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How old are you?

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How old are you?  

709 members have voted

  1. 1. How old are you?

    • 18 or below
      123
    • 19 - 25
      276
    • 26 - 30
      74
    • 31 - 35
      51
    • 36 - 40
      30
    • 41 - 45
      31
    • 46 - 50
      16
    • 51 - 55
      11
    • 56 - 60
      9
    • over 60
      12


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Well, this is very refreshing to see-- so many younger folks. There's some saying that you are not normal if you are not a liberal teenager, a conservative middle-ager, and a liberal again when you're old.

I think most of that comes from being blind and ignorant of the world (perpetuated by public school) when you are young, and those of us blessed with IQ points realize there is something amiss, and get conservative once we've been absorbed into 'real life'. Then there are a few who planned poorly for old age, and get stuck sucking the teat of Uncle Sam again...

Anyhow, glad to see that there is a glimmer of hope in the future generation.

-JB

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To put it simply- I am one of the 'older' people.60 to be precise.

I am English, but have moved to live in Italy- along with two of my children and partner. I was unable to download the map etc because we have only got isdn here which is too slow.

As yet I am unsure whether I would find this forum suitable for me. It remains to be seen.

By the way any typos and mistakes I make are not a result of my 'great age' but of extensive stress for quite a few years. However I don't want to go into that ( just so you dont think I have dementia- yet!!!)

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In my day, we didn't have the internet. We had BBS's. Basically we held up the telephone and yelled *BEEP* and *BOOP* at the right time into it and lo and behold something would print out on the TV that was spliced into the back of our Kaypro's because we didn't know what a "monitor" was back then.

In all seriousness, I remember making the comment to my friend that when my dad brought home a modem bragging that "holy crap, it's got like a 300 baud rate" and they didn't that it was possible for a modem to be that fast. I was of course lying because it really didn't go that fast but they wouldn't notice since the BBS would work just as slow.

And for those that have never seen an acoustic coupler, that 56k modem you ignore to hook your cable modem in actually has a 56000 baud rate give or take. And to think I'm whining to my fiance about the lag on our wireless network when I'm only getting like 18 Mbps in our new place.

I'm in the deep mid 30's category.

Egads, I remember when a computer took up three floors and had 10,000 12AT7 vacuum tubes. Remington Rand... I still have some of the Remington-Rand branded tubes, pulled from that in a maintenance cycle. I also have, rotting in the rain, since roof of my shed collapsed some years ago, a panel about 30" square, with 110 rotary switches on it, numbered from 0-9. That panel was the user interface.

My first "personal" computer was a TI calculator that had four nixie tubes and a pen with a wire attached, instead of a keyboard. One would enter digits by contacting the tip of the pen to the gold-plated copper clad board that appeared below holes in the faceplate. The wire would complete the circuit. That was much later, in 1971.

Today is a magical age, and I imagine that in another 30 years, we will have power that we cannot fathom today, and a Honda Civic will cost $250,000 and a basic starter home, around $4,000,000. Better start saving those pennies.. :o

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  • 11 months later...
Today is a magical age, and I imagine that in another 30 years, we will have power that we cannot fathom today, and a Honda Civic will cost $250,000 and a basic starter home, around $4,000,000. Better start saving those pennies.. :huh:

I'm 70 years old. I love this imagery. When I first arrived in France in the early 60s a car would ballpark at 1 million old francs (iUSD = 500 old Francs) and a house in the near suburbs of Paris around 10 million. This is called inflation, which, please remember, is a tax on all the responsible members of society. The primary beneficiary of this tax is the political class, who no longer have to pay for their fiscal irresponsibility.

Objectivism's vision of the greatest evil being coercion is a comfort to this old lady. We are all coerced by those in power continuously. At least I understand what is happening to me, even if there is little that I can do to avoid the majority of the government blackmail, whether the government is French, US or UK. A better world is possible, but it is only the young who have the energy to revolt against the socializing policies of all our Western governments at this time.

All you young people on this site - please voice your beliefs in individual rights and fight against the worsening tribalism everywhere within our societies.

Capucine

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  • 2 weeks later...
Just curious about the ages of forum members.

