Ayn Rand 101

Oh, come on, Ayn Rand people — of whom I have been and am one. If we can’t take a little humor, we’re in bad shape. We are, in fact, closed to that angle of the truth. Ayn Rand was the first philosopher I read, the first who taught me about objectivity and reason, the first who grounded me in a desire for scientific accuracy. She is worth studying, understanding, and applying. A thorough and ongoing understanding of her fiction and philosophy and her life would still be beneficial, I believe, as beneficial as the study of any other philosophy or philosopher, even contradictory ones. Why? Because, in the end, you must think for yourself, and you can’t evade that work. Meantime, the syllabus is hilarious.

Accurate to Rand’s dedication to self interest.

Alissa Rosenbaum (the real name of this much-admired phony) was not actually “investigated” by the HUAC. She was one of the invited “friendly witnesses” who came to whisper about communist influence in Hollywood. Other friendlies were Jack Warner, Louis B. Mayer, Walt Disney, and future president Ronald Reagan. My favorite Ayn Rand quotation? “I prefer the dollar sign to the Cross.” There is a scientific term for a human capable of putting her kind of distance between I and not-I.

Sociopath.

If we lived in a perfect world or could stay college seniors for life, Ayn Rand might just have some relevance to real life.

She was investigated by the House UnAmerican Activities Committee during that dark time, which when you consider her political leanings, is actually pretty strange. She’s a real practicing Capitalist, boys.

I must say that I found Gary Cooper an irresistible Howard Roark in the movie version of “The Fountainhead”. But “Atlas Shrugged” is my all time favorite, with its gigantic ego phallus – as if a corrupted modern materialistic view of the world were comparable to the Greeks true vision of Democracy.

Ayn Rand only works for the very young or the terminally naive.

Ayn Rand had no opinion about evolution nor did she include it as an element of her philosophy.

Too funny! Sometimes it’s the parody that best gets the truth of an idea across and this does it.

Good lord, (she wouldn’t have capitalized the first letter in lord), that was seriously funny.

I see a lot of people read Ayn Rand once in high school and never got over it. As a trained biologist it is evident to me that she has no idea what she is talking about when it came to evolutionary theory and as a lifelong scholar/warrior I fantasize sending a terminator back into time to remove her cancerous influence from the most vital organ of human kind. I.E. It’s brain, which is the brain of a SOCIAL animal.

But alas, it is too late, Corporate Man is one of those parasites that eventually kills it’s host. The Planet.

Has anyone considered tha possibility that a times in a small scale society it is beneficial to have cooperative values and altruistic motivations for actions that will benefit the group as a whole, while at other times a purely selfish survivalist mentality may ensure that at least some of the tribe will survive catastrophic events? Are we all wired genetically with some dominant or recessive gene for either altruism or indifference that drives our subconcious values? I’m firmly in the former camp while my wife came from a more, shall I say, individualistic family of a more conservative bent. Our progeney seem to be something of a mixture when averaged out, but each relatively firmly in one camp or the other, tempered by their environment. I’m firmly of the opinion that with civilization and technology we’ve entered a period in our history that will require all the cooperative behavior we can muster to get through, and present conditions in America are mostly the result of the other faction threatening to unravel society and return us to Dickensian world. It would all be an interesting intellectual exercise except that my children and grandchildren’s futures keep fuzzying up my objectivity. Interesting to ponder though, Huh.

Ana Rand?

Social Darwinist whore.

I’m not sure whats worse, having to read Rand drivel or listen to cultist republicans prattle about her. Thanks Bruce, I enjoyed your satire and enjoyed the Randians discomfit. Not surprising most found this unamusing, it requires a sense of humor.

I can say definitively, that the “humorist” who wrote this syllabus is completely, totally off the mark and has so totally mis-represented Ayn Rand’s views that it is not even humorous. Humor is supposed to “ring true” not miss the mark.

I agree with rjajr about the value of reading the source material and deciding for yourself. With a thinker as profound as Rand, there are many who hope that their snide, unfounded criticisms will encourage you not to read Ayn Rand and that would be a loss for you that can’t be calculated.

The great danger in the exchange of ideas (and I am referring specifically here to philosophical ideas) is to accept an idea based on someone else’s assessment, especially without any evidence that that person knows what he is talking about. And even if you have reason to believe that the person does have good knowledge of an idea (and that he may have made a correct assessment), you will not know it until you have read the source material yourself. Now, you cannot always go directly to the source, simply because of limited time or limited access, but it is the best way for you to really judge another person

I have read Ayn Rand directly. This author is not far off the mark.

