Welcome

[Selene]

Lol.

Well certainly not Ayn's.

The generic definition of altruism is:

1. Unselfish concern for the welfare of others; selflessness. 2. Zoology Instinctive behavior that is detrimental to the individual but favors the survival or spread of that individual's genes, as by benefiting its relatives.

Etymology: French altruisme, from autrui other people, from Old French, oblique case form of autre other, from Latin alterDate: 1853

"Altruism refers to both a practice or habit (in certain philosophies, a virtue) as well as a philosophical doctrine. Altruism, in its non-zoological context, is defined as:

• Unselfish regard for or devotion to the welfare of others. (Merriam-Webster Dictionary)
• Unselfish concern for the welfare of others; selflessness. (The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition)

Altruism in psychology and sociology

Altruism the doctrine is the view that one's actions ought to further the interests or good of other people, ideally to the exclusion of one's own interests. The word was coined by Auguste Comte, the French founder of positivism. Altruism is distinguished from ethical egoism, according to which one's actions ought to further one's own interests.

Altruism, in practice, is the performance of duties to others with no view to any sort of personal gain for one's efforts. If one performs an act beneficial to others with a view to gaining affection, respect, reputation, or any form of gratitude or remuneration then it is not an altruistic act. It is in fact a selfish act because the principal motivation was to reap some benefit for oneself. The desire of this benefit exists equally whether it is psychological, emotional, intellectual, or material - each form of desirable benefit is philosophically identical as a motivation.

Hence, people may be seen participating in what externally appears to be altruistic behavior. In fact it is frequently not the case that the behavior is altruistic. The behavior, in most cases, may be termed rational selfishness. Rational selfishness may often make adherents appear as if they are acting altruistically, but in fact, due to the motivation behind the act, it is quite the opposite. Rational selfishness is driven by a rational and reasoned desire to benefit by following one's own personal system of values."

http://www.knowledge...pedia/Altruism/

I can work with the red highlighted definition.

Adam

[Tony]

[

Altruism, in practice, is the performance of duties to others with no view to any sort of personal gain for one's efforts. If one performs an act beneficial to others with a view to gaining affection, respect, reputation, or any form of gratitude or remuneration then it is not an altruistic act. It is in fact a selfish act because the principal motivation was to reap some benefit for oneself. The desire of this benefit exists equally whether it is psychological, emotional, intellectual, or material - each form of desirable benefit is philosophically identical as a motivation.

http://www.knowledge...pedia/Altruism/

I can work with the red highlighted definition.

Adam

Well, by the definition you used above, the red-highlighted one, I am most definitely not alturist.

[Selene]

Ok.

Provide your definition then.

Adam

[Tony]

Ok.

Provide your definition then.

Adam

The same as yours, the red-highlighted one.

[Selene]

Ok.

Provide your definition then.

Adam

The same as yours, the red-highlighted one.

Ok. So, with that definition in mind, you are:

"...motivated to found an economic/political philosophy that will better the part of mankind I find to be worthy."

What type of model or paradigm have you developed?

Now here is where the devil lurks in those details.

Adam

[9thdoctor]

The same as yours, the red-highlighted one.

Look out Adam, this guy drinks red wine with fish. That should tell you something.

<object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="

name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="

type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object>

[Selene]

The same as yours, the red-highlighted one.

Look out Adam, this guy drinks red wine with fish. That should tell you something.

<object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="

name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="

type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object>

9th:

Great fight scene. No rules here just like a NY street fight!

But I will bet you it was a Timex because

This is a keeper - when commercials were live!

Adam

think of Jackie Gleason and the Chef of the future commercial

[Tony]

Ok. So, with that definition in mind, you are:

"...motivated to found an economic/political philosophy that will better the part of mankind I find to be worthy."

What type of model or paradigm have you developed?

Now here is where the devil lurks in those details.

Adam

Some of the books that inspire me, (in no order of preference),

* The Fountainhead

* "Mind and Society", and "Transformation of Democracy" by Vilfredo Pareto

* Joseph Shumpter's works

* Human Action (I'm still working on it, like many German translations into English, it is a bit pedantic, making it unnecessarily slow-going)

* Keynes, I've been working on his book for awhile, and while I found some of his attack on certain assumptions of "Free Market Economics" powerful, I also found him to be a little unnecessarily obtuse.

