Who I Am (or About Me)

Introductions and Personal Notes
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Though I am very new to Objectivism I have had beliefs that at least similar to that of Objectivism for quite some time now. Very little if anything about my beliefs have changed since I have become an Objectivist, since er litl if anything needed to. For example, I decided to be an atheist at the age of ten since I saw gods, mysticism and the spiritual to be impossibilities. I also believed in rationality/reason a the same age, though of course wasn’t all that good at it due to my mind having not fully developed since I was so young. But least I tried, which is more than I can say for a lot of people I know. I hate to admit it but when I first heard about Objectivism from Prometheus98876 I hated it. But that was because I misunderstood it, mainly on what the six points of Objectivism meant, especially the one about art. But as Prometheus98876 told me more about Objectivism I came to understand what th points actually meant and I agreed with it and declared myself an Objectivist. To tell the truth though, I never misunderstood the one about the metaphysics. I always understood and agreed with it. It in fact is my favourite point is the metaphysics one since it deals with the nature of existence and facts, which is why the Wizards Ninth Rule from Sword of Truth (my favourite book series) is my favourite rule - it after all does the same thing. In fact I’ve been reading Sword of Truth and agreeing with its philosophies long before I knew of Objectivism. And although I agree with Ayn Rand’s messages in her books, I don’t like her style (she too often takes too long to say things).

Now for my personal interests. I like reading, writing, using computers, music (mainly rock music) and thinking.

My dislikes include lack of rational thinking, stupidity, modern political systems, taxes and most modern laws (they are not rational or realistic). But most of all I hate when people act in a contradictory way.

Next year I will be going to University and studying a Bachelor of Arts double major in English and Computer Science. Yes I know it is an odd degree, but I will be studying too things I love (creative writing and computer programming) and as such will not find my stuies too hard. No doubt there will be some difficulty considering that it is University level study after all, but I will easily be able to manage due to my love of both topics.

My ambitions (which are large) include:

  • To help Prometheus98876 build his own Linux-based Operating System (which is now codenamed PheonixOS, despite the fact that comment about himself hasn’t been updated to reflect the change).

  • To develop my own software that is primarily for authors, but will be useful to others as well. I am aiming for as much of the author market as possible, preferably 50% or more. I also aim to get a large portion of the non-author market.

  • Just like Prometheus98876, I aim to further the study of Objectivism here in New Zaland, and to be a primary advocate of it. This will start at the University I will going to next year (the same one as Prometheus98876), where I will respond approving of Prometheus98876’s Philosophy series in the student magazine.

  • To publish many fantasy novels that hold Objectivist views and philosophies. Sort of like Terry Goodkind’s (my favourite author) low fantasy, but with a high fantasy element like that of David Eddings (my second favourite author). I call my style mid-fantasy.

(Fixed spelling of ‘Ayn’ - sNerd)

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Welcome to the forum…I wont bother pretending its the first time I have ‘meet’ you… :worry:

You shouldnt find the papers all that hard, half or so of them are programming! Programming is easy! :lol:

The series starts next Semester, or maybe in Summer School (which is not a real Semester apparently), so start preparing.

If you dont mind kane, would you be willing to reexplain why you like Eddings so much? Im sure some of the people here would be interested.

I am this guys best friend (I know…poor me), so if you have any questions to ask him about say his books, and you cant get hold of him, you can try asking me.

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Welcome to the forum…I wont bother pretending its the first time I have ‘meet’ you… :worry:

You shouldnt find the papers all that hard, half or so of them are programming! Programming is easy! :lol:

The series starts next Semester, or maybe in Summer School (which is not a real Semester apparently), so start preparing.

If you dont mind kane, would you be willing to reexplain why you like Eddings so much? Im sure some of the people here would be interested.

I am this guys best friend (I know…poor me), so if you have any questions to ask him about say his books, and you cant get hold of him, you can try asking me.

To start with I would like to correct myself. Despite the name on some of the books, the books were never written by just David. His wife Leigh was equally involved. As Daivid said in a reprint of Belgarath the Sorcerer: “You may have noticed that the name on the cover of this book has changed to inclue my wife. The fact that she was a collaberator on all of the books is the worst kept secrt in contemporary fiction.” That may not be the exact wording but it is the gist of what he was saying. So in other words I should have said avi an Leigh Eddings are my second favourite authors.

It’s mianly because I like their style and as someone who is trying to be a professional author I appreciate good style. Also I am a big fan of fantasy and they write the genre well. Also they write very good fiction in my opinion. And lastly becuase I find them to be quite funny at times, especially with The Redemption of Althalus and the Dreamers series.

