In the face of uncertainty, what do you fall back on?

[Epistemological Engineer]

Religious people have God and various beliefs; Discordians and

embrace the chaos. What do Objectivists have?

To the extent that my question, as stated, has an answer, I believe it is the Benevolent Universe principle: "If Man does adapt to the universe, then it is 'benevolent' in another sense: auspicious to human life. If a man does recognize and adhere to reality, then he can achieve his values in reality; he can and, other things being equal, he will."

If this is the case, does anyone have advice for how to integrate this principle into one's life--not just rationally/epistemologically, but experientially? I mildly envy religious traditions for their extensive literature and practices that help their practitioners reaffirm the premises that give them spiritual fuel. Perhaps the great reward of Objectivism's BUP (acronym) demands a great struggle of figuring out (mostly) for yourself how to integrate it into your own life. The BUP is a beautiful idea, but specific literature on the subject seems to be scarce.

[Jill]

Ayn Rand quotes.

[Marc K.]

the Benevolent Universe principle: [...] does anyone have advice for how to integrate this principle into one's life--not just rationally/epistemologically, but experientially? I mildly envy religious traditions for their extensive literature and practices that help their practitioners reaffirm the premises that give them spiritual fuel. Perhaps the great reward of Objectivism's BUP (acronym) demands a great struggle of figuring out (mostly) for yourself how to integrate it into your own life.

This is a sense of life issue. It is a subconsciously held premise. It is a subconscious integration of all that you know. It isn't the cause of the rest of your value judgments, it is the result. So don't try to figure it out, figure out everything else and it will come.

You shouldn't envy Tyler Durden or the truly religious because their "spiritual fuel" comes from the unreal and the false. Their ideas are irrational and evil and thus to the extent they accept them, they see the universe as malevolent.

The best thing you can do for yourself is prove to yourself what is true and good and act accordingly. If you do, then you will be a happy person living in a benevolent universe. Make truth your spiritual fuel.

As Jill says luckily we have Ayn Rand to help with some of the heavy lifting.

[Zip]

?

Why would you go looking for something to "fall back on" when something "bad" happens? If something "good" happens do you look to give credit for your fortune to something other than what actually caused the good fortune?

[Epistemological Engineer]

The issue is not what to think about when bad things happen, but how to deal with uncertainty--uncertainty about economic/financial situations, about career paths, about health. I think what I'm mainly interested in here is how to integrate the BUP, and I don't mean by just reading through OPAR. The success story I'm looking for might be titled "How I Learned To Stop Worrying And Love The Benevolent Universe."

[Myself]

The issue is not what to think about when bad things happen, but how to deal with uncertainty--uncertainty about economic/financial situations, about career paths, about health.

"I fall back" on myself. My own determination, willpower, intelligence, and strength are what sustain me through hardship.

Edited May 13, 2009 by Myself

[softwareNerd]

I assume you mean a situation something like this: a person's child has just been wheeled in for a life-or-death operation and he is calm as he waits, "knowing" that whatever God does will be for the best. Is that the kind of example you're thinking of?

If so, I think I understand the envy you express for religious people, but I suggest that it really applies only to certain religious people, and in certain situations. For instance, there are also people who take the fatalism to a point where they actually fail to take some important action; there are many such people too. The religious people who are successful with the "God will take care of it" attitude are the ones who primarily have an attitude of "God helps those who help themselves", and who fall back on the other attitude only when they've really exhausted their possibilities for action.

So, for some people instead of "stop worrying" one ought to say "start worrying". Like most negative emotions that do not cross into neurosis, worry has a role in life. Better someone worry about the economic crisis than spend money they cannot, because "everything will turn out okay".

More than the "BUP", I think this is about the metaphysical vs. the man-made. Harken back to Reinhold Niebuhr's prayer (used by AA too) quoted by Rand:

God, grant me the serenity

to accept the things I cannot change;

the courage to change the things I can;

and the wisdom to know the difference.

As Rand says, if one drops the appeal to God, the rest of the prayer has a valid theme.

I suggest that the envy you feel is for the intellectual and emotional state that is reflected by the prayer. I also suggest that the religious wrapping is purely incidental.

[dadmonson]

Ayn Rand said Frank gave her a boost at one point when she was feeling discouragement while writing The Fountainhead. I wouldn't say she fail back on him and depended solely upon him though, but he did help.

Here's The Quote:

I did not feel discouragement very often, and when I did, it did not last longer than overnight. But there was one evening, during the writing of The Fountainhead, when I felt so profound an indignation at the state of "things as they are" that it seemed as if I would never regain the energy to move one step farther toward "things as they ought to be." Frank talked to me for hours, that night. He convinced me of why one cannot give up the world to those one despises. By the time he finished, my discouragement was gone; it never came back in so intense a form.

Edited May 13, 2009 by dadmonson

[Epistemological Engineer]

I assume you mean a situation something like this: a person's child has just been wheeled in for a life-or-death operation and he is calm as he waits, "knowing" that whatever God does will be for the best. Is that the kind of example you're thinking of?

Well...sort of, but not really. Basically, lately I've had a few disappointing medical issues, and I've lost a lot of money in investments. None of these are life-threatening or crushing; rather, they are reminders that life isn't always steady forward progress and that my body is a machine subject to wear and decay. All things considered, I'm at a good place in life and I'm active. It just seems that the BUP is something I have continually strive to hold.

More than the "BUP", I think this is about the metaphysical vs. the man-made. Harken back to Reinhold Niebuhr's prayer (used by AA too) quoted by Rand:

God, grant me the serenity

to accept the things I cannot change;

the courage to change the things I can;

and the wisdom to know the difference.

