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Tenderlysharp

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    Tenderlysharp got a reaction from RohinGupta in INDUSTRIAL SOCIOLOGY, ORGANISATIONAL ETHICS, AND OBJECTIVISM   
    Recognizing individual strengths.  
    Multipliers: Put my friend Casey's computer work station in a room with three beginners, and the output of all three doubles.  His years of experience lets him quickly solve problems, and share short cuts to improve workflow.  In his highly competitive field of free lance CG artists, beginners are often swimming with sharks.  Casey is confident in his skill, and recognizes the long term context of investment in his coworkers skill set.  Everyone wants him on their team.  It pays off later when they recommend him for jobs with other companies.  The self interest is mutual.
    Many companies develop productive work environments without realizing they have been influenced by Objectivist ethics.  You can cherry pick and highlight specific examples from highly successful, high profile companies who salt and pepper objective standards with random altruistic phrasing, yet in truth their policy's reflect respect for the incentives of each individual.  
    Study various perspectives on competition.  Studies of Alpha leaders show that the Alpha exhibits a calm demeanor that is more effective managing others because they work effectively without the need to compete.  While insecure betas are in constant competition with each other, attempting to pull each other down.  
    Its hard to respect a supervisor who doesn't' know how to do your job.
    I imagine an objectivist would want to run their own business, but that is idealistic.  Maybe develop some interview questions to get insight into how each person in industry applies objectivist ethics to their particular field.  
    Brian studies are providing new insights into how individual brains are more geared for certain tasks.
    Improving radar for finding quality employees.  Some people are naturally more motivated to learn.  When choosing between two applicants, one may appear more qualified, but may not have the natural self starter motivation that will make the second applicant raise much more quickly through the company.  
     