Hello SN,

I am a new member and Ayn Rand's work has been important in my life. I am older and enjoy the "questions". The survey of ages brought a couple of "hasty generalizations" /thoughts on participation in Objectivism Online, 1.2% for over 60 not being a surprise:

Interest and energy are elements of a young mind a young spirit. Passion, a natural for younger individuals, and possibly being a product one's spirit, needs more attention/energy as one gets older. "Older" minds tend to seek closure. (Not to be confused with wisdom.) "Younger" minds enjoy the exploration.

Then again, it could just be the PC environment!

Thanks for the survey.

Question: Does objectivism encourage open, i.e., inconclusive, and individual thought? Or, is A=A the "objective?

skip

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  • 3 weeks later...

The relative paucity of older folks may just be the fact that they aren't as "into" computer fora as the 19-25 age range is. Or they may be busy with their lives. Any number of reasons not having to do with "younger spirit".

Or maybe O-ism is taking off in the younger generation. (Full disclosure, I am 43)

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I am 18.

It’s possible that older individuals, having studied objectivism when Ayn Rand was still alive, prefer direct information to the “middleman” information typical to forums.

For example, when I was fifteen, I spent and inordinate amount of time on a forum for chess aficionados. After two years I learned that I had learned all that was possible for me to learn about basic chess structure, I then moved on to directly studying world champion games, learning about strategy and form from reading chess logs. I never go to that forum anymore, I have learned how to directly observe, rather that learn through an intermediary.

I am very interested in nofearnolimits' comments. I often feel like my arguments are cast aside, not for logical reasons, but simple because of who I am. Interestingly enough, it ties into the discussion about poll results. As Ayn Rand has already pointed out, there is no collective conscience or identity, but I believe that there are common attributes. We understand this; it is the basis of our experience. We know that men do not generally fly without a vehicle and that birds generally do. We know that by observing many men and many birds. We also, by the same tool, recognize that young males, especially if they own a red sports car (like me) are liable to be a sign of trouble, and that the majority of teenagers are irresponsible and illogical. There is really only one thing I can say to that, and that is this. Penguins don’t fly. A common attribute is a potential specific attribute, but it does not have to be. Answer in ability, not in words.

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Well I am 15, and i have come to find out that most kids my age have no clue who Ayn Rand is and could care less about objectivism and philosophy..what a waste.

I am twice your age and have found this true of most people of *all* ages. It's a shame, but I envision a not to distant future where this will change for the better-- maybe in my lifetime. B)

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I'm 15 - just turned on July 1.

I'm also 15. Kids my age don't care about reading, or learning in general, much less Objectivism. I know one O'ist, who I converted, and one atheist. Thats about all of the people I can find that are halfway smart.

I got one of my friends to read Atlas Shrugged and I was shocked beyond belief that it didn't compleatly turn his life upside down. :o

Edited by Devils_Advocate
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This reminds me of when Ayn Rand said (I'm not sure which book) that Objectivism (or similar philosophies) are upheld by many people in their youth, but drops it as they age, becoming what can be described as a "bitter old man" (my words, not hers).

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This reminds me of when Ayn Rand said... that Objectivism... are upheld by many people in their youth

This seems to feed into the sterotype that Objectivism is just a "pop-philosophy" that young people become enamored with (for some reason); as if it's The Power Rangers, or something. I wonder why that is and if that stereotype is grounded in truth.

Edited by KevinDW78
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They call me Years Old, 13 Years old. :smartass:

Well I am 15, and i have come to find out that most kids my age have no clue who Ayn Rand is and could care less about objectivism and philosophy..what a waste.

97% of the kids in my school have no idea about any thing on those lines.

I can think of about 5 people i know that even have an idea about philosophy. And none of them know who Ayn Rand is. I didnt even know until this summer.

Soon they will though, soon they will. : :smartass:

Edited by John Kay Herdz
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Well I am 15, and i have come to find out that most kids my age have no clue who Ayn Rand is and could care less about objectivism and philosophy..what a waste.

Also 15, trapped in a world deprived of intellect and free-thought, full of cliches. It is known by one name: *queue Beethoven's 5th* HIGH SCHOOL.

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