This Is Youngman Speaking.

[youngman]

Hi, my name is Youngman (not my real name, but you know). I am 17 years old, I discovered Objectivism last December when I read VOS. I have since read (in order) The Fountainhead, CTUI, and Atlas, which I think is the greatest novel I've ever read.

I agree with pretty much everything of Rand's that I have read so far, however I am hesitant to adopt the title Objectivist, because there is still much I haven't read and much more thinking I have to do before I commit myself to that.

One of the Objectivist ideas that I am uncertain of is the opinion of art, because I believe that there are benefits to many aspects and types of art and there need not be only one type of art that is considered great, as long as there is some form of beauty in it.

My general interests are sports (I will be playing football in college), learning and discovering truth, music (I am probably one of few Objectivists or near Objectivists whose favorite genre is rap), interesting people, movies, poker, and just enjoying life.

I am off to UC Davis in september where I plan on majoring in History.

[Cole]

Hi Youngman.

To help clarify;

The Objectivist position on aesthetics is not the same as its position on beauty. The standards of beauty are different from the standards of good art. For example, I think that the sun setting over the ocean is beautiful. However, I would not classify the scene as an instance of proper aesthetics. Luckily, Ayn Rand wrote an entire book on the subject- which I suggest you include in your study.

I hope I get the chance to discuss college football with you some time. I'm a big Fresno State fan (and student).

[BurgessLau]

[...] I plan on majoring in History.

You picked an excellent field. History is the flip side of philosophy. History is philosophy in action. That, I infer, is one reason why Ayn Rand edited and wrote an introduction to Leonard Peikoff's Ominous Parallels. His book is an illustration of her philosophy of history, for one particular historical thread.

One of the many intriguing aspects of history, as a field of study, is that almost everything about humans has a history. There is world history, which looks at the great sweeping changes. There is the history of the game of chess. There is political history. There is local history, the history of what people did in one particular place, such as a small town like Centralia, Oregon or a huge city, such as Paris, that started as a village. There is also my favorite field, which is socio-intellectual history: the history of what intellectuals, including philosophers, actually did about their most basic beliefs.

Best to you in your studies.

[softwareNerd]

Welcome to the forum.

Check out the Aesthetics sub-forum. You'll find some earlier discussion on your question about art.

Is there a particular period/place in history that interests you most?

[youngman]

Is there a particular period/place in history that interests you most?

Mainly the development of ideas in the West, as well as the entire U.S. History.

[Michero]

I agree with pretty much everything of Rand's that I have read so far, however I am hesitant to adopt the title Objectivist, because there is still much I haven't read and much more thinking I have to do before I commit myself to that. 

Don't worry about when to adopt the title "Objectivist" you'll know when it's right. It took me about 5 months after reading atlas, vos, ctui, and some of OPAR. But I was lucky because I had a friend (the one who introduced me to Objectivism) who was very experienced and talked with me very often before I discovered it and while I was first acquainting myself with it.