CNA

Dragonfly, I don't want you to think I said anything to be mean. Honestly, you truly made me think about it. I've been thinking of your post and retracing my day and looking for anything that would confirm and give me evidence that I make unconscious decisions while I'm out and about in my daily life. But honestly, the way I am and yes, I've been meticulous about this today and retracing it and analyzing and so far I haven't found anything. I know how I am and I'm constantly aware of what I'm doing and why I'm doing it. I've been doing this for so long now that it comes very natural to me. I guess part of that process. At first, you have to stay on it. But after a while, you enjoy it so much and it truly does become very natural for you to do it. So truly you did make me think about it and I appreciate that. =D> =D> I'm always looking for evidence that contradicts what I know. If I find it, then I'll fix the contradiction. I appreciated that so thank you. And I guess I am truly a reject from everybody else......LOL

Thank you, Dragonfly. I must be a total reject then. Because in everything I do in my daily life, there is a purpose for it and a goal and I'm always aware of my actions and why I'm doing them. Every action I make is working towards a goal I set. I'm trying to think of something that I did today that I was completely unaware of. Honestly, I'm thinking of it right now. Honestly, I can't think of anything that I did today where I was unaware of my actions. I was even thinking of putting socks on and my shoes and if I was unaware of that decision. And honestly, no, I wasn't. My purpose of putting socks and shoes on was to protect my feet. Maybe I'm just weird and definitely not like other people because honestly I'm aware of what I do every single day and every single action I have on a daily basis is Identified and what that PURPOSE is and WHY I'm doing it and WHAT the goal is. And I'm always thinking of something. There is not a day that goes by that I'm sitting stagnant and my mind is blank. Even watching TV, I'm watching it and understanding it but at the same time able to think about something else. I think I'm just a reject.......LOL Or just a very hardcore Objectivist. There are reasons for everything and everybody is aware of their actions and WHY but most people choose not to acknowledge it or identify it. They don't think in terms of Law of Identity or Law of Casaulity. In order to reach what Ayn Rand called Atlantis, every single action and emotion we experience on a daily basis has to be IDENTIFIED (Law of Identity) and given a reason as to WHY we do it (Law of Causality) Honestly, while writing this post, I'm still trying to think of something I did while awake today that I wasn't aware of what I was doing and I still can't think of one action I did today where I wasn't aware of it. I will probably continue to think about this for the rest of the day in an attempt to verify that we make unconscious decisions every day and are unaware of our actions. I'm still unable to find a decision I made to today that I was unaware of and was unaware of the goal of that action. But thank you Dragonfly, you made me think even more and will probably think about this for the remainder of the night. I thoroughly enjoy thinking so thank you. //;-))

Hey, Kat. Before I respond to your question, I want to read up a little bit to make sure I remember everything. The last time I thought about this was 3 years ago or more. I remember it but I want to make sure I have enough information on it before I say something. But I will say what I do remember of it. Sean seems to be more autistic than my son but I also believe autism dx is overused. My son doesn't ask questions such as that. Sean seems he wants to understand more but you also don't want him to dwell on such ideas as death and gore. He may become obsessed with the idea of gore and death, etc. and that's all he wants to know about. Do you know what I'm saying? This is just an opinion. That's all. He wants to understand and learn by asking all those questions and I know it is tiring but encourage it so he can understand and learn and become smarter. But the questions about death, I can understand he may want to know why and what might happen so he'll know to stay away from it. But if he starts asking them obsessively, don't let him dwell on it. You know what I"m saying. I'm sure you know all this already. You guys seem like really good parents. But I do know that so-called autistic kids and adults shy away from anything they believe will harm them which to me is self-preservation and is characteristic of Objectivism. I do know and have read about kids pacing in their rooms when they see something like a leak in the ceiling where the plaster is obviously wet, etc. They know that this is a possible danger and it threatens them and they may worry about it obsessively. Because if the leak goes on for too long, that part of the ceiling may collapse and possibly injuring them in some way. My son doesn't do this. But he is very aware of actions around him that could prove painful or harmful. Such as he was watching go karts racing really fast with small kids in them and he responded, ooooh, that's dangerous, you can get hurt. Which is true. So he is aware of possible dangers and knows what to stay away from because of course who wants to get hurt. I know I don't. But I personaly would take a go cart for a spin but not at blazingly fast speeds because it is fun but I know full well what could happen if I crash. So I go into that situation knowing full well the ramifications on me. But to take a small go cart out going 40 or 50 miles an hour is ludicrous and so dangerous. And then on top of it, to have kids that are 8 or 9 years old doing this is absurd. I wonder what is going through these parents' minds when they allow a small kid to travel at these speeds with very little protection around them inside the kart. Amazing... But I will say that the more severe the autistic child is obviously something is wrong medically and needs to be addressed; such as in the case of the Rain Man. But it seems that the dx of autism is greatly overused, especially if the child doesn't fit into a group of other so-called normal kids. Hey, he's his own person and he likes to play a certain way. Or the kids that are considered autistic because they would much rather work on chemistry problems rather than go outside and socialize with the kids down the street or put tracks together on a train set such as my husband's nephew Brennon did when he was 3. His set ups were extremely complicated to look at. If you walked into the room, the entire room is laid out with track, hills, bridges, tunnels, etc., and truly is beautiful to see and all of this is coming from the mind of a 3 year old at the time. Brennon now is 13 I think, is hard core into science and also wants to be an engineer, extremely intelligent but feels he is misunderstood by his parents and his friends. This boy needs to start reading Objectivism which I did tell him to read her books the last time he was down from Washington. He's still so young but eventually will understand it better. Or the little girl that I read about that was kicked out of her school when she was in kindergarten because she was acting defiantely towards the teacher and wasn't following directions like all the other kids were doing. They were learning their ABCs. This little girl had mastered it already. The teacher told them to practice the letter K. So she obviously got irritated because she is having to be held up and waiting for the other kids to catch up to her so she truly can't progress in her class. So she flipped the page over wrote the alphabet backwards perfectly and underneath it wrote the letter K numerous times over and over. The teacher saw it, got angry, sent her to the office and said that since she cannot follow directions and is too defiant, she wasn't allowed back in her class. Unfortunately, the little girl was kicked out of her school for being too smart. Now this is the ultimate punishment and destruction of the GOOD for being the GOOD. This little girl was just taught that to use your mind is futile and worthless and won't get you anywhere in society because if you use it, you'll get in trouble for it. And at times can be punished so severely for it that you may even be kicked out of the group to be destined for solitude and loneliness. And the best thing to do is to always stay within the group. You have to stay at the group's pace and never to progress at your own pace. This little girl got severely punished for being smart. To the point, she was actually kicked out of the school for it. And that is so sad to see. This is the mind that needs to be challenged. This is our future shaker and mover. She's the thinker and she got punished for it. More later on this. I want to get my books out and read some more on it before I say anuthing else. But I will say I can't really say anything about your son because I don't want it to be construed as medical advice. I do have training in medicine but I can't give advice regarding it. There is a book by a hardcore autistic lady and she gives her perspective of it and her life, etc. I saw a program on her not too long ago but her name escapes me right now. I'll think of it though. If you want to talk more such as temper tantrums taht are thrown due to difficulty in understanding, etc., I know about this. Chris would throw the mother of all temper tantrums. He would try to communicate to me what his needs are or wants but couldn't find the words to get it across. But as he's aged and he is learning and understanding more, the tantrums have pretty much disappeared. So his tantrums were due to a lack of knowledge and understanding on his part on how to communicate his needs. Let me know and I will keep thinking about that lady to see if I can remember her name

