[Ask the Gulch] Does anyone here have any idea how many people are actively using this forum? I just signed up as a Producer and the Producer area have no recent content. Looking at the Members around me - the vast majority of them haven't been "seen" for years.
Posted by AMeador1 4 years, 4 months ago to Ask the Gulch
Gulch post:
https://www.galtsgulchonline.com/post...
Pie chart:
http://freedomforall.com/gulch-member...
85% of all points went to only 60 members. 90% to 92 members.
The "legend" under the pie chart show
number of points range, number of Gulch members in that range
over 1000 , 60
500-999 . ., 32
100-499 . ., 70
10-99 . . . ., 71
0-9 . . . . . ., 20900
Points are not a very good indicator any more, if it ever was.
As indicated in the original post, I plugged the lowest level, since I had no direct access to the Gulch database to know exactly the number of members, nor did I want to go through hundreds of pages of members (with 1 or 0 points each) to get the exact total.
There is a general subjectivist thinking promoting the most outlandish anti-intellectual anti-philosophical conspiracy theories, sensationalist doomsday prophesies, bizarre alt-science by science illiterates, shallow echoing of conservative slogans, and generally goofy pronouncements in topics that are more abstract -- along with the major anti-individualist elements of religious and populist conservative politics ranging from militant anti-abortion rights, to government control of technology companies, to economic protectionism against immigrants, to demands for religious exemptions from laws because of their religion wrapped in self-proclaimed martyrdom, to hysterical Trump idolatry.
Much of the wording is non-objective goofy, shallow name-calling consisting of repetitiously spitting deliberately contorted names and slogans (like "lamestream"). Repetitious a-philosophical politics is rampant. A few angrily engage in hit and run anonymous 'downvoting' with no attempt to respond to whatever it is they object to and can't answer, with occasional personal attacks based on fabricated, subjective accusations, and even school yard taunting and/or open contempt for Ayn Rand's ideas. They are the modern emotional internet warriors on a crusade, exploiting the forum for their own obsessive ends..
The purpose of the forum does not require advanced knowledge of Ayn Rand, and those who harbor religious or other beliefs -- while not qualified for a "Galt's Gulch" -- were not intended to be excluded from the forum, which was set up, with a lot of effort, as a result of a new enthusiasm following the Atlas Shrugged movies with an expectation that discussion would be within the guidelines and purpose of the forum. Those attracted to the novels used to respond with an enthusiastic desire to know more, with endless questions. Not this group.
Rarely there is a focused, serious discussion on some topic, but that is the exception here. A few more serious individuals seem to have gained something from that, while surrounded by the clamor of an intellectual zoo that misrepresents Ayn Rand to those who don't know any better..
I would not expect this "Galt's Gulch" to exclude anyone. I understand why it was setup - the idea being to help educate and bring more people into the fold based on the new interest with the movies coming out. I bought and have watched them all multiple times. ;)
I think I am getting Objectivism pretty good at this point. I have been studying Objectivism/Rand for about 6 years now (part time). I have read many of her books a few times now. It is complex and deep and gets better with time and repetition in reading. I am not religious - but have still considered myself more of a Conservative than anything else for decades before finding Rand. But, I have always had principled differences with them in many areas. I am almost perfectly in line with Rand and Objectivism as I understand it. In fact there is nothing I currently disagree with in terms of Objectivism and only 1 (maybe a few) area(s) I disagree with Rand on - to my knowledge. So I am much happier to now describe myself as an Objectivist verses a Conservative - for so many reasons that Rand has made more clear to me based on explainations and her lower/core levels of answering 'why'.
As such, there are probably times where I have topics in application that I have not yet identified as being flawed because of what I thought I understood for decades. It's a learning process for sure. I wish I had came across her 30 some years ago. Of course - back then I was an indoctrinated liberal for the most part. So hard to tell what I would have taken from it then - without the experiences that life has given me since. Conservatives got me much closer to Rand's ideas - but obviously there were still those areas where I did not fit there either. I agree with practically every point Rand has made about Conservatives. What they speak of in terms of freedom, individualism, free market capitalism, etc... I agreed with them - but their altruistic and religious basis was always a core disagreement I had with them - especially when they would contradict themselves in collectivist ways. It left me wanting something else for a long time. In politics - Libertarian? Independant? But I always found those who call themselves those things to be very inconsistent and contradictory in their ideas - lacking core principles that follow into application. It was the Tea Party that originally turned me onto Rand. We had went to a meeting of a nearby Tea Party group where they were suggesting for everyone to study "The 5000 Year Leap" and "Atlas Shrugged". I started the 5000 Year Leap - and couldn't stomach it's religious core. Atlas Shrugged on the other hand... well, here we are! :)
I think it would be good if this website showed who liked/disliked posts. Discussion is the solution - not anonymous negative pings. I would like to know who likes my posts as well, to give me an idea of those who like what I have to say without them needing to post a reply.