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Hello from high school.

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Hello, my name is Alex and I live in St. Louis, MO. I'm a sophomore in high school. I was introduced to objectvism by my English teacher through Anthem. When he passed out the paper outlining the philosophy I realized that there was a name to my own beliefs. I have been an atheist as long as I can remember. My relatives are all Christians of various denominations, but my parents are not religious at all.

I developed my beliefs similar to Objectivism before I had ever heard of it. I always thought everthing could be explained eventually, and if something was for whatever reason unexplainable, to me it was just that. I don't concern myself on how the universe started...I simply do not care. I also don't care to know what happens after I die; I am here living and I'd like to make the most of this life which is certian, rather than "prepare" for another life. I think that when I die, my consciousness will simply cease to exist along with my life and all that will be left is my physical body. I don't believe in the "soul".

I know there is more to my beliefs but it's oddly a bit difficult to write them down at the moment. Maybe as I read more of Rand's works I will gain a better understanding of myself.

As for my interests, I have many. The career path I plan to take is that of a mechanical engineer. I have always been fascinated by machines, I have always stared at them trying to figure them out. I think my other main interest, paintball, has stimulated this, due to the technology used in the sport.

My musical tastes center around pop punk for the most part, but I enjoy related music like rap rock and hardcore, as well as some trance here and there. I listen to it constantly, it's an addiction. The longest I've gone without it was 10 days, when I was backpacking at Philmont in New Mexico. After I got back to base I blasted music for more than 2 hours, it was blissful.

I also enjoy mountian biking, skiing, driving, shooting sports (skeet, target rifle/handgun shooting), and videogames.

Here I hope to expand my knowledge of Objectivism (learning on my own time is one of my perpetual activities), and I plan on reading more Ayn Rand when I have time.

Please excuse any errors, it can be a bit challenging to proofread on the iPhone.

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Welcome to the forums Alex! You'll find a lot of good information here, but some not explained as extensively as you will find in Ayn Rand's non-fiction. I would recommend you start with the rest of Ayn Rand's fiction (Atlas, Fountainhead, etc.) They are all very enjoyable books and will probablly help clarify some things for you. I recommend after that you start on Ayn Rand's non-fiction and/or OPAR by Leonard Peikoff.

You do seem quite mature by your post and it sounds like you are already clear on some of your ideas. But, you are still young, so I would recommend that you continue reading and possibly re-read as your get older (mid 20's). I say this because of expereinces I have had myself. I was also introducted to Objectivism at a young age (18-19 years old) and I found that I have a better understanding of the concepts now that I am older. Most people that I have know have gone through a second adolescence at around 21-25 years of age. This is usually a period where you've already lived on your own a bit, or spent time in college and have furthered your life expereinces. Around this age you will re-define your self that you have already established and you will be able to better relate some of the concepts you will learn about studying Objectivism.

So keep on reading and enjoying life!

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I'm in STL as well. The fun of objectivism for me has been learning the meaning behind romantic art and experiencing it, seeing ideas work themselves out based on principles Ayn Rand spoke of, and applying her psycho-epistemological ideas to my own life to improve it. I see quite a few people here interpreting her ideas in some literal way as to try and ascribe them to a box of judgment they think Ayn Rand used in hesitation of applying the principles. I did this too, but just naturally applying them in your own life is what needs to be done - not trying to void your own judgment for the superiority of "objectivism" at all costs. Welcome.

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I'm in STL as well. The fun of objectivism for me has been learning the meaning behind romantic art and experiencing it, seeing ideas work themselves out based on principles Ayn Rand spoke of, and applying her psycho-epistemological ideas to my own life to improve it. I see quite a few people here interpreting her ideas in some literal way as to try and ascribe them to a box of judgment they think Ayn Rand used in hesitation of applying the principles. I did this too, but just naturally applying them in your own life is what needs to be done - not trying to void your own judgment for the superiority of "objectivism" at all costs. Welcome.

Yes, I agree. I will still hold what I think is right over anything else. However I still don't know enough about the philosophy to make a judgement yet.

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