Ask Us Anything
Let's Shrug and khalling (and db) will be meeting for the first time since we met on the Gulch (over 2 years ago!). So tomorrow night as we enjoy objectivist discussion I would LOVE it if gulchers asked us anything. we'll answer your questions and chat and wish you were with us. LS is in Phoenix area so MST. I cannot believe how many of my favs I get to touch base with on my trip in the US, and how many of my favs I will not see :(, but you individuals light up my day-everyday and this is our gulch. The sooner you get your questions in, the better our response. (spoiler: we laugh alot and love banter-but also like serious too)
Have something yummy for me. Wine, cocktail, what ever strikes your fancy :-)
I notice that in some Gulchers an admiration for Ayn Rand that almost borders on deification. I find this attitude to be unhealthy. There is much to admire about her, especially as a writer, lecturer and for me, the greatest debater. But she was also a woman, not a goddess. What do you think of that attitude that I just described?
Humans have an emotional template for venerating individuals perceived as superior, such as parents, tribal chiefs, heroes, kings, bosses, popes, leaders, rulers, wise ones -- role models all. It works in the animal kingdom, too, where queen bees and alpha males rule. They acquire a form of power akin to magnets and gravity.
Humans, in all their complexity and deviance, can carry the concept of superiority to the highest level imaginable and envision a panoply of deities they see as endowed with powers humans can only aspire to or try to bribe the gods to use in their behalf. Failing that, they institute governments as agents of beneficence.
Ayn Rand herself did not want a cult of personality. She said the truth belonged to all who had the capacity to grasp it. And her favorite poem, Kipling's "If", includes this line: "If you can bear to hear the truth you've spoken / Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools ..."
Are you saying that one cannot appreciate (revel) in the way another person thinks, expresses himself or acts? We do it all the time in our expressions of admiration for A.R. But since I've come to this thread rather late, am I missing something?
figure, eliciting negative responses here? -- j
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FYI, LS is a she.
Regards,
O.A.
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I have come across it several times, where admiration turns to adulation. Of course, I've been an Objectivist and apprentice Objectivist probably longer than many have been around. I've seen some come and seen some go, and seen them become Libertarians, Conservatives, or undesignateds. Her presence was a powerful personality and those who tried to stand up to her to put her down either in print or in person usually wound up battered and bloody. If you sincerely wanted to learn, however, she could be a terrific teacher with, believe it or not, a sly sense of humor.
a sole inventor who integrated all of U.S. history --
yes, the good parts -- into a cohesive fabric which
we can carry into the future proudly ... was tantamount
to miraculous. . as a kid, I was awestruck. . as an
adult, I still am -- seasoned awestruck. -- j
.
when I was 15. . ingrained, dyed in the wool, but
yes she was just a person. . I like to think that my
thinking has gone beyond her, in places. -- j
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.
his steady rationality -- so I thought that I might pick
up a side conversation with him here. . bad idea? -- j
.
mind is objectification?? . ok, then I was / am out of
bounds. . but it felt good for a long time!!! -- j
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The only downsides were two fold:
1. time taken up by the program seriously cut into the available time to chat with each other
2. Multiple lectures at once meant I could not see all of them. But fortunately the majority will be up to view on the Atlas Society site.
It really was a great time, although surprisingly, there was one attendee that I flat out could not figure out what he was trying to do. Db knows who I mean Kh, ask him about "the long and the short of it".
I'm sorry I did not get to chat more with Puzzlelady. She is amazingly gracious. However her puzzles are quite special and lots of people were keeping her occupied. :)
I highly recommend the Atlas Summit.
The program was good, and the company was even better.
We laughed a lot too.
It was great to see you.
I did not see him around after that lunch either. I don't think he was prepared to have every person at the table push for facts to back up the assertions.
Inventions as inevitable makes no sense at all. After you laid out evidence, I don't know why he still thought that. Creativity to invent cannot be forced, is subject to limited direction, and definitely not automatic or inevitable.
I think a lot of people miss the difference between tweaking or improving an existing product, and creating something new.
Mind finds ideas
To meet life's requirements:
Growth is life's patent.
Quarks combine to form sub atomic particles, sub atomic particles combine to form atoms, atoms combine to form chemical compounds and so on. The idea is that this process extends from the basic elements of quantum physics to structures as complex as civilizations, social order, and even economic systems. The mathematics of spontaneous order reveals why central planning does not and cannot provide viable systems. Spontaneous order requires a large theater of operations and a large number of participants or "players". Central planning systems are not capable of that scope so they can only deal with a tiny subset of the problem at hand. Collectivists dislike the idea because they realize that if the theory is valid it removes the necessity for most political structures.
Here is my question; did Hunters feet ever touch the ground after kh arrived?
I hope you guys have a fabulous time!
If so, does "Horse with no Name" by America creep up out of the subconscious?
Where's the iPod for some counterattack
by the doobies? . wonderfully intricate! -- j
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Radar Love
Or
Barroom Blitz
Come on the radio, set the cruise control. It takes inhuman control not to speed to those.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mteABLRY...
Wild Wild West
Some Beach Boys
Some ZZ Top
only way cross Texas or Nebraska or Montana
Hiway 51 tour then add US 1 and Us 199 but it's a stretch.
The only shame, is that we can't do this again anytime soon.
A real pleasure guys. Thanks for inviting me.
Having been forced to deal with it, my opinion of the Federal Court System is pretty low. The best analogy I can think of is that of dealing with the system is like dealing with a mean, spoiled out of control, unreasonable, obnoxious child.
Have a safe trip!!!!!!!!
here on the internet, to advance objective thought? -- j
p.s. how about a barter scheme where we put up
a listing of things ready for barter, and the wishful
exchange items -- my 1986 boat for a used jeep,
for example. . the boat is really for sale!!!
.
so appealing that I thought of your group discussion
brainstorming it. . we used to do that with ideas in
our college-age Rand-devotée meetings.
the voluntary exchange of this for that, including
shipping, could be worth consideration;;; yes?
I also have ham gear, vinyl records, a 1967
Porsche 911 ....... == j
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