Greetings

[Tenzing_Shaw]

Hello, my name is Tenzing Shaw. I have been reading the forum for years, and have posted once or twice, but have not yet introduced myself.

I am currently studying electrical engineering in college. I became an Objectivist during my last year of high school after reading Atlas Shrugged. The story behind this is quite amusing, I think. The first time I ever heard of Ayn Rand was many years ago in a card game called, as I recall, "Twentieth Century American Authors". From this game, I learned the titles of Rand's 4 novels, but had no idea that her works were controversial in any way until another player made a disparaging comment about them. Years later, the same person actually gave me Atlas Shrugged as a gift, hoping that I would reject Rand's ideas as she herself had done. After reading the first half of the novel, I was surprised to find that I enjoyed the quality of the writing and even agreed with Rand on a few issues. At that point, however, my ideas were very irrational (I was a radical leftist), and, concluding that I did reject Objectivism, I stopped reading. During the following two years, I found it more and more difficult to justify my former ideologies. In debates, I found myself defending positions I didn't really believe in, and using arguments that I knew were weak (such as appeals to authority). One day, in my senior year of high school, my English teacher (a Mormon, if you can believe it) recommended Ayn Rand to another student. At this point, I couldn't resist saying something like "the virtue of selfishness" in a sarcastic tone, implying that anyone who holds that selfishness is a virtue is not worth reading (I think I said this more out of habit than conviction). In the following conversation, my teacher recommended that I give Atlas Shrugged another try. I did so, and that time I was thoroughly convinced, especially after reading Galt's Speech. Since then I have read all of Ayn Rand's novels, as well as much of her nonfiction, and I love/agree with everything I have read, though Atlas Shrugged is still my personal favorite.

In any case, I doubt many people can claim to have been introduced to Objectivism by a leftist and a Mormon.

Also, I wonder if anyone knows the meaning of my Avatar.

[softwareNerd]

Greetings to you too.

[FeatherFall]

Interesting anecdote... And no, I don't know the meaning of your avatar.

[K-Mac]

Good story about how you were introduced to Rand and O'ism.

Does your avatar mean, "This end up"?

Welcome to the forum!

[Tenzing_Shaw]

Thanks for welcoming me to the forum!

My avatar is the Tiwaz rune, a viking rune which stands for victory. I like it because it resembles the cross, but has a completely different meaning. I actually got a Tiwaz amulet as a suvenir on a trip to Norway, simply because my first name begins with 'T'. When I later found out what the rune means, I decided to adopt it as a sort of personal symbol, as an answer to those who use the cross as their personal symbol.