My introduction

Introductions and Personal Notes
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Hi all, I’m new here. I’m not new to Objectivism. I was introduced to Ayn Rand’s books back in college, which for me was almost 15 years ago. I liked her books, to a point. I like her philosophy, to a point. I don’t know what it is about me, but I can’t accept 100% of what she says about everything, like some others seem to be able to do. In any case, that’s why I’m here, to try to understand the finer points about Objectivism and maybe to discuss things a little bit. At first I think I’ll mostly lurk, but at some point, hopefully, I’ll get into the discussion a little bit.

I’ve pretty much read all of the Ayn Rand books, but it’s been a while now. Lately, I mostly just browse some Objectivist articles, search for Ayn Rand quotes, etc. I still find her ideas intriguing, but for whatever reason I never really have the time to really sit down and read Atlas Shrugged again, even though I’d really like to give it another go around. I mostly hunt & peck for Objectivist concepts when something comes up in the news or whatever and I think to myself, I wonder what Ayn Rand would have to say about all of this.

Anyway, that’s me in a nutshell.

-slacker00

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Welcome to OO.net.

Interesting about the “not 100%”. Perhaps you can focus on the (10%, 20%…or whatever). “Top of mind” there are probably a couple of questions/doubts that form the bulk of that 10%/20%. Whatever those few questions happen to be in your case, there’s probably a thread in here somewhere… check the Search.

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I doubt you’ll find many people here who agree with 100% of what Rand had to say. Three specific views of hers that are often not shared by contemporary Objectivists are her view on homosexuality, her view of female sexual psychology, and her argument on why no rational woman would want to be President. There’s also disagreement over her aesthetic preferences – I really like Beethoven, for example, and Leonard Peikoff enjoys old-school horror movies, while Rand disliked both.

The important thing is to understand the philosophical principles she advanced, not to agree with her on every issue of application or optional value.

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Hey Slacker, my brother from another message board!

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Welcome Slacker00!

It’s not about ‘‘accepting’’ what she said, its about understanding it. :thumbsup:

Witch went easy for me, I could relate a lot of it to previous personal experiences.

I often saw myself in her villains and thought ‘‘oh god, that’s me!’’. :lol:

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Welcome Slacker00!

It’s not about ‘‘accepting’’ what she said, its about understanding it. :thumbsup:

Witch went easy for me, I could relate a lot of it to previous personal experiences.

I often saw myself in her villains and thought ‘‘oh god, that’s me!’’. :lol:

Thanks.

Understanding is certainly a preferred ideal over any compulsion towards acceptance. Unfortunately, reality doesn’t always mesh perfectly with ideology. Hopefully, at least amongst Objectivists, understanding will be a universal priority objective above any mandate towards acceptance of misunderstanding.

As for Rand’s villains, I’ve had a very tough time relating to them. They seem so contrived & goofy that I often look up from the book and ask myself out loud, “Who acts like this?!”. I appreciate your honesty & sincerity in confessing to exhibiting the behavior of some of Rand’s villains. I finally have an answer to my question! :wink:

Hey Slacker, my brother from another message board!

Hey Ryan. Those guys really missed you after you left. There were quite a few big threads threads talking about your leaving. I think it was for the best all around, but quite a scene for at least a few days there. I think everything has finally settled down now over there.

I doubt you’ll find many people here who agree with 100% of what Rand had to say. Three specific views of hers that are often not shared by contemporary Objectivists are her view on homosexuality, her view of female sexual psychology, and her argument on why no rational woman would want to be President. There’s also disagreement over her aesthetic preferences – I really like Beethoven, for example, and Leonard Peikoff enjoys old-school horror movies, while Rand disliked both.

The important thing is to understand the philosophical principles she advanced, not to agree with her on every issue of application or optional value.

That’s cool. I’m glad to understand that people are willing to concede that Ayn Rand was a human rather than some kind of God or prophet or whatever.

On a different forum, I tried to debate Rand’s stance on abortion, not so much one way or the other but that she was inconsistent on where she stood. Ryan linked me to this board, through this thread, which is how I got started here. I didn’t read all of it, but I think all of the viewpoints regarding Rand’s quotes were probably exhausted. Maybe I’ll go over it again and try to make a statement in that thread at some point.

Rand seems very confusing to me regarding anything relating to sex, reproduction or family values. I know people keep telling me to read this or read that, but I’ve read pretty much all of it at one point or another, I still end up feeling empty. I’d prefer if people would directly link a quote to accurately address their point through Rand’s words so I could address where it doesn’t make sense. Although, I also need to provide direct Rand quotes regarding the parts I don’t understand. Otherwise the discussion has no point of reference.

Welcome to OO.net.

Interesting about the “not 100%”. Perhaps you can focus on the (10%, 20%…or whatever). “Top of mind” there are probably a couple of questions/doubts that form the bulk of that 10%/20%. Whatever those few questions happen to be in your case, there’s probably a thread in here somewhere… check the Search.

Thanks. I’ve already being reading some old threads on here. It’s nice to be able to see how some regular people react to Ayn Rand’s ideas. I enjoy reading Rand’s books and learning about her ideas, but at a point it’s nice to get an alternative viewpoint and maybe get some answers to some questions that keep coming up in my mind as I read her works.

Thanks for a great forum!

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I was introduced to Ayn Rand’s books back in college, <snip>

I liked her books, to a point. I like her philosophy, to a point. I don’t know what it is about me, but I can’t accept 100% of what she says about everything, like some others seem to be able to do. In any case, that’s why I’m here, to try to understand the finer points about Objectivism and maybe to discuss things a little bit. At first I think I’ll mostly lurk, but at some point, hopefully, I’ll get into the discussion a little bit.

Great! Anyone who accepts Ayn 100% on casual exposure turns her into a religious figure, something she emphatically did not want. When you’re ready to post, people here are very good about answering questions or clarifying issues.

I’ve pretty much read all of the Ayn Rand books, but it’s been a while now.<snip> I mostly hunt & peck for Objectivist concepts when something comes up in the news or whatever and I think to myself, I wonder what Ayn Rand would have to say about all of this.

That’s a great mental model to work from. The best thing about Objectivism, though: “what would Ayn say?” is not the penultimate question. Eventually you will ask, “what do I say, bringing to bear the principles of Objectivism and a complete integration with the facts of reality?”. If your answer is different then Ayn, check your premises, but it’s entirely acceptable to come to different conclusions based on different values.

Anyway, that’s me in a nutshell.

-slacker00

Welcome to the forum! Don’t forget to come out of the nutshell from time to time.

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Great! Anyone who accepts Ayn 100% on casual exposure turns her into a religious figure, something she emphatically did not want. When you’re ready to post, people here are very good about answering questions or clarifying issues.

That’s a great mental model to work from. The best thing about Objectivism, though: “what would Ayn say?” is not the penultimate question. Eventually you will ask, “what do I say, bringing to bear the principles of Objectivism and a complete integration with the facts of reality?”. If your answer is different then Ayn, check your premises, but it’s entirely acceptable to come to different conclusions based on different values.

Welcome to the forum! Don’t forget to come out of the nutshell from time to time.

Thanks. I’m now very much out of my nutshell, if you happen to stroll over to my thread in “questions”.

I agree with the rest of what you are saying. As I said in a different thread, when I look in the mirror, I don’t see Ayn Rand. The reason why I am curious about what Ayn Rand might think about something is purely as a student of her philosophy. I absolutely have my own independent philosophy, which I am constantly working to cultivate. I’m not sure how much I will ultimately be influenced by Objectivism, but for the moment I’m certainly grabbing the bull by the horns!