Jump to content
Objectivism Online Forum

Objectivism FAQ App

Rate this topic


mdegges

Recommended Posts

I'm creating an Objectivism frequently asked questions app, a simple resource for people new to Objectivism. I'm trying to make it as comprehensive as possible, so that new people can get a handle on the basics of the philosophy, find out where to go to discuss ideas, etc. There's online resources similar to this, but I haven't found them particularly useful. (As an example, the answer to "Does Objectivism support Libertarianism?" doesn't explain the most important aspect of the question: why Objectivism rejects Libertarianism.)

So I thought I would post on some Oist forums to see which recurring questions you guys often see/hear about the philosophy. Is there anything in particular you'd like to see addressed?

Thanks for any suggestions smile.png

(PS: Answers will not be coming from me- they'll come from AR, LP, and other online resources that reflect Oist viewpoints. Credit will be given where it's due, and users will be able to submit feedback if they feel an answer does not truly represent an Oist position.)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

It would be nice to see a few good Objectivism-related apps. There's only one apps I know if, and its a quote-generator.

Attempts to make a FAQ for Objectivism have been tried. There's the Wiki on this site. There's the ObjectivistAnswers site. Or one can simply browse through sub-forums here, looking at topic titles, to get some ideas. And there are the various other forums and also a Reddit community.

Seeing the attempts and some aborted attempts, I don't know if a FAQ really works though. I guess the key question for the developer is: who is my core audience, what do they know, and what do they want?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The questions that FAQs answer are supposed to be brief, meaning that for Objectivism, the format isn't deep enough. An FAQ to me wouldn't be any more than what Rand said of explaining Objectivism "standing on one foot".

My thought is to have a resource list/bibliography that may incorporate FAQ type questions. "Does Objectivism support Libertarianism?" "See [x] sources." Perhaps you could have an app that could quickly retrieve resources for providing information on common questions. You could even make it more advanced later on to help with complex questions, like "Why does Objectivism reject intrinsicism?" I've thought about actually creating an online bibliography that's easy to browse and easy to access, like how the Ayn Rand Lexicon was converted into an online format. I should PM you about my idea.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

It would be nice to see a few good Objectivism-related apps...I guess the key question for the developer is: who is my core audience, what do they know, and what do they want?

Yeah, that was one of the first things I looked for when I got an android phone. I still see the same two AR apps, and they're both quote gens. Wonder why there aren't more, lots of Oists seem to be sNerds.

The reason I wanted to do a FAQ is so that a layperson (maybe someone who's heard of AR in the news recently, but hasn't read her works) can quickly get the GIST about the philosophy and it's stance on important topics. Also, I was thinking back to when I started reading about oism and participating on the forum. The two things that bothered me were: 1) posts that said, 'go read every_single_book_about_objectivism and then we'll talk' instead of answering the op's question, and 2) the threads that interested me most were so long that I grew a beard while reading them.. :santa: and without knowing users it can be hard to tell who is defending AR's position and who is attacking it. So the goal is to say clearly and concisely, 'here is the position on X, and here's how we arrived at it' without having to read through all the banter on forums & objanswers.com. That's half the fun now, but when I was starting out I just wanted the gist to see if it was worth all the time and effort. So with this app, I'm targetting lazy people like me, or the me I was 1.5 years ago. Hope that makes sense.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I still see the same two AR apps, and they're both quote gens. Wonder why there aren't more, lots of Oists seem to be sNerds.
Speaking for one sNerd, I don't have any value-for-effort ideas in that space. A quote generator is a low-effort thing. A well-done FAQ would probably not be much harder as software, but the hard part would be the content.