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    Tenderlysharp reacted to Ninth Doctor in Jumping into the fray   
    "The sterile will sterilize me as their last form of reproduction."
    Beautifully crafted sentence.  Do you aspire to be a writer?
  4. Like
    Tenderlysharp reacted to StrictlyLogical in Jumping into the fray   
    In reply to your personal note:
    Your light and your life are your own.  Brush aside the impotent darkness, seek other light.  Find souls of measure with yourself, and when none travel with you, find solace and joy in the light and life that are yours alone.
  5. Like
    Tenderlysharp got a reaction from DonAthos in The Law of Identity   
    ... or possibly there is a hologram of a mountain over my favorite village
    Its interesting the subtle difference between exploring an argument and trying to win an argument.
    Mankind wanted men who could fly like angels, we got the Wright Brothers.  Mankind wanted Omniscience, the internet is approaching it at greater speeds than my ten year old self ever dreamed.  Mankind wanted eternal life, stem cell research is starting to clone organs from wisdom teeth.  
    When women have equality Ayn Rand might take her rightful place among the great philosophers of history.   I haven’t read of male philosophers who worship women as Ayn Rand worshiped men. Maybe that is a key deficit in the struggle for sexual equality.  
    This fired up some thoughts.  If a man transitions to a woman is he worshiping women, or does he want to make his body a vessel for worshiping a man?  Some kind of ultimate expression of self love.  
    The derisive tone and discomfort many misogynists feel toward transgender people is a general hatred for women, as though men are better than women, and they are somehow being mocked and degraded by trans people.  
    There is danger for the person who wants to transition.  Finding a physician they can trust.  They imagine how it is going to be, and once they have gone through the surgery it may not feel as they had hoped it would feel. (Michael Jackson’s nose)  The fantasy was better than the reality.  Nerve endings might not be as sensitive.  They have to decide when or if they tell their partner the truth, and decide when its the right time.  The statistics of prostitution are greater.  
    How many examples of hero’s, to identify with, does a transgender person have?  How many transgender people are living better lives than they had before, and how can they access one another stories for support and guidance?  How many objectivists with personal transgender insights are adding crucial perspective to conversations like this one?  
    If a man transitions to a woman what feminine aspects are high in his priorities?  The science isn’t yet advanced enough for him to bear a child and breast feed.  Those are aspects of my femininity that are very important to me.  My femininity has been shaped by my mirror neurons helping my body to move and speak in ways that are similar to the close female friends and relatives I value.  As I said earlier some aspects of femininity that are important to some seem superficial to me, but there is a wealth to learn from many individuals when one looks past superficial things.  
    I have a friend who looks strikingly beautiful without makeup on.  The paleness of her eyelids and lashes make her iris stand out like the deeply conscious sensitive pools that they sometimes are.  But she hates herself without makeup.  I mentioned it once twenty years ago, and it had the effect of an attack on her sense of her own identity.  I will never hurt her like that again.  It isn’t my place, her body isn’t mine to decorate.  I am lucky she gives me any of her time at all and we have more interesting things to talk about.  
    Ayn Rand didn’t bear children.  Was this critical to her philosophy as an individualist?  I believe there is a branch of her philosophy that is severely lacking that did not pay homage to the 3.8 billion years of evolution that culminated and ended in her family line.  Exploring parenting and child development are crucial to passing consciousness to future generations.  
  6. Like
    Tenderlysharp reacted to softwareNerd in What books should I read: I want to get more blacks interested in objectivism.   
    I suppose you need to read the books that your target cohort respects. Not sure what that would be: the Bible, Malcolm X, Frederick Douglas, ... just throwing some names out, you can replace with actual examples. Do rap fans have some books they love? 
    It helps to start from the context of your target. If I want to convince an average Muslim about an idea, it would help if I knew something about the Quran. 
    Of course, that doesn't mean you'll be able to convince the person. If you tried convincing a hundred people and not one changed their minds, it would be no surprise. On the other hand, if there's some particular person you'd like to convince, then understanding their context would give you a step up.
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    Tenderlysharp got a reaction from StrictlyLogical in How Do You Achieve Bliss?   
    Quite honestly I didn't believe you when I read that she rarely smiled.  The glint in her eyes when she sets the stage for a profound abstraction is so poignant to me, I never questioned the joy I felt I shared with her in those moments.  
    For some reason this makes me think of the opposite feeling I had when watching a video of a diplomat saying some horrifyingly nasty things while a smile was plastered on his face and his head was nodding up and down.  
  8. Like
    Tenderlysharp reacted to Eiuol in How Do You Achieve Bliss?   
    My thinking is that it often reflects an insecurity to tell oneself "I'm great" as a form of meditation is going as far as to say emotions may be willed. What I tried to say earlier is that this isn't so good, and I say so from a point of view where I'm in a state where I feel balanced and successful.
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    Tenderlysharp reacted to RomanticRealism in Why does the Visual Arts Forum seem deserted?   
    Brilliant! You have many images that are inspirational. I find Pinterest a good source for artistic inspiration as well - especially images with amazing lighting.
  10. Like
    Tenderlysharp reacted to MisterSwig in How Valuable Is Your Attention?   
    Attention is the act of focusing your consciousness on sensory experience. It happens most dramatically when you wake up from sleeping or snap out of a "daydreaming" episode. Attention is valuable in relation to your particular needs. If you need sleep, then attention is not so valuable. If you need to escape from a burning building, then it's very valuable. You can also broaden or narrow your attention--expand or concentrate your focus. If you're guarding a fortress, you should probably keep your eyes and ears open at all times. If you're trying to learn a melody, you might want to close your eyes and put down the sandwich.
    Part of volition is your ability to choose where and how to place your attention.
  11. Like
    Tenderlysharp reacted to MisterSwig in Why does the Visual Arts Forum seem deserted?   
    What do you enjoy about that painting? I like hiking, so it speaks to me quite a bit. It presents a fit, well-dressed, serious man enjoying his expansive view from a lofty summit. I can imagine the effort it took to get there. And the satisfaction and pleasure he must be taking in having climbed to such a height and having been rewarded with a beautiful view of the bright world before him. Perhaps he's contemplating future goals, such as reaching that high peak in the distance. The colors in the painting are mostly shades of black and white, which establishes a sharp contrast between the foreground and the background. The foreground represents man, the background contains nature. It is man triumphing and lording over nature. 
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    Tenderlysharp got a reaction from Harrison Danneskjold in Failure To Launch Epidemic   
    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. 
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    Tenderlysharp got a reaction from Eiuol in Is it moral not to have a productive purpose?   
    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.
     