I went to a neurosurgeon today to get my results of an MRI I had done on my neck and lower back. I have a compression injury at C2,C3 from a long time ago. MRI came back good, nothing major is wrong, just a few bulges here and there but nothing that warrants medical intervention. After talking to the doctor, he brought up Ayn Rand. He was a witness of mine not too long ago. After his depo was over, I stayed and spoke with him regarding my neck, etc. So I had known him previously. We started to talk about Ayn Rand. He just recently started reading her books. He made the statement that Ayn Rand was a wonderful writer but not a very good philosopher. He started to talk about his beliefs and that life was too complicated to figure out. Talked about controlling behavior, that all of our actions are due to our childhood experiences, reflexes, genes, etc. and that this is basically how humans are. When he brought up genes regarding these issues, that told me that he truly believes that we are powerless to stop it. Since it is ingrained into our DNA, we are forever destined to be ruled by our emotions and chemical responses in the body and to just face the fact that we can’t change anything and man is too complex of a creature to change. So I listened to him. When it was my turn to talk, I would start to express my views of it and instantly he would cut me off and kept talking about his view of it. But he made many interesting statements. This is not his exact words but basically his words. There are some people that you cannot rationalize with. He is too seduced by his own house of cards to listen to someone else’s view. This is one of his statements which floored me that a neurosurgeon of all people would say this. He said that most people make unconscious decisions in their daily life. Wow….that’s interesting. I started to say something and he just did not want to hear it. To my understanding of the term unconscious and the definition of it is that when you are unconscious, you are either dead or knocked out and not aware of your surroundings. So here is the definition Unconscious. The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language: Fourth Edition. 2000 ...Lacking awareness and the capacity for sensory perception; not conscious. 2. Temporarily lacking consciousness. 3. Occurring in the absence of conscious awareness. Have you ever once seen an unconscious person make a decision? I know I sure haven't. That’s like the walking dead or passed out people deciding to get in their cars to drive to the store. Or the walking dead or passed out people deciding to nuke another country or to invade another country with unjustified force. You know, since I don’t like your religion or view of life, I’m going to hit you over the head for it. Force is to be used against another in self defense only. I have some good stories to tell you regarding the use of force against another when it is unjustified. Unfortunately once again, I have many up close and personal experiences with this. I've seen people that are conscious of very little and are the ultimate I'm Ruled By My Emotions and I'm border line a savage animal make decisions but never an unconscious person make a decision. That statement of his above is similar to someone saying, I am conscious of nothing. Well, if you are conscious of nothing, you have to be conscious of something. Am I right or am I missing something here? LOL....Wow, the neurosurgeon that is very prominent and is well known in his field that says people make unconscious decisions in their every day life.

You're cute.....you don't like to cook. A lot of people don't like it...LOL Me personally I enjoy it but don't cook often anymore because my life is too busy with work and Chris, etc. I understand. Your question asked about steps that kind of thing seemed to me like you were wanting a little more clarity on how to go about it, etc., so I wanted to give some examples of it. But I'm glad you understood it and have implemented it. I just want to help. That's all. I really hope you guys try it. I enjoyed it. Just as long as we know why we do what we do, etc., and form those beliefs regarding our actions. It truly is a pretty easy process to get through. This process is very personal and I understand not wanting to share. I've given a little bit too much info about myself and my past but wanted to give you guys a little bit of history regarding me and why I came to the beliefs I did so you could understand a little bit better on what I was trying to say. As you can tell, up until the age of 17 or 18 and then the few years after that, I was guilt ridden about my actions, etc. But thereafter, it stopped. My health improved tremendously. I know what makes me happy and what doesn't. And what doesn't, I stay way far away from. But I'm glad you understand it and are going about it more privately. //;-))

I want you to think about this and tell my why you personally do it. There is no right or wrong answer right now. If it is the wrong answer, it will eventually change to being the right answer as you slowly progress through this. Don't be afraid to be honest. You can even send it private message. That's fine. I know of a few possible answers. One of them being, "I see it as being a chore." Why do you honestly cook for your family? Think about it for a little bit, then give the answer. Then I will follow up with a question if one is needed. I'm just doing this to give you an idean of what I mean by process of understanding. Angie

And also, as you go along, what you learn and discover will vary from how she presents it in her books. You will learn differently than I did and probably will lose the ability to feel guilt at a differet time than I did. She presents in her book that you lose guilt when you finally see the pain and destruction. For me, this was not true. Even after seeing the pain and destruction and deciding to leave and to stop supporting my dad, I still felt guilt. Like I said, indifference was the hardest thing for me to overcome. Since I still cared so much and did feel guilty, (deleted out. Ther were only certain people on this site that I wanted them to read this so they could understand a little better)

