and I do think it is reasonable that life exists elsewhere in the universe. It is scientifically possible that an ideal situation like ours on Earth developed in other regions. But I guess that it is statistically possible that extra-terrestrial life has not been created.

I'm in the same class as you, but I am not as active in local clubs and tournaments, mainly because there are few around me. I don't have the time to travel an hour or more to play. I mostly play on ChessWorld.net. It is like correspondence chess, and you get to play so many games against players from all over the world.

I've been running the GIMPS program on my computer for about a year now. It requires no work on my end, and doesn't affect the speed of my programs (which is important when I run CAD programs). Discovering a new Mersenne prime number would be pretty exciting.

The underlying purpose of the game is to figure out the relationship based on an arbitrary set of rules determined by the puzzle inventor (in this case, the programmer). Recognizing the relationship only proves that for that moment, the solver was able to think like the originator did when creating the puzzle. It is not any deeper than that.

Are you looking for someone to post an answer? Or do we become part of a special fraternity? Petals Around the Rose just might be the most ridiculous "brain teaser" created. It has no significance whatsoever.

Just wanted to say hello to everyone. I've been following the new posts for about a month, through the RSS feed, and became convinced that this forum is a great medium for intellectual discussion. I was introduced to Atlas Shrugged by a member of another forum I belong to, and decided to check it out. After reading about Miss Rand, I discovered that my ideals and values were very much in tune with her philosophy. It has been very exciting to read and learn about Objectivism, and I am relieved to have found it. I currently attend Drexel University, in Philadelphia, where I major in Civil Engineering and minor in Mathematics. I also studied Mechanical Engineering at Johns Hopkins, in Baltimore. I work full time for a civil engineering firm, where I perform site design and land surveying. I am recently married, and have a baby on the way. Fortunately, I was able to experience Italy for my honeymoon. My primary interests are chess and reading. I'm looking forward to the interaction. Not so quick, was it?