There are so many great themes in Atlas Shrugged, but this very one made everything " click" in my mind when I first read the book in 1974 at Cal Poly SLO. I CERTAINLY preferred AS to the other drivel on the lit. prof's reading list like Zen and the art of motorcycle maintenance, grapes of wrath or issues of New Yorker magazine. AS was not on his list, but he was magnanimous enough to give me credit for 2 books. He had never read it and said he would not because of the content. Just another open minded liberal camped out in a university. He is probably still there and still hasn't read it.
Cheers

That reminds me of a few comments in Francisco's 'money speech':

“Have you ever looked for the root of production? Take a look at an electric generator and dare tell yourself that it was created by the muscular effort of unthinking brutes. Try to grow a seed of wheat without the knowledge left to you by men who had to discover it for the first time. Try to obtain your food by means of nothing but physical motions–and you’ll learn that man’s mind is the root of all the goods produced and of all the wealth that has ever existed on earth." — Atlas Shrugged

Without _reason_, without the evolution of our conceptual consciousness, we're back to a planet of the apes.

Trappist beer! I got my hands on some (Westvleteren) last year and it was delicious.

Speaking of fermentation scientists, that happens to be my background and hobby. If you want to learn how to homebrew hard cider in 15 minutes, check out my post: http://icedynamo.blogspot.com/2014/07/ho...

Agreed. And the "by any means necessary" argument obviates all morality because the process, including theft, murder, force, is for "good" reasons, you know, "social justice," "economic justice," "equality," ad infinitum

Or two nine year old girls selling lemonade...

So true. In fact, the more biography-blurbs I write, the more examples I find great ideas met with scorn and hostility. I'm so inspired by these great inventors' courage and tenacity.

will research that -- Thank You!!! -- j

try this:::

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BBvIweCI...

-- j

p.s. I just wrote this, and my points have already
declined to zero. new rule in the software?

Yes although IQ is also effect by knowledge and mental exercise.

I found your point about the Flynn Effect very interesting. Is it true across all countries? If not then it could just be the result of better nutrition. If so then there might be some interesting genetic questions.

Jim, thanks. I think your point that inventing is inherently about the individual mind is very important and leads to the need for people to own themselves or Natural Rights.

In my opinion no school of economics is consistent with Rand's ideas. For instance, they do not emphasize or build upon the idea that man is a rational animal, that he creates thinks to improve his life by inventing (of course reproduction of inventions is important and is known as manufacturing), which is the source of economic growth.

Anyway that is the thesis of my next non-fiction book. Although I will not be emphasizing Rand.

There is a difference between raw intelligence and knowledge, isn't there? I liken IQ to a CPU - you can have a faster processor, but if you fill your hard drive up with viruses or your brain with stupid ideas, you're just using that superior computing power to sabotage yourself faster.

John, I think Dale states it very well. I might add that inventions are the product, for the most part, of individual minds working to solve a problem that affects human quality of life. Land lies fallow until an idea, an invention comes along; capital sits and collects dust until an idea or invention comes along; labor sits and watches day-time TV until an idea or invention comes along.

I created an equation for my grandson to simplify where wealth comes from: Sun+Earth+Ideas = Wealth and I made sure he learned that wealth is not measured in money, it is measured in the quality of life.

Economics, the allocation of scarce resources to improve the quality of life, if you will, gets sticky when some have different ideas about how it should be distributed. AR stated "never initiate force" and that should be the primary tenet of any distribution system.

That is interesting.

Thanks, did you or would you give us a review?

Yes we are working hard on the next book. We hope to have it out before the end of the year. Yell at Kaila, she is the hold up right now.

John, actually that is my point. Inventions are the source of economic growth and the most important policy for increasing inventions is patents or property rights for inventions.

The economics profession has tried to use the mathematics of Quantum Mechanics to explain how the economy works. So far it has resulted in very little useful information. I think (at least in part) this is because inventions are not a variable that can be put into your simultaneous equations.

Thank you for creating the blog. It's one more fun thing I've discovered now that I've retired. While I can do the experiments, that doesn't mean I'm a scientist. I kinda feel like a kid with his first chemistry set. Nothing wrong with that, it surely perks up these old bones. To be good at anything, be it science or music, it requires learning, practice (lab work for a scientist) and dedication. And like any profession, be it writing fiction, slicing ham, or unraveling the mysteries of the universe, the requirement to be excellent is dedication and enjoyment. Hell is working at a job you hate, heaven is succeeding at a job you love.