Tenderlysharp

What does it mean to experience your attention being devalued?

I noticed a significant increase in the value of my attention when I first discovered Ayn Rand. Listening to her speeches changed the organization of my brain. The words she had worked so hard to make clear and concise were part of it. But the part I want to add more emphasis to, the part that is the abstraction I am seeking to clarify is the cadence in her voice, the rhythm, the nuances of her inflections, these things had the effect on my brain of mental gymnastics. I was exhausted... thoroughly mentally exhausted, in my first efforts to understand her. The relief and the challenge of becoming a rational consciousness was complex and overwhelming. Ayn Rand's voice had the effect of the sun chasing away the fog. Ayn Rand's voice traveling all these years through recording equipment told me a thousand things her printed pages never could. Her voice gave me the energy to pursue her meaning.

I've had a significant epiphany recently which drives focus toward clarifying and defining the Value of Attention. It has been with me, all my life, in the background, subconsciously. I am making effort to bring it into full focus. The Value of Attention. When I make a work of art I improve the value of my own attention, I improve the value of my attention toward the world, I improve the value of the attention the world has toward me. When I have seen a very good film, and find a friend capable of exploring the depths of the abstractions present in the work, my friend and I improve the value of our attention toward the work and toward one another. What are your thoughts about the way Attention relates to volition?

What if owning the place you sleep at night had a substantial impact on the child prodigy speed at which the world has evolved in the last 200 years? What if rent is dragging us back into the feudalism of the dark ages? Consciousness and existence are corollaries. No consciousness without existence, no existence without consciousness. If you own your self isn't it significant to own your shelter?

I love A is A!!! I enjoy exploring the meaning in A is A, as an abstraction with a vast and expansive meaning. I learn something more about A is A in every conversation it pops up. It begins with the personal. Man is Man. You are you. Governments that do not know what man is have forced man to function outside of his nature, and have been holding back our evolution for untold generations. I am interested in exploring A is A again and again in order to follow its lead in finding ways to highlight its power in more clear more concise ways so that it's beauty can become a beacon of attraction for inquisitive minds to explore. A is A is the tip of an iceberg. A is A is a way to bond with yourself, to embrace yourself, to explore and discover what you are.

How do you quantify productivity in purpose? There are countless examples of hard working people who go downhill very quickly in a couple years following retirement, and I would argue that they died from boredom. I listened to an audio book about people who lived to be over a hundred, the book claimed the number one trait they shared was a sense of purpose. I believe it is productive to laugh, to play, to learn. What will you do with your learning? How long can a man who has been productive enough to sustain his life stop himself from doing something, anything... Will you build no bench, will you pull no weed, will you paint no wall, will you pass no jewel of knowledge to a random stranger in a coffee shop? Keep in mind everything Rand said was very personal to her own happiness. I think Rand is giving words to a sense in herself and perhaps yourself that may at times become unsatisfied, speaking to the part of you that is living below his potential. I think living with a chronic sense of dissatisfaction with one's self is painfully wrong. That focus becomes a habit that sometimes blocks a man from seeking solutions. I was recently talking with my grandmother in her eighties. The moments when she feels like her purpose is gone is very painful. She still works her garden and visits the senior center weekly. I remind her she is keeping her friends alive with her quick wit and banter. She does the best she can, to her fullest ability. I think Rand once compared a brain surgeon to a janitor in the same building. The characters she described were equal morally because each was doing his best at the job he was capable of.

This issue has become very personal to me. I don't know if failure to launch is the concise priority in the issue, but a consequence of the philosophical basis of rent not being thoroughly explored. When I started this thread I was relieved to have just gotten out from under a year contract with a slumlord. There were so many things they did that were wrong I didn't take the time to fight it. I just wanted out. A few days ago I got a letter from them slapping me with a $2,500 bill for damages they claim I made to the apartment. As much as I dislike them, I respect property. I left the place cleaner and in better condition than when I entered.