Kat, there is a system to it. Trust me, I've looked at that angle many times but unfortunately that system which is the hierarchy of knowledge is mind boggling complex. I will be honest with you, well, I'll explain this one because that system can be broken down but it can only be broken down by the individual pursuing it at that time from the moment he initiates it until the moment he completes it but you also never complete it because it is a lifelong process. I've come to the conclusion that there are two parts to it. The first part is all about pain and destruction and why you are experiencing pain and suffering and identifying why. The second part is all about happiness, peace, and living your life for yourself. Yes, you can be benevolent to others and not consider it a sacrifice. But it truly is not a sacrifice if the man that says, yes, I want to try, I want work for what I value, then your support and benefit is the gratification that you see when he succeeds and he has attained the goal he set out to do. But this isn't like a 12 step program. Let me see if I can explain this so it will make sense. It makes sense in my head but may not come out making sense to you. When you start asking yourself questions as to why you do something, you essentially are picking apart your current philosophy of life but at the same time, you are forming your own rational beliefs as to why you truly did it. So the first is tearing apart your current philosophy and beliefs in the present but replacing those beliefs and philosophy with a new one. That's what it boils down to. This is why Ayn Rand came to the conclusions that she did. What little I know of her and reading the back page of Atlas Shrugged as to where she was born, etc., she gives the impression that she was born this way without ever living under that code of pain and destruction. I disagree with this ambiguity that is presented. If this was the case, then introspection and extrospection never would have been addressed in the first place. She also lived under this code but seems to not admit it openly to others. Admitted it to herself yes, but not to others. I honestly believe she went through it at a young age as I did. She wanted to understand more as to why she saw what she saw so she started taking philosophy classes and history classes to help her understand why she went through what she did and why she saw man destroying himself and this did give her even more insight as to why. Some of the stuff you talk about, I don't know about; such as, fundementalism (sp). I don't know what this is. I've never studied it. Or another, religion, I was exposed to religion as a child but I thought it was ridiculous and never took it seriously. I didn't even know who mary magdalin was if I'm even referring to the right person. But I guess the lady that slept around. When I heard her name for the first time, I was like, who the hell was that. But back to your question if I can clarify it better. The heirarchy of knowledge is extremely extremely complex and cannot be broken down and presented to others as a systematic approach for everyone. In this case, the heirarchy of knowledge is done on an individual basis. This is where the difficulty comes in in presenting it to others as a systematic approach to it. The heirarchy of knowledge takes into account individuality. I've looked at my own life and analyzed when this process first started with me as it has progressed and I've tried to break it down. But unfortunately I can't do it for myself and reality is neither could Ayn Rand because neither one of us was aware at the time what was happening to us. As I went through it, the answers as to why I did things so intrigued me. The more I found it fascinating and complex and the detective story is wonderful and as I realized more about life and myself and why, I knew I was on to something and it felt good, it felt right and that's why I kept pursuing it even more. I truly didn't know what I was onto and neither did Ayn Rand. We both stumbled upon it by accident. The only person that can break it down to a system but is a system that can only be used for them personally and not others is the person that keeps track of each question they ask themselves and then keeps track of the answer and then keeps track of any followup questions they ask themselves in regarding to figuring out why they personally did that action in the first place. And then it builds from there. Once you get this down, it becomes even more complex because it starts to branch out into other areas. It branches out in an attempt for your mind to understand it better. It's like a tree. The base is the first question and answer. And then as you go along asking yourself even more questions, you'll sprout a branch that leads to other areas that you have an understanding of say for instance animal behavior. That branch you just formed regarding animal behavior is now being used in order to understand yourself better as a person. You start comparing the two. You ask yourself another question with another answer as to why you did something, you then ask yourself even more questions regarding that behavior in an attempt to get to the root CAUSE as to why you did it. If you are having trouble understanding it or identifying it, you go to the first branch you formed looking for answers and lo and behold, you find your answer. From there, you ask yourself another question and answer it but this time you sprout another branch let's call it grouping, you now take this branch you just formed and start looking for answers. If you can't find it there, you go to the branch called animal behavior. And it slowly goes from there. The first question is the foundation and from there, the next thing you know your tree is now 200 feet tall with 25 separate large branches. But on those 25 separate large branches, you also have smaller branches which all of this structure is built on questions and answers. So literally before you know it, your tree now looks like a tree that is very large, very old, with no leaves but tons of branches. This is how the hiarchy of knowledge is built. It is extremely complex as you can see. But in order to keep track of it, you have to keep track of every single question and answer you ask yourself. This would be the most tedious thing ever and so nerve racking and would take a seriously dedicated man with no friends, no life outside of this structure, in order to complete it. But it would be a very detailed systematic approach into how the human mind works, how the human mind learns, and how the human mind integrates information to come to a very detailed conclusion or answer to the first question you asked yourself. But again, you learn how to do all this stuff by asking yourself the first question and answering it honestly and you slowly develop this tree whether you are aware of it or not. And you don't have to be aware of it in order to get through her process. But the one draw back is and why it can't be presented to others like this is it takes into account individuality and why we as individuals do what we do. My reasons may be far different as to why I perform one action compared to yours. So you tree and the names of your primary branches might be different. But as you go along in this process, you will for the most part come to the same conclusions she did but with slight differences here and there. When you go through this process, try not to remember what Ayn Rand says in her books or her philosophy. Just concentrate on why you do it personally. For instance sex, some people use it to relax after a long hard day. And others don't use it to relax, they use it strictly for pleasure. The first answer to relaxing after a long hard day is evading reality that they are stressed out and are looking for a way for them to deal with reality as it is. They second answer is a man that enjoys experiencing the unique ability that only humans have in feeling a physical pleasure. He's not doing it to evade reality because he's stressed out at work but he's doing it to celebrate his life and the pleasures that life has to offer which it is true, sex is the most profoundly selfish act any human can perform. But I've read that there is evidence, not a lot and they are still working on it and trying to gather more evidence, that humans aren't the only species that have orgasms and experience pleasure with sex. A good example, Kat, is say today, you're at the mall buying a really cute purse, expensive maybe, let's say a Coach bag, nice quality, but ask yourself, Why do I really want this bag so much? Did I see a girl with it the other day? Yes. How was she dressed? Nicely Was she dressed fashionably? Yes. What does this bag truly represent to me? Is it a status symbol that I'm on top of fashion and my wanting to show other people that I can afford it and fit in to a certain group? Yes and No. Well, which is it? It is because I want the bag because I want to impress other people and make them believe that I fit in with a certain group. This scenario boils down to grouping. The more popular the designer and the more fashionably it looks it will sell quickly because everybody wants to be apart of the group that's popular at that time. I'm not saying this is your reason. I'm just giving you an example. My purses come from Target. Quality is nice if I can find a purse that fits all my stuff in it and is big enough and has compartments that I need to put my stuff in which for me is difficult to find. When I look for a purse, I don't look for purses that I see all the 18, 20 year olds have. I look for a purse that is big enough to fit all my crap in. I'm not buying a purse to fit in with the group. I'm buying a purse that suits my personal needs at that time. I'm trying to think of another example. Say you get in a fight with a friend today and you walk away feeling angry or guilty even. Ask yourself, why do I feel angry right now? Look back at the situation and start analyzing it. Did I say something...... I'm going to get Atlas Shrugged out and try to give you a better example. Say for instance, a really stupid and obvious question of mine when I was in college. This question just popped out of know where for no reason and was the most ridiculous question ever. While studying medicine sitting at my desk. My mind asked, What are you sitting at right now? a desk. Why are you sitting at the desk? I'm studying. Why are you studying? Because I want to pass this class. Why do you want to pass the class? Because I want to graduate. Why do you want to graduate? Because I want to get a job and support myself. Why do you want to get a job? Because I want to make money. Or another one....same deal, sitting at the desk. What are you sitting at right now? My desk What is its purpose? It helps me study. Look at it again, what is its purpose? It keeps all my school things organized. Why do you want it organized? It helps me to get more done. Why do you want to get more done? I want to be productive. Why do you want to be more productive? It makes me feel good that I'm doing something for myself. Why do you want to do something for yourself? Because it makes me happy. I'll get Atlas Shrugged out and start looking for examples. I'll give you a few examples of Dagny and asking herself questions. This is going to be time consuming for me to give you examples from her book. My book is heavily marked up. When I was trying to help my friend get through his and to help him understand what I meant by asking questions in the present, I went through her book and marked the areas as well as many other areas to give him passages from her book to help him understand what I was wanting him to do. I have a few of Dagny's thoughts and questions to herself. But not many. I'll find those when I have more time to give you better examples. But I will tell you Dagny's process is heavily extrospection but occasionally does perform introspection. Whereas, Hank's is more introspection than starts to become extrospection later. I'm looking for more basic examples as well as trying to remember what I went through in first part of it and looking for examples. But as I said, I didn't know what I was onto and didn't really pay attention to it at first. I thought everybody did it. Well, I soon later realized that most people didn't do it. And realized I was onto something big but didn't know what. And this drove me even more to ask questions and give answers, trying so hard to understand it, trying so hard to understand myself and understand others. I mean I was relentless with it before I saw it becuase it feels so good and so right. "She had not given up her quest for the man who invented the motor. It was the only part of her work that made her able to bear the rest. It was the only goal in sight that gave meaning to her struggle. There were times when she WONDERED WHY she wanted to rebuild the motor. WHAT FOR? some voice seemed to ask her. BECAUSE I'm still alive, she answered." This is Hank but his questions are becoming more complex and harder to answer. In the beginning the questions you ask yourself about who you are, are very simple and easy to understand. But as time goes on, the question will become harder to answre and you'll find no answer. But the more you realize why you do what you do and it starts going into extrospection and their actions, you'll be able to answer these more difficult questions. Here's hank asking himself questions. He's already done the introspection and it has now turned into extrospection. Hank is getting close to finally seeing it. This is Hank in court looking out at the crowd and the jury, all the participants in court. "Why were they ready to renounce their highest moments as a sin? Why were they willing to betray the best within them? What made them believe that this earth was a realm of evil where despair was their natural fate? He could not NAME the reason but he knew that it had to be NAMED. He felt it was a huge questoin mark within the courtroom, which it was now his duty to answer." Now here is Dagny struggling to find words to name and identify an emotion but she can't figure it out yet but she's trying to name it. There are questions that you can't answer right now, there are things you can't name or identify right now. Don't dwell on it. Move on to something else you can identify and name regarding your actions and emotions and why you are having them. "She backed away from him; she felt as if emotion had flung her ahead of her own consciousness and questions were now catching up with her, groping toward the form of words." Another one for Dagny "She lay in the darkness, listening to the wheels, thinking that only Daniels and his motor still remained like a point of fire ahead, pulling her forward. OF WHAT use would the motor now be to her? She had no answer. WHY did she feel so certain of the desparate need to hurry? She had no answer. To reach him in time, was the only ultimatum left in her mind. She held onto it, asking no questions. WORDLESSLY, she knew the REAL ANSWER: the motor was needed, not to move trains, but to keep her MOVING. There's a lot more in here. I just have to find them to give better examples. I'm also trying to think of situations with me and when it happened with me, (deleted out) But since falling hard on his butt and recovering like most people do, he now owns 2 businesses and is successful, has learned, and tries everyday to keep hiw own life afloat. Despite our problems in the past and what happened, I will support him and encourage him becaues he is trying so hard and has succeeded. My support and encouragement has paid off for me in the way of gratification and pride because he is now successful at sustaining his own life. I'll give more examples. I just have to find them. More on this one later.

I haven't read the last 2 posts. But when I get more time, I want to clarify something. Maybe it was misconstrued on the point I was rying to get across. I'm not saying you wake up every single day like it was the summertime and you couldn't wait to go out and have fun, etc. You do wake up in good moods a lot. There isn't a doom that hangs over everything. Everything is very bright. the burdens you once carried and that were so unnecessary are gone. The burdnes of your past no longer weugh you down. you look forward to your life and what it has to offer you. There are days I wake up and I'm cranky because I didn't sleep wll or don't feel good. But more the most part, you are very happy. Each person has their own personaltiy. some may be drier than others and others may be extremely outgoing with other peple. Me, I'm happy, sweet, shy, reserved to a point, don't talk a lot. But I don't have a problem loosening and going to have fun with no cares or worries, etc. More later

Kat, when I get more time, I will write about your little one. It is late and I'm tired.