I assume that Bruce McCall’s off-target parody is aimed at people who have heard of Ayn Rand but not read her ideas first hand. Those who genuinely want to know the difference between what is ascribed to her and what she actually thought could start by consulting http://www.aynrandlexicon.com on, say, “sacrifice”, “charity” or “taxation”.

I also recommend reading The Fountainhead and her other great novels. Compare Bruce McCall’s world to Ayn Rand’s and see which one actually promotes human happiness.

gilmanc asks how this differs from Ayn Rand:

I encourage you, as well as the author of this trash, to read what Rand actually wrote. You can also check out http://www.aynrand.org

I started writing a description of all the glaring errors in this piece, but quickly realized that it would require an entire book to cover even half of his mistakes. Suffice it to say, that Rand would not have agreed with ANY of the ideas presented here. Again, check out her works for yourself and make up your own mind.

When I see writers of this ilk write a competent review of A.R.’s “Introduction to Objectivist Epistemology”, her book that finally solved the ancient, centuries-old problem of universals in philosophy, then, only then, will I believe any of the luridly distorted guff this writer prints above.

Anybody willing to bet between these two, whose writings will remain in print longer, and will do more good for mankind and society?

How does this differ from what Ayn Rand advocated?

Aryan Rand Corporation.

This satirical portrayal of Ayn Rand is Ayn Rand as leftists would have her be–someone easily dismissed–rather than Ayn Rand as she actually is–someone whose ideas they are unable to deal with honestly.

This satirical portrayal of Ayn Rand is Ayn Rand as leftists would have her be–someone easily dismissed–rather than Ayn Rand as she actually is–someone whose ideas they are unable to deal with honestly.

Aryan Rand Corporation.

How does this differ from what Ayn Rand advocated?

When I see writers of this ilk write a competent review of A.R.'s “Introduction to Objectivist Epistemology”, her book that finally solved the ancient, centuries-old problem of universals in philosophy, then, only then, will I believe any of the luridly distorted guff this writer prints above.

Anybody willing to bet between these two, whose writings will remain in print longer, and will do more good for mankind and society?

gilmanc asks how this differs from Ayn Rand:

I encourage you, as well as the author of this trash, to read what Rand actually wrote. You can also check out http://www.aynrand.org

I started writing a description of all the glaring errors in this piece, but quickly realized that it would require an entire book to cover even half of his mistakes. Suffice it to say, that Rand would not have agreed with ANY of the ideas presented here. Again, check out her works for yourself and make up your own mind.

I assume that Bruce McCall's off-target parody is aimed at people who have heard of Ayn Rand but not read her ideas first hand. Those who genuinely want to know the difference between what is ascribed to her and what she actually thought could start by consulting http://www.aynrandlexicon.com on, say, “sacrifice”, “charity” or “taxation”.

I also recommend reading The Fountainhead and her other great novels. Compare Bruce McCall's world to Ayn Rand's and see which one actually promotes human happiness.

I have read Ayn Rand directly. This author is not far off the mark.

The great danger in the exchange of ideas (and I am referring specifically here to philosophical ideas) is to accept an idea based on someone else's assessment, especially without any evidence that that person knows what he is talking about. And even if you have reason to believe that the person does have good knowledge of an idea (and that he may have made a correct assessment), you will not know it until you have read the source material yourself. Now, you cannot always go directly to the source, simply because of limited time or limited access, but it is the best way for you to really judge another person

I can say definitively, that the “humorist” who wrote this syllabus is completely, totally off the mark and has so totally mis-represented Ayn Rand's views that it is not even humorous. Humor is supposed to “ring true” not miss the mark.

I agree with rjajr about the value of reading the source material and deciding for yourself. With a thinker as profound as Rand, there are many who hope that their snide, unfounded criticisms will encourage you not to read Ayn Rand and that would be a loss for you that can't be calculated.

I'm not sure whats worse, having to read Rand drivel or listen to cultist republicans prattle about her. Thanks Bruce, I enjoyed your satire and enjoyed the Randians discomfit. Not surprising most found this unamusing, it requires a sense of humor.

Ana Rand?

Social Darwinist whore.