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    Tenderlysharp got a reaction from epistemologue in Failure To Launch Epidemic   
    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? 
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    Tenderlysharp reacted to JASKN in Future of Objectivism   
    I have personally not experienced any kind of success convincing another person about the logic behind Objectivism and why the philosophy is The Way, The Truth, and The Light. Maybe it's too wordy for most people when presented that way, maybe there aren't enough social scenarios where people accept deeper conversations, I don't know the reason, but a brick wall is hit every time.
    During the past couple of years I've given up the "lectures" altogether and replaced them with one-off comments in normal conversation, where I really try to think about everything from as realistic a standpoint as I can and then take a second to sum it up succinctly with a somewhat philosophical-style comment, delivered in my own words/formulation for the conversation only. People have really responded to this method, it feels like magic compared to the old strategy.
    At the same time, I've focused more on my own life than on an Objectivst agenda (I'm part of a trend, I guess?), with several benefits: a better life, from which to draw examples, and a better understanding of the purpose of philosophy, and why someone would follow principles to begin with, from which I can formulate my summations.
    I'm beginning to think there is no other way to get people to legitimately change their views. There has to be something to look at in real life for an "aha!" moment to happen. More emphasis should be placed on Rand's life success and enduring influence as support for the validity of her philosophy. More Objectivists should emphasize their own real life benefits following a stellar philosophy.
  16. Like
    Tenderlysharp reacted to Eiuol in Future of Objectivism   
    I don't think it will ever become a dominant force, at any point. But I don't think it matters. What matters is that however many great and heroic people there are, they would continue to be their best and attain the best in life. There may be ups and downs of political trends in liberty, yet that's not enough to stop an individual for their life.
  17. Like
    Tenderlysharp reacted to MisterSwig in Future of Objectivism   
    Rand freed my mind from the clutches of religious belief. I had a friend from India in high school who was a very smart atheist, but I didn't really understand him. I was stuck on the notion of an all-seeing God in the Protestant sense. Then I went to college and gravitated toward the campus Objectivist group. By then I was able to see my mistake in choosing faith over reason. I think it was because I always treated life and ideas seriously, which is a virtue I got from my parents. My mom used to correct my grammar at the dinner table. My dad and school principal spanked me when I acted badly or lied. My grandparents went to all of my ballgames. These sorts of things instilled the idea that life is a serious thing, and what you do and say matters very much. And when it came time to decide whether Rand was right, I took the endeavor seriously and refused to evade troubling facts about my own views. She taught me to be rational.
  18. Like
    Tenderlysharp reacted to MisterSwig in Future of Objectivism   
    Like Aristotle, Rand's philosophy will percolate through cultures with free speech until it develops a large enough root system to sustain another golden age of reason. Our job as individual roots in that system must first be to achieve our own happiness and be as great as we can possibly be at whatever we enjoy doing. We need more great Objectivists to figure out great ways to influence others and bring them to our side of the intellectual battle.
  19. Like
    Tenderlysharp got a reaction from softwareNerd in How should I measure my life?   
    "Remember that life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath away!" - Vicki Corona
  20. Like
    Tenderlysharp got a reaction from MisterSwig in Why does the Visual Arts Forum seem deserted?   
    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.  
  21. Like
    Tenderlysharp got a reaction from Spencer W. Morgan in Utah?   
    2012  Looks like I missed you by a few years...
  22. Like
    Tenderlysharp got a reaction from Harrison Danneskjold in Why Dont any Major Objectivists Participate in Online Forums?   
    A Major Objectivist may have interesting answers to this question. Perhaps he is satisfied with the people he communicates with in his walking life. Perhaps online forums don't rate high on his list of priorities.
    There are a lot of anonymous viewers, a Major Objectivist could just read, and reserve his responses for the content of his next book. (Its funny this idea just gave me the image of a Catholic confessional, where the priest uses the problems of his congregation as fodder for his next sermon)

    Argument is a valuable development tool. Arguing with someone who doesn't get what you are trying to communicate takes a lot more time than clarifying the issue to yourself because you don't have to investigate the definitions and context that they seem to be missing. Perhaps Major Objectivists have had so many arguments that the arguments repeat themselves and they no longer have the fire to sing the same old song again and again. The key to the problem usually lies in the volition and ability to hold context of the one who doesn't understand (things that cant be taught). Objectivism has been clarified in many books, which also makes certain subjects redundant.