Developing confidence http://www.thisiscolossal.com/2015/04/skateistan-jessica-fulford-dobson/

Do you think this is because you have no personal agenda of pushing Objectivism to make a discernible impact? Or do you think it has something to do with the nature of Objectivism? This seems to be a symptom of the vast history of collectivist perspectives. What if the perspective were developed? (I am trying to understand what I am thinking as I type, it may not be as clear as I would like it to be yet...) Objectivism is Ayn Rand, in a very real sense. Objectivism is what she discovered during her lifetime. Her mind burns on in the pages of her work, but she is no longer here to be won over by a compelling argument. Exact conformity isn't expected or required to get what ever an individual is capable of getting from Objectivism. 'The Vigorous Debate' seems to be a vital essential to social interaction of people interested in Objectivism. The priority upon which each individual focuses his or her attention will determine their perspective. The things I agree with Rand about would be like trying to argue with gravity, it is what it is. The personal aspects of life where I differ with her are like trying to build a rocket ship, it takes a lot of work to reach escape velocity. Her work has fortified me with the independence, stamina, and drive to return to my own work. Ayn Rand bequeathed us a vast and expansive direction of learning, which took her 77 years to amass and will take any scholar years of study to even begin to take up where she left off. At the same time, her sense of life had an immediate impact on me the first time I encountered her. An impact I found confusing as she caused fear, intimidation, and insecurities in friends whom I initially enthusiastically exposed to Rand and her ideas. My benevolent sense of life keeps me in affectionate contact with friends who don't have the mind or the will capable of grasping her. I am a reference point in their mind, a stereotype of the kind of people who value Rand. When they hear someone ranting about their hatred for Rand, they picture me and think, 'That person's sense of life doesn't feel like Tym's, what does Tym know that the haters don't?.' I keep the quote in my signature to remind me that the nature of consciousness is volitional. "..the being whose consciousness has a limitless capacity for gaining knowledge-man is the only living entity born without any guarantee of remaining conscious at all." - Ayn Rand - The Objectivist Ethics The perspective that there is nothing that anyone can do for or against the tide of the world is determinism. Remembering the advocates of capitalism have done more to damage it than anyone. Socialists are learning from the success of free market, and they are aspiring to keep it in a state where they can glean the most second hand profit from the system without allowing it to raise or drop too far. I haven't studied the field of geography and national boarders extensively, but from what I have seen, it seems like boarders changed a great deal more before the A-bomb than they have since. I like what you said Eiuol. I'm pondering a tangent... The words dominant and force pop out at me in this sentence. Something I think people misunderstand when beginning to debate in Objectivist forums. The idea of domination is antithetical to Objectivism. Reason is something an individual will embrace or deny; you can pretend the sun is dominating you because of its overwhelming influence in life on earth, but domination isn't something the sun consciously attempts to enforce. Each individual can have strong opinions, but any underlying collectivist need to dominate will weaken his argument rather than letting the defense be self evident.

I can see how calling someone a vampire/parasite would not be conducive to a rational debate. I need to work toward the root of the frustration I was expressing. People who vote for socialism are predominantly renters. Having no personal claim to a piece of this land there isn't much to fight for. I am also curious about the power and psychology of the socialists who own the media, who make billions of dollars off of musicians, actors, journalists, artists who only receive a fraction of the profit from their work. The artists in turn make more work about being victimized out of that frustration, perpetuating the trend toward socialism.

Stark contrast, vibrant color, dynamic composition. I have watched artists develop online, in galleries, and when I worked in an art supply store, my recommendation is consistently make more, make more, make more!

I read this article this morning and am having some thoughts about the issue of Failure to Launch. This article complains that children are being coddled, but doesn't suggest much more solution than having a family meal: https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/nation-wimps/201612/the-failure-launch-epidemic Competition for resources has made it much more difficult for a young person to own his home. When you own your home you have a greater drive to keep it. When most of your energy is being drained to a vampire rent lord you lose ambition. If the housing industry is being manipulated by realtor vampires, why put all that energy into a middle man between you and the former owner of the home? When the government is devaluing the dollar to make it look like there are gains in the economy, how can you keep the fruits of your effort? Why put any effort into feeding the parasites? Our parents 401K's gain money through rental properties, our parents generation is living off of our generation. In China three generations live together, and China is now buying up 'investment' property in the US. Why leave home? If you refute my arguments please divulge if you own rental property, and how that is good for the economy.

I saw an interview of Rand where she stated, "It's not a matter of opinion, its a matter of life or death." Objectivism gets into trouble mis-attributing anything on a large social scale. I try to bring the issue, the ideas back to a personal scale. How has she affected your life? The use of 'We' is dangerous. We don't want them to misunderstand us. We don't want them to have any weapons to use against us. It is a difficult perspective for me to see clearly. Does Objectivism have to wait 2400 years before the history books will be able to see clearly her influence on the development of the world?