* Mao, the unknown story, a bio

* Young Stalin, a bio

* Huey Long's bios

I am also doing a research on "Kempeitai", "Special Assignment Brigade" of defunct Securitate, and Saddam Feyadeen, and "National Syndicalism", and planning to give a fair hearing on Karl Marx, and South Korean economic model during 60's and 70's under General Park.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Economy_of_South_Korea

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kempeitai

Edited February 10, 2010 by Red Grant

[Selene]

Red:

Excellent. I thought your roots were Korean. The community I grew up in became predominantly Korean. It also elected the first NY City councilman of Oriental decent.

Adam

[Michael Stuart Kelly]

Note to Mr.Kelly, my purpose for the recent edit was...

Red,

Don't worry about this kind of thing. You don't need to justify your edits. Here is not anywhere else but here.

I (and the others here, I believe) presume goodwill unless there is clear evidence to the contrary.

Please note that there is only 24 hours to make edits.

But it's so darn easy to sidestep this altogether, I don't understand why people have such an issue with it. It takes nothing to say in a later post, "Here is a correction of my last post. I wrote xxxxxxxxxxxxx, and it should have read yyyyyyyyyyyy."

I have done this myself many times.

Michael

[Tony]

Note to Mr.Kelly, my purpose for the recent edit was...

.

But it's so darn easy to sidestep this altogether, I don't understand why people have such an issue with it. It takes nothing to say in a later post, "Here is a correction of my last post. I wrote xxxxxxxxxxxxx, and it should have read yyyyyyyyyyyy."

I have done this myself many times.

Michael

Well, the reason is many times when certain posters with more ego/vanity than intelligence post something stupid and get caught at it, they would say, "Oh, well, I really meant this, not that" as an excuse. True, sometimes most of us might do that for real, some others make a habit of it as way of not taking responsibility for what they say.

[Prometheus]

Hello everyone. I have come across this board while doing research on various things, and I thought it a good idea to join.

I am not really sure what to say other than I look forward to discussing matters with all of you.

For a quick background, this should suffice.

I am 25, and I first read Atlas Shrugged around 2 years ago, and it was an awakening (I'm sure thats been said before.) But it so elegantly and thoroughly described the way Man should be. I always held a good deal of these beliefs, but my philosophy was never fully crystallized. In fact, our education system is engineered to keep people away from the "encumbrances" of a moral philosophy (better that they learn only to follow the group).

Since I read Atlas, I have moved on and read many other of her works. I do have a couple of friends who are like minded, but it would be nice to hear from others, and I look forward to such things.

[anunusualname]

Greetings!

My name is Brian. I come in peace. I'm 25 and I want to be an adult when I grow up.

[Selene]

Greetings!

My name is Brian. I come in peace. I'm 25 and I want to be an adult when I grow up.

Welcome to OL!

What part of the Universe do you come in peace from?

Adam

[kiaer.ts]

Greetings!

My name is Brian. I come in peace. I'm 25 and I want to be an adult when I grow up.

I used to tell people, when asked, that I wanted to be a murderess. That shut them up real quick.

[Peter]

He begins with an excellent jest. That is a good sign.

Greetings, Brian.

“I come in peace,” doesn’t cut it. You must pick a side. Internal Affairs and the Department to Search for Pure Objectivism, demands that you tell us why you are here.

Just joking, Brian.

You are most welcome here in Atlantis, where most, if not all, are benevolent fans of Rand.

Peter Taylor

The most radical revolutionary will become a conservative the day after the revolution. -- Hannah Arendt

.

[Michael Stuart Kelly]

Brian,

Welcome to OL.

Michael

[anunusualname]

Thank you gentlemen, guys. I feel welcome. This place is unlike some of the other forums out there, isn't it? Hail Atlantis! hehe

I'm in California, between Sacramento and San Francisco. There is one or two Indian casinos in every direction and farmland until you get there. I grew up in Davis, home to the famous frog tunnel and other modern marvels. Um, what else can I say? I'm very pleased to be able to participate here. Thanks again. I'm sorry I wasn't quicker to respond. Thanks, Adam. Thanks, Ted. Thanks, Peter. Thanks, Michael. and God bless everyone.

I love Anthem and her Introduction to Objectivist Epistemology.