Has anyone considered tha possibility that a times in a small scale society it is beneficial to have cooperative values and altruistic motivations for actions that will benefit the group as a whole, while at other times a purely selfish survivalist mentality may ensure that at least some of the tribe will survive catastrophic events? Are we all wired genetically with some dominant or recessive gene for either altruism or indifference that drives our subconcious values? I'm firmly in the former camp while my wife came from a more, shall I say, individualistic family of a more conservative bent. Our progeney seem to be something of a mixture when averaged out, but each relatively firmly in one camp or the other, tempered by their environment. I'm firmly of the opinion that with civilization and technology we've entered a period in our history that will require all the cooperative behavior we can muster to get through, and present conditions in America are mostly the result of the other faction threatening to unravel society and return us to Dickensian world. It would all be an interesting intellectual exercise except that my children and grandchildren's futures keep fuzzying up my objectivity. Interesting to ponder though, Huh.

I see a lot of people read Ayn Rand once in high school and never got over it. As a trained biologist it is evident to me that she has no idea what she is talking about when it came to evolutionary theory and as a lifelong scholar/warrior I fantasize sending a terminator back into time to remove her cancerous influence from the most vital organ of human kind. I.E. It's brain, which is the brain of a SOCIAL animal.

But alas, it is too late, Corporate Man is one of those parasites that eventually kills it's host. The Planet.

Good lord, (she wouldn't have capitalized the first letter in lord), that was seriously funny.

Too funny! Sometimes it's the parody that best gets the truth of an idea across and this does it.

Ayn Rand had no opinion about evolution nor did she include it as an element of her philosophy.

If we lived in a perfect world or could stay college seniors for life, Ayn Rand might just have some relevance to real life.

She was investigated by the House UnAmerican Activities Committee during that dark time, which when you consider her political leanings, is actually pretty strange. She's a real practicing Capitalist, boys.

I must say that I found Gary Cooper an irresistible Howard Roark in the movie version of “The Fountainhead”. But “Atlas Shrugged” is my all time favorite, with its gigantic ego phallus – as if a corrupted modern materialistic view of the world were comparable to the Greeks true vision of Democracy.

Ayn Rand only works for the very young or the terminally naive.

Alissa Rosenbaum (the real name of this much-admired phony) was not actually “investigated” by the HUAC. She was one of the invited “friendly witnesses” who came to whisper about communist influence in Hollywood. Other friendlies were Jack Warner, Louis B. Mayer, Walt Disney, and future president Ronald Reagan. My favorite Ayn Rand quotation? “I prefer the dollar sign to the Cross.” There is a scientific term for a human capable of putting her kind of distance between I and not-I.

Sociopath.

Accurate to Rand's dedication to self interest.

Oh, come on, Ayn Rand people — of whom I have been and am one. If we can't take a little humor, we're in bad shape. We are, in fact, closed to that angle of the truth. Ayn Rand was the first philosopher I read, the first who taught me about objectivity and reason, the first who grounded me in a desire for scientific accuracy. She is worth studying, understanding, and applying. A thorough and ongoing understanding of her fiction and philosophy and her life would still be beneficial, I believe, as beneficial as the study of any other philosophy or philosopher, even contradictory ones. Why? Because, in the end, you must think for yourself, and you can't evade that work. Meantime, the syllabus is hilarious.

The same way Space Balls differs from Star Wars.

Yes, he is. Again, this is a parody, but this ignorance of the true beliefs of Ayn Rand really doesn't do her justice.

you fail, please try again ^_^

Yes, because we all know what horrible things the Industrial Revolution, the product of the corporate man, as done to us to a society.

Or the intellectually competeant.

” Because, in the end, you must think for yourself, and you can't evade that work.”
That's exactly what Ayn Rand advocates above all: the ability for one to think for oneself.

A man born into the street-sweeper caste runs away, hides in the sewer and invents the atom bomb. That's about the size of this bilge. Ayn Rand is supermarket tabloid philosophy. ATLAS SHRUGGED = every man for himself and devil take the hindmost. Life in a jungle rather than in a community. “Am I my brother's keeper?” If you want to know what philosophy is, why not take on something serious like Plato or Wittgenstein. Rand wasn't a philosopher; she was an ideologue, a pop-philosopher. It is deeply disturbing that someone as powerful as Alan Greenspan could be the disciple of this pulp.

A man born into the street-sweeper caste runs away, hides in the sewer and invents the atom bomb. That's about the size of this bilge. Ayn Rand is supermarket tabloid philosophy. ATLAS SHRUGGED = every man for himself and devil take the hindmost. Life in a jungle rather than in a community. “Am I my brother's keeper?” If you want to know what philosophy is, why not take on something serious like Plato or Wittgenstein. Rand wasn't a philosopher; she was an ideologue, a pop-philosopher. It is deeply disturbing that someone as powerful as Alan Greenspan could be the disciple of this pulp.

John Allison, CEO of the banking giant BB&T,
A WONDERFUL WOMAN.