Jump to content
Objectivism Online Forum

Need To Meet Objectivists

Rate this topic


Recommended Posts

Any objectivists in the Myrtle Beach, SC area?  How do you other people meet like-minded individuals?  I feel like I am on an island here philosophically, and it isn't healthy.  Thanks in advance.

There are many things you can do to find Objectivists in your general area. Here are just a few:

(1) Support ARI financially and attend its regional and national conferences, looking for people from your state or region.

(2) Advertise in The Intellectual Activist.

(3) Examine Betsy Speicher's CyberNet News for the Community listings -- and make sure your group (the one you are now forming) is listed.

(4) Create a website for the group you are forming, making sure to list your requirements (e.g., Objectivists, not pseudo-Objectivists, conservatives, and libertarians).

(5) Ask in all forums such as this one.

(6) Be sure to include your location -- by city and state -- in every online profile, such as for ObjectivismOnline.

(7) Be sure to include your location in your tagline when you post in groups such as ObjectivismOnline.

I am the coordinator for the Portland (Oregon) Area Objectivists. We have about 15 people in our network -- which extends as far north as Seattle -- slowly gained through about 9 years of searching and interviewing. We rejected at least as many applicants as we have accepted. The resulting quality is very high.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Just contact ARI, and ask them for a list of clubs/individuals in your area.

Are you certain that ARI would do that?

I was told a year or so ago that ARI does not any longer list local groups -- because of the difficulty of deciding who is genuine. Further, I certainly hope ARI is not releasing the names on its mailing list without specific permission. I doubt that it is doing so.

However, local campus clubs may be listed publicly. That would be worth pursuing.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Here is an example of a website for a local Objectivist organization. The site shows friendly people, a statement of purpose, qualifications for entry into the network, and a contact point.

http://www.aristotleadventure.com/pao/

We are considering changing the name because many members live north of Portland, some as far as the Canadian side of Seattle.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Here is an example of a website for a local Objectivist organization. The site shows friendly people, a statement of purpose, qualifications for entry into the network, and a contact point.

http://www.aristotleadventure.com/pao/

We are considering changing the name because many members live north of Portland, some as far as the Canadian side of Seattle.

Well, I'm sure they ask before they give your address to anyone.

As to clubs - I imagine at least the biggest and best clubs are listed.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Aside from the previously mentioned means, there are a few others:

Believe it or not, search engines have gained flexibility in this regard. The respective web presences of Yahoo, AOL, MSN, etc. have several portals e.g. personals, groups, forums, etc.

That leads me to what turns out to be a website which is really hitting its stride:

meetup.com In fact, I would suggest searching this site for locating people for most any interest. You'd be surprised at the number of groups that are forming for even the more arcane or obscure interests. Ayn Rand and Objectivism are actually fairly well recognized.

Plus, I guess I should also mention The Atlasphere website which while featuring essays and announcements is heavily oriented to networking.

It's still some tough going, but at least there are many more online services than there were even 3 to 5 years ago.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Plus, I guess I should also mention The Atlasphere website which while featuring essays and announcements is heavily oriented to networking.

Unfortunately, The Atlasphere is heavily oriented toward David Kelley, Zen Buddhism, and other things, via the web master Josh Zader, that Objectivists may find offensive.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Unfortunately, The Atlasphere is heavily oriented toward David Kelley, Zen Buddhism, and other things, via the web master Josh Zader, that Objectivists may find offensive.

Yes, but it may be right up srschirm's alley--he is looking for objectivists, not Objectivists.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 years later...
Unfortunately, The Atlasphere is heavily oriented toward David Kelley, Zen Buddhism, and other things...

Hate to bump such an old thread but my experience has been similar. David Kelley association does not bother me personally (I keep it in context - it is a minor flaw in comparision to all the possible flaws :) ) - it is the fact that all the people I have met through the Atlasphere dating section were not interested in O'ism and it was after having read AS or TF. I have met few crazy Libertarians (with the big "L") though! (and I mean crazy - literally).

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hate to bump such an old thread but my experience has been similar. David Kelley association does not bother me personally (I keep it in context - it is a minor flaw in comparision to all the possible flaws :) ) - it is the fact that all the people I have met through the Atlasphere dating section were not interested in O'ism and it was after having read AS or TF. I have met few crazy Libertarians (with the big "L") though! (and I mean crazy - literally).

I browsed some of the female profiles on there out of sheer curiousity. Many were really creepy.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hate to bump such an old thread but my experience has been similar. David Kelley association does not bother me personally (I keep it in context - it is a minor flaw in comparision to all the possible flaws :( ) - it is the fact that all the people I have met through the Atlasphere dating section were not interested in O'ism and it was after having read AS or TF. I have met few crazy Libertarians (with the big "L") though! (and I mean crazy - literally).

Wow, hm. I haven't been to the Atlasphere website in a couple of years, since the Kelley/Buddhism/Libertarian thing does bother me. But still, I'm a little surprised and impressed that it's grown to the extent that there is a substantial amount of people one could meet up with in Canada. Are there a lot of Objectivists or even Libertarians in Vancouver?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Are there a lot of Objectivists or even Libertarians in Vancouver?

The only time I have met Objectivist like creature in person was during one of the TOC summer seminars which happened to be held here in Vancouver few years ago. It was shortly after I have read Rand for the first time.

So the answer is No.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 months later...

I can't resist responding to this thread again. It just so happens that I logged into meetup.com this week for the first time in months... I still think it's a viable site, but it is _really_ hard to find people interested in anything that isn't rather mundane via that site.

Also, I don't regret mentioning Atlasphere at the time because I wasn't as aware of their questionable status, but...

"Wow, hm. I haven't been to the Atlasphere website in a couple of years, since the Kelley/Buddhism/Libertarian thing does bother me. But still, I'm a little surprised and impressed that it's grown to the extent that there is a substantial amount of people one could meet up with in Canada. Are there a lot of Objectivists or even Libertarians in Vancouver?"

What David said exactly... I have the same thoughts and feelings in that regard _these days_.... I still get e-mail notifications, but I haven't logged in there in months.

I wish there was something better... As Dr. Peikoff once said in a somewhat different but related context, "It's slow as molasses."

I'm still trying to follow how things are proceeding at myspace.com as far as how Objectivists and Ayn Rand fans group themselves. That place is so "everything but the kitchen sink-esque." Really random...

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 8 months later...

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

Loading...
  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...