Also what I know of Leonard from what I read about him and his books, etc., he seems to be extremely happy. If you give me evidence that tells me otherwise, then I will change my view. To each their own And Mike, WOOHOO....I hope you are doing it. It's a great way to discover yourself. //;-))

No. I haven't seen any DVDs, lectures, etc., of Leonard or even Ayn Rand for that matter. I've only seen pictures of him. I've read a few of his books regarding Objectivism but they weren't really his books to begin. They were more like highlights of her philosophy. I've read Atlas Shrugged and that's it for the fiction. I started to read We the Living but I did lose interest in it after reading Atlas and stopped reading it. I've read a few of her nonfiction books. But that's it. What I've read of Leonard is he seems pretty laid back. I agree with Mike that I don't know him personally nor know enough of him to pass judgement on him, the same goes with Ayn Rand although I've read about other people's view of her that were not favorable. Even though I know her philosophy, we're not all that similar. We are too a degree but what I do know of her is that she was an abrasive, hard woman; whereas, I'm not that way. She seemed to be a very unemotional woman which I disagree with this to an extent. I'm unemotional to a degree but I don't repress my emotions. I am not quick to anger. In fact, to drive me to the point of anger is very difficult. You can irritate me. But I am too rational for it. If you irritate me or hurt me, etc., I will tell you I'm upset but that I need to be alone for a while so I can think. I'll come around eventually after I've calmed down and have thought about what I'm going to say. I agree you don't bash people over the head if you are in disagreement or argument. You talk it out. And if you can't resolve the conflict, then go your own way. There are certain people you can't reason with. When you find these people, it is silly to keep arguing with them trying to prove your point when it is useless in the first place. Some of the things that Ayn Rand did in her personal life, I do disagree with to an extent. But again we are all individuals. We all live our lives as we see fit and what works best for us. I don't want to go over my childhood right now and air everything I've been through. I'll say this much but won't go into detail. ( I deleted this portion out. Only the frequent users of this website I wanted to see this so they could have a little bit better understanding. But personal information.) After I got through the first part of her process and realized what was important to my life and saw the pain and destruction and then finally being set free of it, I went my own way. (Deleted portion) As long as each man is making an attempt to better his life in some way and to support himself on his own abilities and own merits, then I will support him in his decisions and support him in his attempt to make his life better and easier. So I haven't cut my family off despite what I went through. There are things that Ayn Rand did or believed in that for me is too harsh. But what I do know is what I went through with her process and there is an Atlantis. You are given back your childhood. Because of my beliefs and what I went through with her process, my health has greatly improved. Stress can have devastating consequences on the body and has a cumulative effect. Which man is going to suffer health problems? The man that cares for a parasite and looter and decides to support him despite sacrificing himself and his health and never getting anything in return or the man that is indifferent to him because he recognizes that he is capable of supporting himself and surviving on his own. This is what I battled with. So there are many differences between me and Ayn Rand. My personal opinion is her philosophy works very well. I've been living by it since I was 17 or 18 and it has made me extremely happy and has brought me peace within myself because I no longer feel guilty for being human, I no longer feel shame for being able to survive, I'm no longer destructive....for me, it has brought me peace and happiness, a kind of peace and happiness I could never find under the philosophy that holds man as a sacrifical animal to others. But I also agree that Ayn Rand took it to the extreme on some levels. But I also know that you can dump your baggage from the past completely because it no longer matters. You've grown indifferent to it. When I look at my childhood and everything I've been through, there is no pain associated with it. It happened. I dealt with it and I moved on. What matters now is I know what is important to my life and I know what will make me happy. If it doesn't make me happy, then I shy away from it. The old saying, if you get burned bad enough, you learn to stay the hell away from it because it will only bring you pain and suffering. That is a life that was left behind. My past and what happened to me, I look at it with total indifference. But you also have to remember I'm familiar with her philosophy but it is a philosophy from my view and a philosophy that I came to without ever knowing who she was. So they very much are the same but there are differences. Ayn Rand's view of always follow your mind no matter what and never follow your emotions, I disagree with to an extent. Sometimes, if you are in a bad situation, say for instance someone you have fallen for and want in your life more than just being a friend, even though he is a flake at times and can be unreliable and has a bad track record, sometimes good things happen to those who wait and are patient. But again, this also boils down to caring for your friends, not strangers, but friends. So even though for the most part I've come to the same conclusions as she has, there are differences. But again, when I went through it, I did not know Ayn Rand or her philosophy so there were no outside influences. It was all me and my perspective of it. Also, my philosophy only rules my life and guides my life. I am not familiar with outside affairs; such as, the situation in Iraq, current affairs, etc. I do not keep up with these things so I would not have an opinion regarding it when I have no information regarding it. So if you want to talk politics, I can't help you there nor can I give an opinion. But I can give an opinion when it comes to more personal issues such as inner conflicts and her philosophy when it comes to guiding an individual life. Issues regarding government, etc., I can't give an opinion because like I said I don't keep up with it. For one, being a mother to a young boy, my television revolves around the Disney Channel. My job takes up a lot of time so I don't have the chance to sit down and watch even the news. But again, there is nothing wrong with trying this process out. What can it hurt? It can't hurt anything. If you don't like it, then stop it. If you do like it, then keep it up. It is all about individuality and your own personal beliefs you form while going through it. Yes, there will be differences but for the most part, you'll come to the same conclusions. One benefit with this process is that Ayn Rand is not there to influence it. It's all you and your beliefs as to why you do what you do. I've also read that Ayn Rand was very much against any scientific research into ESP or things as such and discredited it before it got its foot out the door. For me, this is not the case. If they can prove it, then I will change my belief regarding it and will fit it into my beliefs. So there are differences and we are alike but not that much alike. But again, I don't know LP personally or knew Ayn Rand nor have I seen videos or even interviews of them. I've only seen pictures. But I also know that they will release pix that are favorable. But again, what does it hurt to try this process of introspection while in the present? They are your personal beliefs and no one else's. It's not about why Ayn Rand thought you did it which I heard she was also stubborn in this regard unfortunately, it's not why I think you did it or why anybody else thinks you did it. It's WHY you THINK you did it. It's about individuality, to each their own. I've never been to a meeting with other people that has the same philosophy as mine. Like I said, the only person I knew before you guys was my friend and he is the only person I've talked to regarding my beliefs. But again, what does it hurt to try this process out? If there is a conflict, rationalize it. If you can't come to an agreement, leave it at that and don't keep hashing it up or beating each other over the head about it. Just say, hey, you have your reasons and I have my reasons, but let's still remain peaceful and friendly. Like I said, to each their own. Your life is your life and my life is my life. Also I'm not familiar with their relationship or post splits, etc. Like I said, I'm very new to reading about her philosophy. I've read it but not major in depth. But her personal life and her wars I'm not familiar with. I have a few good friends still. But have a hard time keeping most because of differences in values; such as, most women I know are very materialistic and I am not. They love fashion. I have about as much fashion sense as a cow. It's just differences in values is why I've had a problem keeping true friends. So you guys, please don't think that I am like Ayn Rand and I'm harsh, etc., and to be aware because we are alike but not that much alike as you will soon see I'm sure. Angie

I like that and reminds me of a post I sent Kat about parenting. It's under the post right and wrong. Something I did with my son not too long ago. But it had to do with the moon rather than birds.

good job> sorry i did something to my keyboard and need to fix it> we can talk about autism> it"s been a while since i hashed this up but i"m sure my memory will be triggered when she talks to me> thank you< mike> my keyboard sucks right now