In the past, I've wondered if a bit more interactivity would be fun, would also use the platform better and would draw the user in. For instance, people will often answer random questionnaires, if they're short enough, particularly if the questionnaire promises a tiny payoff. So, they'll answer a few questions and be told they're (say) INTJ. Or, they'll answer questions that tells them how they rate on a political axis: conservative, libertarian, etc. Taking this idea, could one draw up a map that shows "how much do you agree with Objectivism". Right off the bat, there's an element of crudeness to this; but, taken with some salt and in the spirit of fun, it might be interesting. Perhaps once a person finds their map they can explore each of the (say) 4 areas of "sub-match" in detail: e.g. "where do I still disagree about ... Ethics"... and so on.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

+1, that's a great idea. I don't really know why, but I always do those quizzes when I see them. (Granted the 'INTJ' one was a little long, but I eventually got through it.)

I also really like the idea of a game, even though I don't use android games much! As a general idea, a player would choose to be a hero from one of Rand's books: Rearden, Dagny, Ragnar, etc. Then he'd be placed on Floor 1 of a skyscraper, and would have to fight his way to the top. On each floor there would be different antagonists to defeat, like Wesley Mouch, Dagny's brother, etc. Then once he reaches the top floor (finally!), something really cool happens: No idea what that would be. Maybe he meets Galt at the top, or he's transported to the gulch.. but either way, it would be very hard to get to the end, so there would have to be some sort of big incentive that would make the user want to keep playing. © Michele Degges ;)

Edit: If any future readers actually decide to do this, try not to half ass it like they did with the Atlas Shrugged movies.

Edited by mdegges
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 1 month later...

Taking this idea, could one draw up a map that shows "how much do you agree with Objectivism". Right off the bat, there's an element of crudeness to this; but, taken with some salt and in the spirit of fun, it might be interesting. Perhaps once a person finds their map they can explore each of the (say) 4 areas of "sub-match" in detail: e.g. "where do I still disagree about ... Ethics"... and so on.

I found something similar to this at the Culture of Reason Center. They created two 100 question quizzes to test your knowledge of Objectivism. I scored 73 and 75 on tests 1 and 2. The tests are a little too long for my taste, but it's nice that each question has a reference (ie: OPAR, pg 50). They also auto-email you the questions and your answers at the end of the quiz, and let you know if you got the question right or wrong. A nice modification would be to send out the correct answers so that you can see where you went wrong. (As an aside, I was exploring the site a bit to see what it's all about, and saw that they sell vitamins.. what's up with that?)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

So I thought I would post on some Oist forums to see which recurring questions you guys often see/hear about the philosophy. Is there anything in particular you'd like to see addressed?

Here's a couple of examples off the top of my head:

1) Ayn Rand was against government handouts, but took Medicare, what's up with that?

2) Why does Objectivism reject religion?

3) Why is 'force' bad in Objectivism?

4) Why does Objectivism advocate capitalism?

5) Isn't selfishness a bad thing?

6) If the government is the source of all problems today, why not get rid of it altogether?

7) Objectivism is a cult, isn't it?

8) Didn't Ayn Rand love capitalism because she hated Russia so much while she lived there?

9) Doesn't accepting Objectivism's ideas turn you into a mindless follower of Ayn Rand, a Randroid?

10) Why did Ayn Rand boot her best student Nathaniel Branden out of her circle?

11) Why isn't Objectivism taken seriously in academia?

12) Why is charity not a virtue in Objectivism?

13) How does Objectivism differentiate selfishness from narcissism or being self-absorbed?

14) Why does Objectivism view Immanuel Kant as a villain?

15) How did Ayn Rand conceive of love?

16) According to the morality of Objectivism, was it proper for the United States to get involved in World War II / Vietnam / Iraq ?

17) What does it mean for 'existence to exist'?

18) I have never seen a John Galt in real life, doesn't that mean Objectivism is too idealistic to be realistic?

19) I think the philosophy of Objectivism is divorced from reality, a giant castle in the clouds. Can you prove me wrong?

20) If I accepted Objectivism, I feel that my individuality would be destroyed. Why is that?

21) Doesn't Ayn Rand's fascination with William Edward Hickman mean her philosophy was deranged?

etc.

Edited by ppw
Link to comment
Share on other sites

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...