One person's affect on the world can not be measured. But the affect Ayn Rand has on the mind of man... Whether the innovators of vaccines, inventions, farming equipment had ever heard her name or not, she inspired a friend, sibling, cousin, uncle, or artist to respond favorably upon those efforts.

It is interesting contemplating the Objective approach. How the battle is won without triggering the irrationality of the opposition to even know what they are fighting. I take personal note again of 1943...

Ayn Rand spoke of the 'child prodigy speed' with which the world had developed when man adopted and defended the rational rights of man. 1776-1943 = 167 years 1943 the publishing of the Fountainhead 1943-2016 = 73 years. How much more has changed since she came onto the intellectual scene, and how much can be attributed to her influence? It seems impossible to quantify without being able to see how the world would have developed without her. How much has she affected your own life personally? Can you project that difference onto the world? She didn't cause each rational mans mind to function, but she defended him, told him he didn't need permission, offered illuminating examples of what is possible in her work and in her person. Ayn Rand's life is at the curving transition in this chart. How many Objectivist's are bold enough to give her credit? Can this chart measure human success? What would a chart depicting the increase of rational minds look like?

Yes everything you said MisterSwig, as well as mounting evidence that travel invigorates the brain, exercise creates brain fertilizer, getting up to a higher vantage point offers greater perspective, the map each of us holds in the mind becomes more detailed and rich with each experience. The identification of the names of each mountain peak you see makes them more real, more tangible.

Many more threads would be a good start. I would like to present the argument that if Objectivism is going to thrive individuals interested ought to take the visual world seriously, more seriously than I see evidence of in this visual arts forum. With the advent of the Internet, the world is becoming increasingly visual. I believe the mental real estate in my brain is filled up with a great deal more visual information than most of the people I know. It is historically unprecedented how many images I can recognize. Tumblr for instance is thriving with visual activity of every echelon of quality. I've been cultivating my tumblr account for five years, and re-posted over 10,000 images. I've sifted through and rejected hundreds of images for each image I post. You get better at sifting, better at finding those who have the kind of eye you are seeking. My tumblr: http://tenderlysharp.tumblr.com/

Aristos has highlighted/promoted these artists: Frederic Church Thomas Cole Anthony Waichulix Jason Brady Jean-Léon Gérôme Léon-Joseph-Florentin Bonnat Théodule-Augustin Ribot Maria Oakey Dewing Lawrence Alma-Tadema

"Remember that life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath away!" - Vicki Corona

The image invites you to question. The characters gaze is focused slightly beyond the egg, as though there are things calling his attention outside the frame of the image. Did the character, or a friend, or a bird place the egg? A play on the question of which came first... Which came first the artist or the artwork? It is close to a self portrait, but not quite. The element I like most is mans ability to use scientific method to discern the object, the egg, where a predator might recognize it merely as food.

..a post that makes me feel the way I feel when I am reading/listening to Rand's work. I have 'The Romantic Manifesto' on audio book, I don't know how many times I have listened to it, a few times a year for ten years. I often contemplate her words on literature relating them to Visual art. Rand wasn't a visual artist, she touches on it, but deeper exploration of it doesn't seem high on her list of priorities. With this I believe there is room in Objectivist thought for visual exploration. I appreciate the vigorous Objectivist discussions on many subjects. My 'exhaustion' was specifically in regard to the Visual Arts Forum. And a deeper exhaustion with a sense of personal failure in my previous attempts to communicate here. I am very visual. I take in thousands of images daily. Much of my brain is visual. When I attempt to speak with words it takes me a very long time. A five minute post takes me an hour to write. ....Time..... I think I ought to spend painting. But most of the visual art world is so geared toward pushing a socialistic agenda, I feel very alone. Although I admire independence, I also know physiologically people need to touch and be touched. The personal relationships I have found have distracted me away from the integration of visual art and reason. I come here hoping to heal a broken heart and dread the response that kind of vulnerability might evoke. "Fear, shame, and pity are self defeating dead ends" Rand said.

I like this perspective, the challenge of creating a post topic related to visual art that is compelling...