earwax

Is Amity Shlaes 'The Forgotten Man' the best book on the history of the Great Depression? http://www.amazon.com/Forgotten-Man-Histor...9730&sr=8-1

It seems to me that we are at a point in time that Capitalism needs more defenders. I appreciate the Ayn Rand Institutes work but I think it needs to be more active in promoting Capitalism. I don't think the short little 'Op-Ed's' are doing much in the way of promoting Capitalism. They need to be more like Cato to have a bigger impact. Cato has a daily audio podcast. They have regularly released books presenting their point of view, debate events and book forums. During the whole sub prime mortgage debacle ARI has only released short little blurbs here and there. I think we need more. Any thoughts?

I am just making my way through this book now. It is entertaining enough so far not to lose my attention. I was wondering if anyone else here had read the book and had any thoughts on the subject. I am not finished with it so I am not sure where he is going to end up. I am at the part where he is discussing what he calls 'the error of confirmation.' I am not quite sure where he is going to end up. He seems give to much weight to the chaos in the world then I would prefer but he does seem to have some valid points on the limits of inductive logic.

I must not read the right newspapers but this article came as a shock to me. The title should read "A Recipe for Self Hatred." I hear Objectivists talk about intellectual activism but it seems a pretty daunting task when this the kind of ignorance one is up against. http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/20...ion.anglicanism

Seriously, this movie does not promote an objectivist view point. Quite the opposite. It instead attempts to show how ambition and "greed" ends up destroying you. The first two thirds of this movie are somewhat interesting. The last third isn't really even worth watching. Daniel Day Lewis may be a good actor but I think he might be better in Theater. Way over the top for cinema.

"If you are an atheist you do have to believe that the main point in all the religions of the whole world is simply one huge mistake. If you are a Christian, you are free to think that all these religions, even the queerest ones, contain at least some hint of the truth. When I was an atheist I had to try to persuade myself that most of the human race have always been wrong about the question that mattered to them most; when I became a Christian I was able to take a more liberal view." If one chooses Atheism then one is obliged to provide a naturalistic explanation of why so many people have a religious impulse. Discuss. PS I am not trying to evangelize here. Quite the opposite. I just am wondering what good arguments there are against this.

I asked a question here and its been sort hijacked the purpose for which I created this thread. If I was in the least bit concerned about how happy Ayn Rand was during her life I would have posted a topic about that. It is irrelevant to the topic here whether she was a bitter old lady or happy every moment of her life. I want to know if her idea of happiness is valid or not. The response I got hasn't fully answered the question although I don't disagree with anything necrovere said.

Okay I just read the Objectivist ethics in VoS and the chapter on Happiness in OPAR. I have a question. Ayn Rand asserts here that one can only experience pure happiness if they are rational goals. Now I know plenty of people who have irrational goals[religious mainly] who seem to be happy. How is it we can know that these people are incapable of real happiness? How can one prove that real happiness is attained by people who are rational? Is this theory of happiness falsifiable? Can you enjoy something that did not have something to do with your survival as a human being? If one finds happiness in a hobby how does that fit in with the Objectivist view of happiness?

Tonights episode of Lost feature the character Sawyer reading the Fountainhead

"So why do we exhibit this trait? Why do many (I would say nearly all) of us believe that our ideas correspond with a real Truth that is out there somewhere? Why do many people believe in God or some kind of transcendent reality that provides us with an external reference point and sense of purpose? As a Christian I would see these realities as potential points of contact between ourselves and God. The fact that most of us have an intuitive belief in the supernatural could be seen as a problem that needs to be solved (as in the article above) or as a signpost toward our ultimate purpose." The above is from discussion on a blog I visit and I am not sure I have good answer as to the reason why it might be that so many people believe in God.