Hi, Jody, That's also an interesting comment you made. Believe it or not, it's easier to navigate our course for the future when you see what mankind is doing to himself. I know some if not all possibly doubt that I've been through the same things AR has been through, saw the same things, and reached what she called Atlantis. There is nothing I can "say" or "tell" anyone that will convince them that I've been through it. All I can do is "show" you the way. It's up to you to "choose" if you want to "see" it for yourself. One thing with this philosophy is we do not tell, we show. We do not claim. We give evidence. Unfortunately Atlantis cannot be brought down as Ayn Rand describes which is very true. But I will tell you this, it does exist but the key to unlock it and get there is through the mind. I can't tell you or claim it. All I can do is "show" you the way. When you do "see" the pain and destruction, it is the fate of mankind and what will ultimately happen to them. I know that is such a dire thing to say. But as of right now, mankind holds the code of pain and destruction as the only means of his existence. When you finally see it, your future is so bright, you look forward to what life has to offer. You know that pain is to be fought and tossed to the side. It's easier to navigate the course into the future than most think it is when you value what is important for man to survive. You seem to be one that will try this process and get through it. How can I say this without sounding funny. The differences between the two are great and there is no going back. Once you get there, it's difficult to leave it. Have you ever noticed when you look at people and even objects, it has this cloud of doom that hangs over it. Everywhere you look, it's there, you feel it. You can't escape it. When you reach it, this will completely disappear. Everything is so bright and not dull. The sky is so blue, the trees are so green, the flowers smell so beautiful. You have the spirit of your childhood back, the outlook of life of waking up every morning eager for adventure and discovery, you can't wait to get outside and have fun. I'll give you a good example of what I live in everyday, what Ayn Rand lived in everyday, what Leonard lives in everyday, or any person who has reached what she calls Atlantis. Out of all the pictures I've seen of Leonard, the look on his face says it all. he's so happy, no strain, no pain. It's a genuine smile and love of life. This is what it is like to be in what Ayn Rand calls Atlantis. Even if you have health problems such as I did and the outlook was not good because my entire system started to shut down, having problems with my heart, thyroid, pancreas, kidneys, they all started to fail and yes, it was stressful but it never put a damper on my view of life and how much I love it and how much I don't take it for granted. I will give you a picture of what life is like in what Ayn Rand called Atlantis, just look at Leonard's face and it says it all, the happiness of a child. Do you remember when you were so very young, take your happiest childhood moment of being outside and remembering how blue the sky was, how clear everything seemed, there was no doom that hung over everything, the grass is so green, the smells were amazing, and you were out having fun with your friends or being alone, or laying down in freshly cut cool grass that feels so wonderful on the skin and looking up at the sky that is so blue and clouds that are so pretty and never wanting to leave that spot or finding a bunch of leaves and just burning them so you can smell them, or waking up in the summertime and looking out the window and you just could not wait to get out there and have fun, eagerness, adventure, the spirit of your childhood. This is Atlantis. This is what I live in everyday. This is what Ayn Rand lived in everyday. This is what Leonard lives in everyday and why he always has such a huge smile on his face in all the pictures I've seen him in. This is what you will have back. Nothing matters. You have responsibilities but very few such as you did when you were a childhood. You didn't worry about if some kid down the street you didn't even know got hurt or worried about what was happening to him in his life. You cared about your friends but did not care about people you did not know. This is Atlantis. This is your childhood. This is the spirit of your childhood, eagerness, happines, adventure. this is what you will have back. Take the happiest moment of your childhood where there were no adults around, it was just you and friends or just you by yourself and remember what it felt like, what you saw, how much you loved it. This is what you will have back. So in reality, our future is easier to navigate than what most people think it is. I know out of everyone here you will probably be the first to intitiate this process. and I so hope you do because there is a huge difference between what I live in everyday and what you live in or what most people out there live in everyday. You seem intelligent enough to get through it. I know you will thoroughly enjoy this process. Please, if you start it, let me know how you like it. Angie

And also being a harcore objectivist for so long now, when I read about autism, some of it is very typical of people that who have actually reached what she called Atlantis. I read quite a bit about Ayn Rand and how she was as a person and Leonard is the same way. When you read the symptoms for autism and then look at hardcore objectivists, there are many similarities. I took a test to see if you would be considered autistic. I'm not autistic. But they gave a scoring range of what they consider to be high function, moderate, to severe austism. If you scored in between like 34 and 56, you are considered autistic. I scored 33. But I'm not autistic. Autistic kids and adults are typically not emotional people. They do better with facts and evidence. They don't do well with grey areas and contradictions or estimates. Autism is an interesting disorder. When I took my kid in to be looked at, the doctor tried to put him into a "group" of kids and didn't take into account my son being an individual. While watching him, he said, well, he doesn't play like all the other kids do. I said, well, my son has his own personality and his own way of playing. He's not sitting in the corner by himself. He's interacting with all the other kids. He has his own style of playing. The doctor said, well, he doesn't fit in with what is typical of the other kids and he doesn't fit into the group. Oh, you better believe that made me upset. So I said, so you don't take into account individuality with these kids and you classify them in to a group. You just figure that if society as a whole sees them as being different and not playing LIKE ALL THE OTHER KIDS do, there must be something wrong with them. So you are more into "grouping" than being an individual. He gave me a dirty look. I was upset. So that doctor appointment was cut very short. I picked Chris up and walked out with him still in the room. Unfortunately, this doctor was the best that Irvine had to offer, their best neurologist and director at UCI. So unfortunate that even doctors are prone to grouping and not individuality. These people, the doctors, the scientisits, etc., are the guiltiest ones of the bunch. These are the movers and shakers of our soceity, The thinkers. Similar to when Francisco in Atlas was talking to Hank at his house about their philosophy that holds the code of pain and destruction as man's constant state of existence. Hank didn't understand it at the time but Francisco told him out of everyone here, you are the guiltiest one of them all. That statement that Francisco made was very accurate. But Chris is doing well now. Still is socially inept.....he will be considered a nerd. But reality is, the nerds are the ones that survive longer because they are the thinkers. Enough of the rambling. It was very nice to meet you, Mike. I hope you don't mind if I call you Mike.

Hi, Michael. I also agree with the attention part....that's a good way to look at it. Chris can be very demanding with attention. He is an only child for many reasons. Being diabetic, my pregnancy was extremely difficult. After Chris, it became a detterent to have anymore kids. Chris was dxd with high function autistism so he does do things that are very redundant and over and over and over. It's not really obsessive compulsive. Sometimes if you are trying to explain something to him, in order for him to understand it, you literally might have to explain it to him 5 different ways before he catches on. He's extremely intelligent. But Chris sees things differently than most which I find interesting because that's how objectivists are. They are different from other people and see things typically for what it is, you know, A is A. But as Chris has gotten older, many of the traits of high functioning autism have disappeared. Socially, he doesn't really know. But when it comes to sciences, etc., he is right on top of it; such as, the solar system. For a 5 year old, he knows the names of all the planets and some moons. Knows which planets are hot and which planets are cold or freezing such as pluto. Has a concept of time. He trips me out. Or he will ask me, where does lightning come from, where does fog come from, how do you make mud, why are their clouds? Just questions I haven't seen most 5 year olds ask. He trips me out big time. But that is very true regarding attention. That is something Chris needs a lot of sometimes. I wanted to apologize because I know this is such a sensitive subject for most parents when someone points something out and they take offense to it. But I guess that is one good thing about being an objectivist....Rationality is to be the only judge. But thank you, Mike. And it is nice to meet you. I've seen your name everywhere on the board. I'm slowly going through when I get a little extra time to check all the posts out. Angie