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To start with I would like to correct myself. Despite the name on some of the books, the books were never written by just David. His wife Leigh was equally involved. As Daivid said in a reprint of Belgarath the Sorcerer: “You may have noticed that the name on the cover of this book has changed to inclue my wife. The fact that she was a collaberator on all of the books is the worst kept secrt in contemporary fiction.” That may not be the exact wording but it is the gist of what he was saying. So in other words I should have said avi an Leigh Eddings are my second favourite authors.

It’s mianly because I like their style and as someone who is trying to be a professional author I appreciate good style. Also I am a big fan of fantasy and they write the genre well. Also they write very good fiction in my opinion. And lastly becuase I find them to be quite funny at times, especially with The Redemption of Althalus and the Dreamers series.

:worry: Yes…I am sure that the people here are terribly injured by you getting that wrong…you slacker!

Yes, those reasons are the ones I seem to recall you giving me before. Redemption was funny in places i will grant that.

Myself, I just think theres not really any compelling theme ( or very little), its too much ‘fantasy for fantasies sake’…but maybe Im too critical on this issue.

\

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Welcome to the boards, DragonMaci. I’m sure you’ll find loads to keep you occupied amongst all your course-work and these forums.

(Btw, you’ll find a few more SoT fans her as well, like myself :worry: )

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Welcome to the forum.

What kind of software do you intend to develop for authors, if you can tell?

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Terry Goodkind and David Eddings both write “High” fantasy, btw, at least by the definitions in my Writer’s Reference. The five kinds are: High Fantasy (save the world sort), Adventure Fantasy (Conan the Barbarian, just out for the adventure sort), Fairy Tales (self-explanatory), Magic Realism (bizarre . . . described as the “magic” is more of a character affecting the story, than a tool used by the characters), and Dark Fantasy (fantasy with horror elements).

There’s really no percievable difference between Eddings and Goodkind, except that Eddings’ overall uses less characterization; his characters are . . . hmm . . . more “two dimensional”, whereas Goodkind’s characters generally have a full complement of personality traits. I think I enjoyed Eddings more, actually, because I find most of Goodkind’s characters to be annoying. Eddings main characters generally don’t know what they’re doing: they’re following along because they’re trying to get a goal accomplished and they don’t know how to do it themselves. Not exactly heroic, but it’s much better than Goodkind’s “you only have one option and it’s a terrible one let’s agonize over it for 40 pages even though you know you’re going to do it anyway and then get upset over it after you’re done.” Bleh. I have to take his books infrequently; I try to read them because so many people recommend them and I like to understand things, but they are not my favorites.

That’s not to say they are BAD, generally, they are fairly good compared with most fantasy, in that the books tend to have somewhat of an underlying theme. I’ve recently begun reading the Eragon/Eldest series, which has a good plot, but is lacking in theme. I agree that fantasy in general tends to neglect the importance of a unifying principle.

The only thing that I found funny about Eddings was that his two main series were exactly the same, plot-wise. It was weird. Probably why the second one didn’t do as well.

Oh, and welcome to the forum.

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hey what university do you (guys?) attend? meaning you and prometheus?

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It’s mianly because I like their style and as someone who is trying to be a professional author I appreciate good style.

I am always looking for new authors I can add to my permanent library of fiction. I am unsure what you mean by “good style.” What elements of the style of Eddings do you like most – and why? Thematic integrity? Complete concretization of abstract themes? Intricate and logical development of plot-structure? Depth of characterization?

If your central purpose in life is to be a fiction writer, then I salute you for having chosen the most difficult career in the world, I believe. As a fiction writer, you will be creating whole worlds, which is a god-like responsibility.

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There’s really no percievable difference between Eddings and Goodkind, except that Eddings’ overall uses less characterization; his characters are . . . hmm . . . more “two dimensional”, whereas Goodkind’s characters generally have a full complement of personality traits. I think I enjoyed Eddings more, actually, because I find most of Goodkind’s characters to be annoying. Eddings main characters generally don’t know what they’re doing: they’re following along because they’re trying to get a goal accomplished and they don’t know how to do it themselves. Not exactly heroic, but it’s much better than Goodkind’s “you only have one option and it’s a terrible one let’s agonize over it for 40 pages even though you know you’re going to do it anyway and then get upset over it after you’re done.” Bleh. I have to take his books infrequently; I try to read them because so many people recommend them and I like to understand things, but they are not my favorites.

That’s not to say they are BAD, generally, they are fairly good compared with most fantasy, in that the books tend to have somewhat of an underlying theme. I’ve recently begun reading the Eragon/Eldest series, which has a good plot, but is lacking in theme. I agree that fantasy in general tends to neglect the importance of a unifying principle.

The only thing that I found funny about Eddings was that his two main series were exactly the same, plot-wise. It was weird. Probably why the second one didn’t do as well.