Edited October 20, 2010 by Brian Bahneman

[Kyla]

Hello all,

I'm so excited to have finally found a forum made up of intelligent people! Over the past few years, I've realized how incredibly rare such a grouping is. As for background, I'm 23 and a newly minted survivor of the progressive, logic-stifling higher education system. I am lucky enough to have grown up with parents encouraging me to read Atlas, which I did for the first time at 17. I entered an essay in the ARI Atlas contest right after I read it. This summer, I picked it up again and was astounded, again. I would love to get others' viewpoints on how to apply objectivist philosophies to life. And what I would give to see an Objectivist change politics!

[Guyau]

.

Welcome, Kyla.

Congratulations on your degree and on your relationship. You mentioned that you read a lot. If you read novels, two I would especially recommend are Rand’s The Fountainhead and Steinbeck’s East of Eden. I hope you will be able to win getting into the profession you like. Then too, I’ve seen a lot of people eventually change what long-time career to aim for, and it has worked out well.

One thing I noticed about commercial work is that it is very meaningful to earn money to support oneself. Whether I was working in grounds maintenance (after getting a degree in physics) or working as an engineer (after getting a second degree, in mechanical engineering), I always saw in the production the significance Rand awarded it in her philosophy and fiction. It is also neat to be contributing something so valuable to people that they are willing to pay for it. Commercial work is not the only type of work that is meaningful, of course. Always expanding one’s comprehension of the world and human being is a work very wonderful.

Soon after I was out of college (1971), I was involved in political activities such as demonstrating, writing letters to newspapers and elected officials, and campaigning for libertarianism through the Libertarian Party. (I joined in 1972 and continued to 1984.) That work outside commercial work was meaningful, although I later regretted spending my precious time on that rather than on educating myself in other areas. That incorrect choice for me was a correct choice for others. By joining in that effort, I did have some satisfaction from speaking to a few thousand fellow citizens about the new political philosophy, one summer, while I gathered ballot-petition signatures. Also in those years of political activism, I formed some friendships that continue to this day, and I began to write essays.

Maybe I should mention a danger some seemed to fall into decades ago when I was young. Don’t give up on your ambitions under the possibility that the country is going to collapse. Proceed under the opposite possibility: that we will survive and with substantial freedom (substantial protection of individual rights) and that our technological progress will continue.

Stephen

[BaalChatzaf]

Hello all,

I'm so excited to have finally found a forum made up of intelligent people! Over the past few years, I've realized how incredibly rare such a grouping is. As for background, I'm 23 and a newly minted survivor of the progressive, logic-stifling higher education system. I am lucky enough to have grown up with parents encouraging me to read Atlas, which I did for the first time at 17. I entered an essay in the ARI Atlas contest right after I read it. This summer, I picked it up again and was astounded, again. I would love to get others' viewpoints on how to apply objectivist philosophies to life. And what I would give to see an Objectivist change politics!

So would I. But I won't hold my breath until it happens.

If Objectivists end up in charge, both Socialism and Quantum Mechanics will be repealed.

Ba'al Chatzaf

Edited October 27, 2010 by BaalChatzaf

[Michael Stuart Kelly]

Welcome to OL, Kyla.

Michael

[Guyau]

.

Thomas has been missing at OL since 14 October. Is he all right?

[basimpson22]

Well, I don't believe I've formally introduced myself yet. My name is Bobby Simpson. I am 23 and I grew up in rural middle Tennessee, the son of a cattleman, a twin, and 7 of 9 children. I currently attend Tennessee Technological University. Formerly I was studying mechanical engineering but decided to change my major to accounting during my junior year. I often wonder if this was the right decision. Anyways, I joined about two weeks ago and must say I am addicted. There is always an intriguing topic to find her at OL. To Selene, the one who first welcomed me to OL, I must apologize for my tone in the Jesse Ventura forum. I hope you won't weigh that or my opinion on the topic against me in the future. Already I have found at OL a source for enlightenment and motivation. I look forward to discovering new ideas and meeting many more highly intelligent peole here at OL.

Edited March 11, 2011 by Aristocrates

[Michael Stuart Kelly]

Bobby,

I'm glad you like it here.

More than that, I'm glad you find OL a prompt to think things through for yourself.

That's the one of the main themes of this site.

I have a feeling you're going to be just fine and even do great things in life.

Michael