Thunderdog, yes - you are right that her philosophy is "underthought". That is why so many young people get infatuated with her philosophy. It is at the breaking time between growing out of teenager and into adulthood that the great rebellion sort of transforms into more logic and structure of your life as an adult person. Therefore - the pre-fabricated strategy and reasoning presented in the Objectivism "shrinkwrap" appeals to many young people - becoming adults. However, as those familiar with Jungian psychology and personality typing knows, we tend to get "rounder" in our views as we become older and wiser. That is because, besides our dominant personality traits developed during the time growing up, we learn about other people and their views - different than others - and we understand that other people are not crazy, they just see things differently - for a reason. Also other people use just as good reasoning many times. nokomisjeff, you might throw your Ph.D around, and I have only a "mere M.Sc." but I can tell you that I have debunked several people with Ph.Ds in my time, in business competition and in discussions - so it would not be a first. Also, your personal knowledge of her does in no way invalidate my, nor the consensus, analysis of Ayn Rand as having underdeveloped interpersonal/emotional skills. As you might be familiar with - personality typing can be done from "afar". Mine is ENTJ and ENFJ - mixed, and I think that shows in my interactions too. I'm pretty fearless... even in "real life". Strong scientific basis and theories are at the core of Neocons as well - and they are elitist lunatics in my book. I hold Objectivists as more mellow than Neocons - from personal experience as well as from the different theories from Neocons and Objectivists. Also, I understand the "road to Objectisim" and appeal at an early age. You should be careful with aggressive and authoritarian philosophies, in contrast to more open-mindedness. There was another great nation in the last century that got under the spell of such rhetoric, and strayed from common sense reasoning into purely social Darwinism and strict hierarchical control.
Jeff, this is something Gringo learned on wikipedia and "two decades on philosophical forums". How can one question that? Earlier in the thread the dumbass claims he is aware of Ayn's historical facts. As it turns out, he doesn't even know the basic ones -- for example, that Ayn was happily married and that she enjoyed her life -- a life of creative production.
ScottD, "happily married" - you gotta be kidding. Also - anyone can be happy - no matter who they are. You want to challenge me intellectually - go right ahead, Scott... Give it your "best effort" again.
Lucky for you the creator of the internet just joined us. You can now have a fiber optic connection to his high speed satellite uplink. Latetency is excellent. Only costs one gold bar per month. What service will you provide?
I wasn't throwing my PhD around, any more than you were throwing around your intellect, which happens to be first rate by the way My definition of fearless is when you walk into the pit short 3 million bushels of wheat, the market opens up $0.15 against you, and you manage to make a profit for the day. Anything else is hyperbole. Seriously, I don't want to get into an argument, so we'll have to agree to disagree. Stop by my blog sometime. I like to talk a lot more than trading, and find my readers to be like family As Elite doesn't allow links unless you're a sponsor, just google masteroftheuniverse blog and you'll find me. I've got to postpone this discussion for awhile, as I've got six position trades on, a bunch of options on, and I'm deciding whether to pitch them out. Thanks for the illuminating discussion and I look forward to talking later. Jeff
Hmm, didn't exactly expect this from you Jeff, but ok: http://masteroftheuniverse.com/ I'm afraid the content will exacerbate the Brazilian Pretzel's 'aggression' concern.
Scott, I've learned to expect the unexpected Also, I really don't like to argue during market hours as it takes my mind off the ball, and I'm juggling a lot of balls right now Jeff
Sure, I will look for it and read it. Like I said, I read much more than what I agree with, and it is stimulating to one's brain to be challenged - which I enjoy just as much as I enjoy martial arts and other things. I also find some truths in the works of e.g Charles Murray - although his conclusions and call for actions are completely deplorable. Scott, like I said - bring it on - let's have a showdown on argumentation and intellect... I am not exactly quivering...
Blog bookmarked. I enjoyed your posts. We can bury this thread now that we've finaly had a reductio ad hitlerum.