Eddings and Goodkind have no perceivable difference? I would say that they do actually jennifer. As you say, Eddings uses less characterization, are less rich, less compelling. His plots are less compelling, have far less meaning, depth and significance… are less realistic the list goes on.

Eddings characters as you suggest, dont have the same understanding of the world around them, dont think things through. I like how Goodkinds characters agonise over things for ages, this is what real people do after all, and it this process which heightens the heroes chance of success usually.

More annoying, Eddings books have no underlaying principle, or at least very little, and are not really art, just storytelling. Goodkinds work however literally is art.

I would say there are big, highly perceivable differences between them…

I attend Massey University, rival to the Auckland University (which I dont like as much as this one, not its Computer Sceince papers anyway, its philosophy papers are better, but that is not one of my majors), both of which are in Auckland of course. The biggest city here in NZ, but not the capital, thats Wellington.

kane does not actually attend the University yet, he starts next Semester.

sorry, that last paragraph was meant to be its own post…but it will not let me do that for some reason…

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Huh, I spent some time at Canterbury University (or University of Canterbury?). That’s why I asked.

I never got to Wellington when I was down there. Next time! I will definitely return to that gorgeous country someday.

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Huh, I spent some time at Canterbury University (or University of Canterbury?). That’s why I asked.

I never got to Wellington when I was down there. Next time! I will definitely return to that gorgeous country someday.

Oh, I was wondering why you wanted to know. I have heard alot of good things about Canterbury, apparently is good for studying traditional, civic engineering. Although Massey excells at computer and electronic engineering, in fact we have what is apparently a world first, a Multimedia Engineering degree, which combines mechatronics, multimedia production..and other fields. Most of the graduates apparently are going to be reccomended to Weta Workshops apparently, and that is Peter Jackons company.

May i asked what you studied at Canterbury?

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Eddings and Goodkind have no perceivable difference?

Not in terms of literary genre.

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Not in terms of literary genre.

Oh, sorry I did mistake what you meant abit there. Ok, well I suppose that is somewhat true.

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May i asked what you studied at Canterbury?

Ecology.

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Ecology.

Ahh I see. I dont remember hearing all that much about their ecology papers, what did you think about them? Where they good?

Sidenote:

Dont worry Ka…what is that guys name…anyway, we have not forgotten you. :stuck_out_tongue:

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I dont remember hearing all that much about their ecology papers, what did you think about them? Where they good?

I was working the dept. zoology at the time with a specific group of people studying the effect of forest fragmentation on insect diversity. They were pretty hardcore. Extremely hardworking, rigorous science for a group that did not have many resources. I don’t know about the rest of the people in that dept., although I assume good things based on my experience.

I seem to remember that about most Kiwis, although I have not been there in 4 years and my sample size of Kiwis was not large. Basically, that given a particular set of resources, they would be able to out-compete people from most other countries. So I really liked that. That they knew they were underdogs, and were going to do everything possible to overcome that disadvantage.

Anyway, U. Canterbury has a good rep. amongst the universities in NZ, right?

What the hell are Weta Workshops? God… you don’t say??? This isn’t what I think it is, is it?

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I was working the dept. zoology at the time with a specific group of people studying the effect of forest fragmentation on insect diversity. They were pretty hardcore. Extremely hardworking, rigorous science for a group that did not have many resources. I don’t know about the rest of the people in that dept., although I assume good things based on my experience.

I seem to remember that about most Kiwis, although I have not been there in 4 years and my sample size of Kiwis was not large. Basically, that given a particular set of resources, they would be able to out-compete people from most other countries. So I really liked that. That they knew they were underdogs, and were going to do everything possible to overcome that disadvantage.

Anyway, U. Canterbury has a good rep. amongst the universities in NZ, right?

What the hell are Weta Workshops? God… you don’t say??? This isn’t what I think it is, is it?

Yeah, we Kiwis are fairly good at using what we have to do some interesting things. Its “Kiwi innovation” apparently. Although I know alot of Kiwis whom could not innovate themselves out of a box if they had copious cutting tools.

U of Canterbury is one of the best and more reputable universities around, yes.

Lol…Im pretty sure there are not actual Wetas involved in the Workshop. They do not seem all that good at film production.

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Never mind Prometheus. I’m sure you know what wetas are, so I thought it was something to do with those. :stuck_out_tongue: I googled it and discovered it was something entirely different.

Leave it to a Kiwi to think of that name… WETA workshops, LOL.

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I wrote that last one before I saw your last response. For some reason, the software was screwed up and I saw two of my posts in a row…!?

Anyway, I cannot imagine wetas being much good for anything, except interesting to look at for us people from the northern hemisphere.