Unexplained coincidence

[RobinReborn]

I posted this on reddit:

http://www.reddit.com/r/Objectivism/comments/2nxxkn/art_and_moral_treason_a_cryptic_message_to/

Nobody can explain it.

[Reidy]

He's not NB, even allowing that Rand may have changed minor details for confidentiality. Mr. X was in therapy, and he suffered what appears to be chronic depression. Branden in his twenties had no romantic failures behind him. He was married to his first serious partner and - well, you know the rest. Those major features eliminate him. Mr. X was probably someone in the inner circle, though, given that she was willing to spend time with him. I've heard that they were all Branden's patients at one time or another. I've never heard of any of them being an engineer, and I don't know how old they were when they met her (NB was nineteen and making a career in psychology; those count as minor details). For that matter Mr. X may have been a woman.

I don't see that it's a coincidence. She was writing an accurate-enough account of someone she'd known.

[Michael Stuart Kelly]

Pete,

I agree.

I think the stretch is a small attempt at O-Land clickbait.

Michael

[RobinReborn]

He's not NB, even allowing that Rand may have changed minor details for confidentiality. Mr. X was in therapy, and he suffered what appears to be chronic depression. Branden in his twenties had no romantic failures behind him. He was married to his first serious partner and - well, you know the rest. Those major features eliminate him. Mr. X was probably someone in the inner circle, though, given that she was willing to spend time with him. I've heard that they were all Branden's patients at one time or another. I've never heard of any of them being an engineer, and I don't know how old they were when they met her (NB was nineteen and making a career in psychology; those count as minor details). For that matter Mr. X may have been a woman.

I don't see that it's a coincidence. She was writing an accurate-enough account of someone she'd known.

The Collective was small. Who could this person been besides Branden?

Where did you hear that 'they were all Branden's patients at one time or another.' from?

[Reidy]

1. Somebody other than Branden, perhaps not a member of the collective at all; not my burden of proof.

2. Don't remember.

I wonder if the industrialist Mr. X mentions was the Bogart character in Sabrina. The problem is that it would have been a current movie at the time, not an oldie.

[Brant Gaede]

As a psychologist Nathaniel Branden never had a patient for the same reason a psychiatrist never has a client.

--Brant

[RobinReborn]

OK... so I posted this two days before Branden's death.

Can anybody explain that coincidence?

[Reidy]

How Branden died is a matter of record, though I don't know offhand what it is.

Why you posted this is a mystery I cannot fathom.

[Michael Stuart Kelly]

Robin,

I don't think I ever welcomed you to OL.

So welcome.

Friendly comment. Controversy is good for generating audience and engagement, but like fights, I believe one should choose one's controversies well.

A controversy works for this when it steps on the toes of some people's longstanding beliefs while appearing to vindicate the contrary--and vice-versa at the same time.

If you believe Person A, then Person B really sucks. But if you believe Person B, then Person A really sucks.

This formula works really well for getting people riled up and slinging mud at each other.

Good example: abortion. On the suck side, you can either be a baby-killer or a slave-master, and on the Angel side, you are a protector of babies or a crusader fighting slavery. Regardless of which side you are on, this controversy is formatted so it innately pisses off everyone.

And the controversy has to be believable, or more precisely, have the appearance of being believable enough to convince large numbers of people.

Michael

[Judith]

I'm fairly certain that in either "The Passion of Ayn Rand" or "Judgment Day" this individual was identified as Leonard Peikoff.

Don't ask me for a citation; I'm providing this comment only as a potential source for those who care to follow-up.

[RobinReborn]

Michael, thanks for the welcome. Not entirely sure how to read into your post but by no means was I intending on attacking Nathaniel Branden (I read that that's basically "against the rules").

Judith, I've read both of those books and don't recall anything like that. I do recall both of them being somewhat negative towards Peikoff and implying he was subservient to Rand. But's disqualified for the same reasons others disqualified Branden. He wasn't an engineer.