I don't want to overstep my bounds and step on anyone's feet. I know this is a sensitive subjects for moms and dads. Me, personally, I encourage my son to ask as many questions as he possibly can. The reason being the more questions he asks and the more answers he is given as to why he is not allowed to do something or why ar we going to the store, why does he have to eat this, etc., the more he asks and is encouraged to ask and is given answers to his questions, the more he UNDERSTANDS so the more intelligent he becomes. My husband John tells Chris, you ask too many questions, stop asking so many questions or he will say you don't need to know why, just do it. And you better believe, I'm right there telling him don't do this. The more he understands the smarter he will become. If you read the post I put up regarding initiating the process of understanding and remember this and then look at your kids, this is what we were born to do but it is destroyed as we get older. I don't mean to say that to offend so please, please, please don't think I'm saying this to be mean when I use the word destroy. It's just human beings are so curious by nature and we are born with the foundations of law of causality and law of identity which was talked about in that email about initiating. This is what human beings do. This is how we learn. My son's visual acuity astounds me. He is so observant and asks me questions that I don't know the answer to but I will try to sit down with him and I will tell him to look at it and try to figure it out and then tell me what he thinks it is and 9 times out of 10 he is right. A good example of this. I know absolutely nothing about the solar system. My understanding is very rudimentary. But one day he asked me, mommy, what is wrong with the moon. I said good question. Let's see if we can figure it out for ourselves. The moon was stunning that morning. It was directly in front of and the sun was all the way to the right of us to where you had to turn your head with chin being directly over the shoulder. You could still see that the moon was completely round even the darker portions of it. It was just beautiful and this is what he was asking about and why it looked so funny. He has an understanding of left and right. He understands that the earth spins and goes around the sun. He understands that when it is light outside that it is dark on the other side of the earth. So I asked him to tell me where the moon was in relation to where we were knealing. He said that way, front of us. I asked him to tell me where the sun was. He said to the right. I told him to look at the moon again and then look at where the sun was. I then asked him what happens on the other side of the earth when it is daytime here. He said night time. I told him to look at the moon again. And this said it all. He said, Wow, mommy. That was the understanding and figuring out a problem that at first baffled us. But that Wow, mommy was his way of telling me that he now understood what was wrong with the moon. My son is also notorious for asking the same questions over and over and over and over and over and do I need to say it again, over and over. It gets so irritating. I sometimes catch myself telling him to stop asking me the question. Well, I've gotten to the point where I stopped answering. I don't want to keep giving him answers and then he grows up thinking that he should doubt his mind and what he is percieving with his own two eyes is not correct and doubts his abilities to solve problems, his ability to answer questions and that in order for him to get answers to questions, other people have to tell him. So now if he gets into the pattern of the ultimate redundancy in asking the same question 5, 000 times., I will tell him, Christopher, you tell me what you think the answer is. I'm not going to answer the question for you. You know what the answer is. What do you think is the answer. And again he is correct 8 times out of 10. It is in our nature as humans to be so curious and our desire and insatiable need to understand is immense. They have a right to know why they are being told to do something, or why they have to take a bath right now, or why they have to eat a certain food, etc. So please, please don't think I'm trying to be mean. It's just read my post and then look at your kids doing exactly what I described in that post, they constantly ask questions in the hopes to further their understanding and knowledge. This is what human beings are born to do. This is why we came out of the caves so rapidly for only being here so short of a time compared to animals. What little I know about this subject....this is called evolution and why man has progressed so rapidly compared to lower ranking animals. It is our ability to think in terms of cause and effect, Law of Causality and Law of Idenity. This is the first time I'm going through the site and checking out all the posts, etc. Kat, my intentions are good, trust me. Angie

Thank you. It brought a smile to my face. Really the only person I've been able to share my beliefs with openly is my friend that told me about Ayn Rand. So it is refreshing for me to talk so openly about it with other people other than my friend. Even though he has been a follower of AR for a while now.....well, that's a long story as to why he started reading Ayn Rand in the first place. He actually knew about Ayn Rand for almost the first 8 years I knew him. The little sh*t just never told me then. Even to this day, I remember him asking me questions that I thought were odd and didn't know why he was asking them at that time. He wanted to see what I had to say first. Anyway....funny but after becoming very close friends, he finally broke down and said, read Atlas Shrugged. This was after I started to go more in depth with my life which unfortunately has been very rough. When I read it for the first time, I sort of laughed because there were questions I remember so many years ago he was asking me were in her nonfiction books. He was feeling me out and wanted to know how I would answer and if they would line up with AR's beliefs and conclusions. For the most part, they did line up very accurately. So he is my baby boy and always will be. Don't get me wrong. I'm still learning myself. I know this sounds weird or out of the ordinary but some of the terminology you use I don't know. How can I explain this.....let me put it this way, I have no formal education into any aspects of her philosophy. I've never taken a philosophy class, etc. The only formal education I have is in regards to my chosen trade which is court reporting. I have formal education into extensive English, Medicine, Law, and yes, Vocab but some of these words you guys use I'm not familiar with. But I understand her philosophy very well, maybe more so than most because I've been through it so I know all the little ins and outs of it. Does that make sense? But I'm glad I was able to shed some light on it. And truly, this is how it started with me and I came to the same conclusions as AR did and saw the pain and destruction she talks about which is downright terrifying to witness and so heartbreaking to see. But there is nothing you can do. It is their choice. They know what they are doing is wrong. Out of everything you have to let go; such as, caring so much for people you don't even know, caring for family members that truly are looters and parasites, etc., this was the hardest thing for me to let go. And what I'm trying to say is you have to go from being so loyal and caring so much for others to turning your back to them in indifference. And this is the hardest thing to overcome. I know it was for me. But given my past and what I've been through, it was the best thing I could have ever done. Because unfortunately when I lived under the philosophy of pain and destruction and breaking my back for other people to ensure that they can keep going and keep surviving, my health started to fail. But interesting enough, since getting through her process and realizing what is important to my life, my health mysteriously improved. Trust me, I had a battery of doctors running tests all the time but they could never figure out why and what was happening and why my entire system started to turn against me such as my immune system attacking organs, etc. One medical director that was one of my doctors even took my case to a panel of other doctors and they had no clue. Don't get me wrong. I'm fine now and have recovered with the exception of a thyroid condition that was treated and type 1 diabetes. But what AR talks about the mind and body and there is a very close correlation and the contents of your mind, what you value, etc., is also very accurate. I'm living proof of that. If I ever get time, I will write a little about that. So that indifference that I struggled so much with and had a hard time letting go of but finally did let it go has BENEFITTED me tremendously in so many ways I can't even count them. But I'm glad I was able to shed light. I just want to share what I know and to help any objectivist "see" what AR talks about, help them understand better, help them understand their lives better and why they are the way they are. I want to show that there truly is a Path to take in reaching what AR calls Atlantis. There isn't any of this, okay, I guess only a select few can reach it; such as Ayn Rand or Leonard. No. It is open to everybody. They just have to be told how to reach it and attain it for themselves. But I hope you try this process. If you do, tell me how you like it. Maybe it might encourage others to try it as well. Again sorry for the long winded post. Like I said, I can be shy but obviously very long winded. //;-)) Strangely enough I feel so much at home here,....it's scary. Usually it takes me a long while before I open up. I guess I'm finally home. Angie

Unfortunately I have ran across the Krishna dude. I so have to laugh at him. He sent me an email that I found to be offensive so I sent it to meetup to report an abuse. I also replied to his little post that he sent me and hope I don't get into trouble but probably will eventually block him because I am sure what I said will probably irritate him. But yes, the word you use to describe him as "crazy" is an understatement. LOL Angie

I also wanted to say that the answer to the 3rd question in the very first post isn’t as obvious as it seems. The obvious answer is the sense of sight that is tremendously pronounced while getting through the end stages of the first part of the process of understanding and before seeing what Ayn Rand called Atlantis. The sense I am talking about that is also tremendously pronounced is not your sense of sight. I haven’t read all of her fiction books. The only book I’ve read is Atlas Shrugged. But I’ve also read her other nonfiction books as well as a few books that Leonard has written. This other sense is not talked about in any of her books except one. Even in this book which is Atlas Shrugged, it is touched on and vaguely explained very very briefly. But when I read it for the first time in Atlas Shrugged, I caught it because I also went through the same thing. Out of the entire book, it is only addressed directly by Ayn Rand this one time. She addressed it in a very small paragraph. She briefly describes it and what is happening and how someone else who is not going through this process in the book is perceiving it and their perception of it while it is happening to this one individual. And then Ayn Rand quickly moves on and is not addressed directly again like this in the rest of her book. So the answer to the third question isn’t what it seems to be. I’m intentionally being vague because if anyone decides to start this process, it is something that needs to be “Discovered” by them and not by what a book says or someone else tells you. This process and her philosophy is all about individuality and their own “Discoveries” that they make as a result of thinking in terms of cause and effect. Atlas Shrugged concentrates heavily on each individual’s beliefs and how they come to form these beliefs due to their own discoveries. And this is what the Process of Understanding is all about, each person as an individual and his/her ability “To think” for themselves in terms of cause and effect and forming their own beliefs as to why they do what they do and their own “Discoveries” that they make on their own. And you will think to yourself just as I did, Wow, so this is what it is like being ruled by your mind and just imagine I’m not even……. So the answers to the last 2 questions and what I am referencing can truly only be answered by someone who gets through this process and “sees” for themselves what Ayn Rand called Atlantis. I’m doing this to invoke curiosity on your part. For humans and their need to understand is great and human beings are very curious by nature. You know the old saying, Curiosity killed the cat should actually be Curiosity set the cat free. So if you are at all curious as I am sure you are, you will initiate this process. This is all about you and your abilities To Think for yourself in terms of cause and effect. This is not about why I think you did it or why Ayn Rand thought you did it or what you read in a book. This is all about you as an individual and your own personal reasons and your own personal discoveries and your own ability “To Think.” What can it hurt to just try this process and see if you like it? It won’t hurt anything. The only thing it will do is set you free in as many ways as you can imagine. Angie When you have a good understanding of the present and why you do what you do, it makes the past easier to reflect upon.

