The Master Addiction... self evasion?
Does Galt:
1. Like himself
2. Love himself
3. Respect himself
4. Revere himself
5. Have pride in himself
6. Have self mastery
7. Have self control
8. Allow guilt to alter his perceptions of himself
9. Allow shame to alter his perceptions of himself
10. Allow betrayal to alter his perceptions of himself
11. Allow abandonment to alter his perceptions of himself
12. Evade himself
My translation of the word "God" is "The Essence of Man". The essence of man is the heart (some would say, within the heart) of every man. Ayn Rand's definition of man is "rational animal" or "rational mammal" if you prefer. Essentially, therefore, according to Rand's fully integrated philosophy of Objectivism, that attribute that distinguishes man from all else (currently perceivable entities) is rationality. The literal heart of a man (organ) pumps blood, but the essential heart of a man (that attribute that distinguishes a concept from it's genus) is rationality. Rand would say that rationality is man's means of survival (another discussion entirely, but let's face it, unless men devolve into fellow-men-killing savages, for survival within a man vs. man world, rationality is essential).
Let's mince the words for kicks. The "heart/essence/means of survival/God" of man is rationality. That's fun, but, alas, perhaps not as logical as it sounds to me. We can leave out "God" for the religious, "heart" for the biologists, and "means of survival" for those that would prefer to devolve or force other men into slavery. Essence, however, is non-negotiable, for me at least. I, being a man, have a valid claim to that which is essential to my differentiation from animals (or mammals if you prefer), and my integration with organisms like myself. I claim that my differentiation as a man is, in fact, rationality, while my infinite number of integrations are subsumed by the concept of organism (in context).
Aha! A clue. Consider the following:
1. I am a mammal and I am ill
2. I am a human and I am ill
3. I am your coworker and I am ill
4. I am your neighbor and I am ill
5. I am your cousin and I am ill
6. I am your grandparent and I am ill
7. I am your parent and I am ill
8. I am your sibling and I am ill
9. I am your spouse and I am ill
10. I am your twin and I am ill
11. I am your child and I am ill
12. I am you and I am ill
Which, if any of these, prompt action, in what order, and for what purpose?
Now let's replace "ill" with "poor", "inept", "enslaved", "injured", "abused", "mistreated", "alienated", "misunderstood", etc. Altruistically speaking, if and when swamped with claims of this nature, you'd have a hard time not killing yourself trying to address all of these problems. Triage. To prioritize, one must prioritize the kind of ailment, the magnitude, and the order of significance (likeness) in terms of differentiation vs. integration.
When inundated by incessant complaints of ailments (in the broad sense used above), how can the selfless man fail to "identify" with a specific subset of the afflicted? Is "do the best that you can to help and get by" the correct answer? No. The correct answer is "I am an instance of a rational animal that is further differentiated by all of those attributes that make me unique - I will help myself first and foremost, and if I subsequently choose to help the ones I love, the ones most similar, or as many as I can, without detriment to my own welfare, I accept the personal cost and expect no payment beyond the satisfaction I obtain".
Getting around to the point... The "Master Addiction" is the act of (feeling satisfied with) identification with a subset of the afflicted at the expense of the responsibility to differentiate one's self and honor that differentiated self (via an integrated philosophical value set). To dedicate time and energy to anything less than an integrated philosophical value set is to seek, find, and ultimately wallow in failure to effect change... more will ail no matter how hard we may try to stop time.
Galt did not attempt to appease anyone, to appeal to anyone, to manipulate anyone, to plead with anyone, and so on. Those who were ready had already differentiated themselves. All it ever took was a simple nudge to help the producers of value to rearrange their thoughts and recognize that they were sacrificing their differentiated selves to the undifferentiated looters.
Hmm... is this some kind of philosophical treatise or something? All I really wanted to say was that Galt honored his differentiated self, ignored what might be construed as failures by others, and chose to honor only those who were capable of the same. Anyone else was discarded for lack of differentiation and the need for approval from undifferentiated individuals - those addicted to self evasion.
Raise your glass if you think you need approval to be an Objectivist. Trade value for value if you are one.