Snerd, thank you for the reminder of this prayer. The question it poses is central to this issue, though the real art of it is developing that wisdom without "God." I'd forgotten that there was a whole essay about it in PWNI--I'm going to go reread it right now.

[RussK]

When I read this yesterday, I didn't know how to respond. My first thought was that I didn't fall back on anything, so I had to think longer about it. I can only speak for myself, but if by fall back upon you mean react, what I generally do is recognize the necessity or justice in things, and recognize my ability to achieve a different result, if that ability is even possible.

In a truly malevolent situation which included uncertainty and worry, I've recognized the situation for what it was, recognized that when the time came I would and could only do my best, and attempted to stop thinking about the situation when forethought started to become too speculative (causing more worry). I would stop thinking about the situation due to the realization that only once I was in the situation would I actually know--have the ability to know--what decisions to make and how to act.

[Marc K.]

I think good art can be wonderful spiritual fuel, like reading "Atlas Shrugged".

But if you are feeling impotent when faced with reality, then you must set yourself some short term and long term goals and act to achieve them and achieve them. That should lift your spirits.

If you are feeling uncertain, then become certain, this takes work.

But I also wanted to reemphasize that this:

I think what I'm mainly interested in here is how to integrate the BUP,

Is the wrong way to think about it. You can't integrate the Benevolent Universe Principle, it is the result of all of your integrations.

If you try to integrate the BUP in the face of being unemployed, while your mother is dying, after having lost all of your savings it will turn into an out of context principle that doesn't seem to match reality. Instead prove to yourself that through rational thought and action you can accomplish anything you set your mind to. But you can only prove it by actually taking those actions and succeeding even when you have been knocked down.

[JMeganSnow]

Whenever I'm having problems and need a pick-me-up, I just remind myself of all the things I've done that seemed like a serious problem at the time, and how I conquered all of them eventually. I've been in so many bad and miserable situations that nothing much seems like a real challenge once I get to thinking about it rationally. I can honestly say that even if disaster strikes, it still probably won't suck as much as a couple of episodes in my life, and I survived those.

[Scribulus]

Ayn Rand said Frank gave her a boost at one point when she was feeling discouragement while writing The Fountainhead. I wouldn't say she fail back on him and depended solely upon him though, but he did help.

Is there any record of what he said to encourage her?

[musenji]

Is there any record of what he said to encourage her?

Twice she put a direct quote from Frank in her work, so I speculate that their night-long talk may have been essentialized/paraphrased at the end of John Galt's speech:

"In the name of the best within you, do not sacrifice this world to those who are its worst. In the name of the values that keep you alive, do not let your vision of man be distorted by the ugly, the cowardly, the mindless in those who have never achieved his title. Do not lose your knowledge that man's proper estate is an upright posture, an intransigent mind and a step that travels unlimited roads. Do not let your fire go out, spark by irreplaceable spark, in the hopeless swamps of the approximate, the not-quite, the not-yet, the not-at-all. Do not let the hero in your soul perish, in lonely frustration for the life you deserved, but have never been able to reach. Check your road and the nature of your battle. The world you desired can be won, it exists, it is real, it is possible, it's yours."

Edited May 19, 2009 by musenji

[Pallavi]

Your reply helped me a lot. Thanks RussK. I would try to follow it.

In a truly malevolent situation which included uncertainty and worry, I've recognized the situation for what it was, recognized that when the time came I would and could only do my best, and attempted to stop thinking about the situation when forethought started to become too speculative (causing more worry). I would stop thinking about the situation due to the realization that only once I was in the situation would I actually know--have the ability to know--what decisions to make and how to act.

[Sir Andrew]

Religious people have God and various beliefs; Discordians and

embrace the chaos. What do Objectivists have?

Objectivists have the principle that the universe is not chaotic and contradictory, but is absolute and knowable. When you integrate that principle in your life, you know you're not stuck in some chaotic universe that knocks over every so-called "castle in the sand" that you build. As far as reaffirming the benevolent universe principle, when I'm experiencing any doubt I compare the progress I've made in my self-esteem in the 6 months I've been a student of Objectivism vs. the years of chronic doubt, guilt, and fear I experienced when I was a Christian. To me, that's enough.

Edited May 23, 2009 by Sir Andrew

[Scribulus]

Twice she put a direct quote from Frank in her work, so I speculate that their night-long talk may have been essentialized/paraphrased at the end of John Galt's speech:

"In the name of the best within you, do not sacrifice this world to those who are its worst. In the name of the values that keep you alive, do not let your vision of man be distorted by the ugly, the cowardly, the mindless in those who have never achieved his title. Do not lose your knowledge that man's proper estate is an upright posture, an intransigent mind and a step that travels unlimited roads. Do not let your fire go out, spark by irreplaceable spark, in the hopeless swamps of the approximate, the not-quite, the not-yet, the not-at-all. Do not let the hero in your soul perish, in lonely frustration for the life you deserved, but have never been able to reach. Check your road and the nature of your battle. The world you desired can be won, it exists, it is real, it is possible, it's yours."

Thank you for making that connection. Those words were inspiring already, but much more so under the supposition that they were from Frank, and that they inspired her.

[whYNOT]

A long time back I wrote a sort of personal manifesto to myself, I titled 'A declaration of Independence from God'.

One sentence from it went : "...and with no God to curse, credit, or cajole, I can stand alone at last, with exilharating self-responsibility, and no other fall-back position, but myself."

Your posts here reminded me of it.