This is going to be very basic and easy to understand. And I’m very sorry for it being so long. But if you want to answer the questions in the first post I put up and are interested in starting this process of understanding, read on. If you are interested in understanding her philosophy better and want to see with your own two eyes what she talks about, start this process and you will eventually see it. If you want to understand Ayn Rand’s philosophy better and want to see what she talks about, start this process and stay on it. Don’t give up on it. It won’t happen overnight. But if you continually ask yourself question after question until you understand why you have the actions you do on a daily basis, you will eventually see what Ayn Rand talks about. If you practice this way of “Thinking,” you will find you enjoy using your mind the way it is supposed to be used which is “To think” in terms of cause and effect. Eventually you will be able to answer the questions I asked when I first found this site on the internet. When you think of introspection and how most psychologists tell you to perform it, it is typically regarding past experiences; such as, what happened to you when you were 20 years old or what happened to you 5 years prior. In order to perform introspection correctly, it should be done in the present in terms of cause and effect and is the way to understand her philosophy better as to why she came to the conclusions she did which seems to baffle most people. I’m not talking about just emotions here and identifying why you are having them. I’m talking about every action you perform on a daily basis needs to be acknowledged and identified. For example, have you ever asked yourself while in the present, why did I just do that? Most people think about it for a split second and then lose focus and continue whatever they were doing and never answering the question that their mind has just posed to them. Don’t do this. If you ever ask yourself or question yourself, why did I just do that, answer the question no matter what. Pay attention to it, stay focused on it, and figure out why you are truly performing this action. Keep asking yourself question after question after question until you finally UNDERSTAND why you personally did it. This is called individuality and not grouping. For example, the very first question I asked myself when I inadvertently started her process when I had just turned 16 was in regards to rushing a sorority at my high school. If you’ve ever rushed a club, you probably know about the initiation and what happens to these people. For the club that I was trying to get into, they would publicly humiliate you. After rushing the club for a few months and being degraded, my mind finally asked myself, why I am doing this? Like most people, I thought about it for a split second and then went about doing what I was doing before. I never answered the question. Well, a few weeks later, the ever so faithful mind asked me again, why I am doing this? Not knowing any better I ignored the pleas to figure out why I was truly doing it. Well, this time it bothered me and I started to wonder if it was normal to do this and if the other girls I knew also experienced the same thing. Well, I finally answered the question. I asked myself the question again, why am I doing this? Answer: Because I want to fit in. And then all of a sudden another question came to mind: Question: Why do I want to fit in? Answer: I want to be apart of the “group.” And then quickly another question popped into my mind: Question: What is it about these people that I want to fit in so badly? Basically after asking myself question after question, I realized it was because I wanted to fit into a “group.” After realizing this about myself, I started to really notice all the little clicks at my high school. And as I kept watching them with this new knowledge that I acquired, I realized that most people wanted to fit into a group. The better the group and the more popular they were, the more outsiders wanted to be apart of that group. They truly didn’t want to be individuals but wanted to be apart of a group. This is where Ayn Rand’s conclusion came from regarding grouping and individuality. After realizing this, I stopped rushing that club. I didn’t like the humiliation and degradation I was intentionally putting myself through just so I could be considered part of this “group” of popular girls. I made the decision not to do it. After realizing that I truly had a choice, I realized that everybody else also had a choice regarding their actions. Shortly after I stopped rushing this club, my bestfriend approached me in the hall and asked me why I stopped. I told her that I didn’t like it and it wasn’t who I was as a person. I didn’t want to humiliate myself just to fit in. She responded, God, I wish I could do that. I told her, you can, it is your choice. And from this point on, her process of understanding slowly started to progress. I didn’t do it religiously. That didn’t start happening not until shortly before I saw what Ayn Rand describes as so much pain and destruction and it truly is terrifying to witness. I truly do enjoy her process because the answers about yourself are fascinating and the detective story at first seems so complex. It truly is a hierarchy of knowledge. There will be certain questions you can’t answer right now. You may ask yourself, why do I feel this way or why am I angry or why do I feel so guilty right now, or what is it about this action that I enjoy so much, how does this make me feel, what is it about him that I don’t like for some reason, why am I washing the dishes, why am I acting this way, etc. And you may not be able to answer the question. If this happens, move on to something else. You haven’t realized or answered enough questions about yourself and your actions in order to IDENTIFY it. So there will be times you seem to find no answers. If this happens, don’t dwell on it. Move on to something else that you can answer. As time goes on, you will ask yourself that question again, maybe six months later or even a year later, and you realize you can answer that question now whereas before you couldn’t. It is a hierarchy of knowledge. You start with one answer and then you slowly build on it. And eventually everything will fit in nicely and will start making sense. You will find that your mind will ask you some really ridiculous questions and questions that seem stupid to you and are so obvious. But still answer them anyway no matter what. Stop what you are doing when your mind asks you a question no matter how silly the question is and figure out why you are doing it and answer the question honestly. And then continue whatever it was that you were doing; such as, washing the dishes or taking a shower or studying for school. You will find that your mind will ask questions at all hours of the day when you are up and about in your daily life. When you attempt to answer these questions and put a NAME to it or IDENTIFY IT, no matter how silly it is, you are reinforcing Law of Casaulity and Law of Identity. It won't happen overnight. It will take some time but eventually THINKING this way will become very natural to you. When doing this introspection while in the present, be honest with yourself. Don’t lie to yourself and why you are truly doing it. You are defeating the purpose. This is where you will learn that honesty is the best policy. With honesty, you cannot evade reality. With every question you ask yourself, you are seeking an IDENTITY. When you finally put a name to it, you are completing the Law of Causality. You can also perform reverse cause and effect; such as, I did this today "because".... or I felt guilty "because"..... Do this every single day and stay on it. It will take a conscious effort on your part to stay focused and concentrating and integrating using your mind power “TO THINK” in terms of cause and effect. After you do it for a while, you will eventually find that it comes very natural to you. There is no longer an effort on your part. You just do it. You will find that you enjoy using your mind the way it is supposed to be used. When Ayn Rand makes reference to “To think or not to think,” the “To think” is in reference to thinking in terms of the Law of Causality or in terms of cause and effect. Every action and every emotion has a cause. You just have to figure out WHY you personally are feeling it or WHY you personally do it. There are reasons for everything. Nothing happens just because it wants to happen. There is a reason for it. You just have to figure out what the reason is. In order to find this reason, you have “To think” in terms of cause and effect. Law of Identity is pretty much the same thing as Law of Casuality….it’s the process of IDENTIFYING your knowledge and why you are having it. Every time you ask yourself a question in the present and trying to figure out why you truly did something, you are practicing the Law of Casuality. Every question you ask yourself, you are seeking an IDENTITY or better said, you are practicing the Law of Identity. When you finally understand why you truly did something, you have given it a name, you’ve verbalized it in your mind and have IDENTIFIED it. When you perform this action in the present rather than regarding the past, you are able to draw conclusions with better accuracy. The events are still fresh in your mind, you know why you truly did it, you know what was said by others around you, you know what you are feeling so in turn you form your BELIEF as to WHY you PERSONALLY did it and have drawn a very accurate conclusion. When you do introspection into the past, the events are not that clear in your mind, you forget what you were feeling, you forget all the little details. When you do introspection into the past, your conclusions that you draw regarding why you did something are not that accurate and are not reliable. As most people know, with the passage of time, events can be convoluted, you may misinterpret something, you will forget the little details that were necessary in drawing an accurate conclusion. You will find that there isn’t always one reason as to why you did something in the present. You may answer a question you ask yourself, quickly think about it right then and there, draw your conclusion as to why you did it and then move on. But six months later, you might be performing the same action and ask yourself that same question again and come up with a totally different answer. There’s two possible reasons. The first reason is there may be more reasons than one as to why you truly did it. Or the second reason may be that you didn’t draw an accurate conclusion in the first place. So what do you do with the new answer? You integrate it into your beliefs that you’ve already formed about yourself and why you did it. You fit in this additional answer in to the rest of your beliefs and move on. So you realize that there are 2 reasons as to why you truly perform this action while in the present. Or if it was a gross error in knowledge on your part in the first palce and why you truly did it, you toss out the old answer and fit in the new answer. When doing this process of introspection while in the present, it will touch on every aspect of her philosophy and why she came to the conclusions she did. As time goes on, you will realize that you no longer are able to feel guilt. Yes, you can feel guilt concerning your own actions, especially if you know what you did was wrong. But when it comes to other people’s actions, you realize the reason you do not feel guilty for others is that they’ve made their life what it is. It’s not your responsibility to pick up slack that they are not capable of picking up themselves. You will soon realize that they know full well of what they are doing and that they are capable of surviving on their own. It’s just they CHOOSE not to do it. Right now, the truly good people out there that don’t know about her philosophy may truly not be aware of it. Even some Objectivists who haven't gone through this process, may truly not be fully aware of it. They honestly believe that the looters and parasites have their best interest in mind. The truly good people don’t think that they are being manipulated and used and they refuse to believe that these so-called friends, family members, etc., don’t want to harm them. When in reality, these looters and parasites know full well what they are doing. Once they drain you as their host and they can no longer benefit, they will move on to the next host and will drain them of their ability to survive. It’s a continuous vicious cycle of destruction of the good. But when you get through this process and start seeing things for what they truly are, all you have to do is pronounce the words NO in your mind and you will be well on your way to seeing what Ayn Rand calls Atlantis. Trust me, you will see a huge difference between being ruled by your emotions which is they do whatever feels good without ever thinking of the consequences on them to being ruled by your mind which is a person who THINKS for himself in terms of cause and effect and does not act until he fully understands the ramifications on him. When you perform this introspection while in the present, you will become aware of your contradictions and you will slowly eliminate the contradictions. You realize that contradictions are one of the components of destruction and why man is suffering so much on this earth. When you live by contradictions, you never know what is right and what is wrong. You continuously live your life on a double edged sword and no matter which way you go you will get cut. I’ve answered the first two questions regarding introspection and why you should perform this action in the present rather than regarding the past. As you go through this process of understanding, you will be able to answer the last 2 questions. The last 2 questions truly can only be answered by those who have gone through this process and has reached what she calls Atlantis. If you do this introspection this way while in the present, in the beginning, the answers truly are fascinating and the detective story seems complex and you will find you enjoy using your mind the way Human Beings are supposed to use their mind which is in terms of cause and effect and you will thoroughly enjoy this process. But I will warn you that it will get tough and will definitely be scary because you will realize that what Ayn Rand says is truer than you can imagine because you will see it with your own two eyes. And once you get there, you will realize that you have reached that higher level that so many people talk about but who never know how to get there. You will realize that all of that pain was so unnecessary and needless. You will take that oath that she describes in her books because I also took that oath when I completed the first part of her process of understanding when I was 17 or 18 years old. But my oath was a little different. It was only in regards to myself that I would never ever live my life for another because I love my life too much to sacrifice it to another. The remainder of that oath was not realized until many years later when I realized that I never wanted another man to live his life for mine. So that oath is very accurate and you will live by this oath. Eventually this introspection will turn into extrospection. Once you have a good understanding of why you do the things you do on a daily basis, you will then start the process of extrospection. You may not realize it but it will eventually turn to other people and their actions and why they are doing them. Her philosophy is very easy to live by. I’ve been living by this philosophy since I was 17.5 or 18 years old. I went through this process inadvertently without ever knowing who Ayn Rand was or her philosophy. After I spent almost 10 years wondering if I was the only one, I met a great man that is now a good friend that said, Angie, you have to read Atlas Shrugged. And when you read it, I want you to tell me what you think of it. I cried when I read that book for the first time because I realized I wasn’t the only one. There was someone else out there that saw the same things I saw and who drew the same conclusions as I did nd that I truly wasn’t alone anymore. After going through this process, read Atlas Shrugged again and you will find that what I am talking about is all over this book. You will find that the characters that are looters and parasites ask themselves questions such as what I think Taggart did when in a hotel room with some girl, he asked himself, Why did I just do that? He thought about it for a split second, didn’t ever answer the question, and then quickly forgot about it. But with Hank, Dagny, etc., you will find they all are asking themselves questions while in the present but they always answer the questions. Very much different than the looters and parasites in the book that do ask themselves questions while in the present but who never take the time to answer those questions and to figure out why they are doing it in the first place. Sorry for this post being so long. I really hope that some of you will try this because it truly will bring you the ULTIMATE in DELIVERANCE in being set free and is the ultimate in happiness. If you do start this, good luck. Angie