    What would make an Online forum attractive to a Major Objectivist?
    Do you wish to interact with Major Objectivists? What would inspire them to interact with you (i.e, what will you trade)? If you were a Major Objectivist what would you be looking for in a forum?
    You could visit the web sites of Major Objectivists with questions that are of a quality that would inspire the initiation of a dialogue.

    How would the personal interaction of a Major Objectivist affect the freshman? A few encouraging words from a hero has translated into tremendous volitional incentive for me. But, I knew that I have a lot of growth ahead of me before I can become his peer. I don't want to waste his time until I am ready to inspire him the way he has inspired me. Ayn Rand's books have a great deal of encouragement, the fact that she was alive in this world is an encouragement. One reason I am here is to become worthy of living friends who inspire me the way she does. When I come to that place I may spend more of my time with them in person and in private.


    I like this perspective, it does seem like Online forums are a kind of stairway for development and affirmation.

    This brings up a lot of corollary questions in my mind:
    If a regular member were to become a Major Objectivist would they continue coming here?
    What kind of organization and commitments of his time is a Major Objectivist engaged in?
    What is the nature of this Online forum?
    What is the nature of the members I interact with?
    What am I looking for; what is the nature of my participation; am I getting out of it what I am putting into it?
    Where is there room for improvement?
  23. Like
    Tenderlysharp got a reaction from KorbenDallas in Nathaniel Branden   
    I don't remember where I heard it, it was a story about Ayn Rand saying she rarely had an emotion that she couldn't figure out its source in a short time.  The more abstract the subject the longer it might take. 
    Leonard Peikoff remarked that Ayn Rand could respond emotionally to broad abstractions which is very rare. 
    When exactly in her life did she organize words into the phrases that resonate so concisely, integrating a process of reasoning with a process of investigating emotional responses. 
    I still wonder why the title of this thread is Nathaniel Branden.
  24. Like
    Tenderlysharp reacted to philosopher in Which films reflect objectivist philosophy?   
    Serenity (2005)

    "We meddle."

    "River?"

    "People don't like to be meddled with. We tell them what to do, what to think. Don't run, don't walk.
    We're in their homes and in their heads and we haven't the right. We're meddlesome."
  25. Like
    Tenderlysharp got a reaction from Superman123 in Objectivism and homosexuality dont mix   
    Ayn Rand had a better relationship with her father, more of her friends were men, she said she was a male chauvinist, housewives bored her.. I think her 'off the cuff' comment was an emotional reaction to the prospect of trading the men she loved for women, when she had no female equivalents in her life who could compare. She liked being a woman but she was a man worshiper. It seems like at the time she viewed lesbianism as a rejection of men, and she couldn't see herself doing that. There are collectivist groups who focus excessively on Ayn Rand's anti-gay statement without the context of her life at the time. The negative focus distracts people away from the power that defending individual rights has to remove government intervention from their lives.

    Would Objectivism have developed the same if she had been a lesbian? How would her philosophy be consistent if she said she worshiped man, yet found him sexually repulsive/uninteresting?

    If gay people are engaging in a collectivist kind of rejection against the opposite sex, it seems like it would be negative toward half of human life. If on the other hand it is chosen out of a strong connection with a particular person it doesn't have anything to do with anyone but the two people involved. Society and the government have no business in the bedroom of two adults... two 'consenting' adults. The only time it should matter is when you are looking for a partner, and desiring someone of your preference to prefer you.

    When I meet someone their sexuality is not my first concern, I am more interested in their ideas. Each person has different comfort zones when talking about sex, with varying levels of discretion on how soon into a friendship it seems like the topic is approachable. Flirtation is an aspect of friendship I enjoy, and my level of flirtation depends on each individual involved. I admire men and women, both straight and gay. I am a woman who has chosen a man as my partner, he is a unique irreplaceable element in defining my sexuality.

    Positive gay role models, (hero worship) will do more than anything in shaping public opinion about the issue. Objectivism is very good for inspiring each individual to confidently strive toward his or her potential.
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