1. Like himself
2. Love himself
3. Respect himself
4. Revere himself
5. Have pride in himself
6. Have self mastery
7. Have self control
8. Allow guilt to alter his perceptions of himself
9. Allow shame to alter his perceptions of himself
10. Allow betrayal to alter his perceptions of himself
11. Allow abandonment to alter his perceptions of himself
12. Evade himself
My translation of the word "God" is "The Essence of Man". The essence of man is the heart (some would say, within the heart) of every man. Ayn Rand's definition of man is "rational animal" or "rational mammal" if you prefer. Essentially, therefore, according to Rand's fully integrated philosophy of Objectivism, that attribute that distinguishes man from all else (currently perceivable entities) is rationality. The literal heart of a man (organ) pumps blood, but the essential heart of a man (that attribute that distinguishes a concept from it's genus) is rationality. Rand would say that rationality is man's means of survival (another discussion entirely, but let's face it, unless men devolve into fellow-men-killing savages, for survival within a man vs. man world, rationality is essential).
Let's mince the words for kicks. The "heart/essence/means of survival/God" of man is rationality. That's fun, but, alas, perhaps not as logical as it sounds to me. We can leave out "God" for the religious, "heart" for the biologists, and "means of survival" for those that would prefer to devolve or force other men into slavery. Essence, however, is non-negotiable, for me at least. I, being a man, have a valid claim to that which is essential to my differentiation from animals (or mammals if you prefer), and my integration with organisms like myself. I claim that my differentiation as a man is, in fact, rationality, while my infinite number of integrations are subsumed by the concept of organism (in context).
Aha! A clue. Consider the following:
1. I am a mammal and I am ill
2. I am a human and I am ill
3. I am your coworker and I am ill
4. I am your neighbor and I am ill
5. I am your cousin and I am ill
6. I am your grandparent and I am ill
7. I am your parent and I am ill
8. I am your sibling and I am ill
9. I am your spouse and I am ill
10. I am your twin and I am ill
11. I am your child and I am ill
12. I am you and I am ill
Which, if any of these, prompt action, in what order, and for what purpose?
Now let's replace "ill" with "poor", "inept", "enslaved", "injured", "abused", "mistreated", "alienated", "misunderstood", etc. Altruistically speaking, if and when swamped with claims of this nature, you'd have a hard time not killing yourself trying to address all of these problems. Triage. To prioritize, one must prioritize the kind of ailment, the magnitude, and the order of significance (likeness) in terms of differentiation vs. integration.
When inundated by incessant complaints of ailments (in the broad sense used above), how can the selfless man fail to "identify" with a specific subset of the afflicted? Is "do the best that you can to help and get by" the correct answer? No. The correct answer is "I am an instance of a rational animal that is further differentiated by all of those attributes that make me unique - I will help myself first and foremost, and if I subsequently choose to help the ones I love, the ones most similar, or as many as I can, without detriment to my own welfare, I accept the personal cost and expect no payment beyond the satisfaction I obtain".
Getting around to the point... The "Master Addiction" is the act of (feeling satisfied with) identification with a subset of the afflicted at the expense of the responsibility to differentiate one's self and honor that differentiated self (via an integrated philosophical value set). To dedicate time and energy to anything less than an integrated philosophical value set is to seek, find, and ultimately wallow in failure to effect change... more will ail no matter how hard we may try to stop time.
Galt did not attempt to appease anyone, to appeal to anyone, to manipulate anyone, to plead with anyone, and so on. Those who were ready had already differentiated themselves. All it ever took was a simple nudge to help the producers of value to rearrange their thoughts and recognize that they were sacrificing their differentiated selves to the undifferentiated looters.
Hmm... is this some kind of philosophical treatise or something? All I really wanted to say was that Galt honored his differentiated self, ignored what might be construed as failures by others, and chose to honor only those who were capable of the same. Anyone else was discarded for lack of differentiation and the need for approval from undifferentiated individuals - those addicted to self evasion.
Raise your glass if you think you need approval to be an Objectivist. Trade value for value if you are one.