I just wanted to let everyone know that I'm not looking for a date or that type of thing. I'm married and have a 5 year old son. I'm just looking to talk with someone that is pretty familiar with her philosophy or has gone through her process by introspection while in the present. I heavily believe that every person is an individual and we all have our own personal reasons for doing what we do, just as long as we acknowledge and identify our actions and why we do them on a daily basis. Why I do something may be far different than why you do them. So I'm not down on anybody if their actions and their reasons are different from why I do them. Anyway.....I'm not looking for a date. Just someone to talk to and maybe talk about more personal issues such as I mentioned previously, family, past experiences, etc.

Hi, Kat. Thank you for the warm welcome. It's not really the wars that make me reluctant. I'm just a shy person. I can be very aggressive. But for the most part, I'm shy. I'm not really a people person. I'm not like most people obviously. And because of this I guess eccentricity, I have a hard time keeping long term friends. I get along better with men than I do women because what I value in life is far different than most women I've known. Since I am shy, right now I feel more comfortable seeing if I can find someone that is willing to talk through email. I know the questions I posted are probably questions that would be difficult for people to understand or who would have an answer for them. I've posted on other sites and haven't gotten a response. Even though I'm 34, I started her process inadvertently when I had just turned 16. About a year to a year and a half later, I saw what Ayn Rand describes as so much pain and destruction and it is truly terrifying to witness. When I talked with a good friend about my life a little, he told me about AR. Obviously....LOL.....I'm shy but long winded. Since a lot of people have viewed this post, I guess maybe to help people not be so reluctant of the questions.....the answer to the first question is Introspection. And this is how you start that process of understanding. It doesn't happen overnight but if you stay on it long enough, you'll eventually see what AR describes in her books and it is scary to witness. Cheryl's demise when seeing it for the first time in Atlas Shrugged is a good indication of it and what you will see. My friend now that told me about AR has been doing this introspection but differently than how most pyschologists tell you to do it but unfortunately he's afraid of it because he realized that what Ayn Rand talks about is correct. Since realizing it, he's not actively pursuing it anymore. He does pursue it sometimes. But for the most part, he isn't. And I would like him to keep it up because truly it is an easy process to get through and truly her philosophy is very simple and is not that complex to understand. And we've been talking about this process and I guess I've been guiding him through it, but he won't let go of the contradictions and that philosophy and view of life. When someone is this reluctant to truly let go of it, it is because they are afraid of it. Obviously fear is one of the components of destruction. But I'm still working on him. Maybe by giving the answer to the first question, maybe others won't be so reluctant to post replies and maybe find someone that will be willing to talk through emails on more personal subjects such as family issues, past experiences, etc. But thank you, Kat, so much for the warm welcome. I'll get out there. It just takes me a while. And hopefully someone will respond. Angie

My name is Angie. I live in Irvine, California. I'm 34 years old. After telling a friend a little bit about my life, he told me about the Ayn Rand Institute and told me I would enjoy her books and would find other people with similar beliefs and similar experiences with life and people. I'm just looking for a pen pal to write through email and not message boards about life, past experiences and beliefs that are formed as a result of past and present situations dealing with people, etc. I don't have a preference if you are male or female. Just looking for someone to write to that has similar beliefs as mine. I'm just looking for somone that I can relate to. I really would like to find another true John Galt so I do have some questions I would like to ask first. I know the answers to these questions. But as I said, if you know the answers to these questions, then I'll know you are for real. What do you have to do on a daily basis while "in the present" in order to reach what Ayn Rand calls Atlantis; that is, freedom, happiness, individuality, "to think" for yourself, etc? Why do you have to perform this action in the present rather than performing it regarding the past? What sense is pronounced tremendously when going through her process of understanding and reaching what she calls Atlantis? How long has it been for you? I'm just looking for someone to write to and talk with who has gone through this process and has formed those beliefs as a result of this process. The answers to the questions above are found in her philosophy. But in order to answer these questions, you either have to be extremely familiar with it or have actually gone through this process and have come to the same beliefs on your own abilities "to think for yourself" in terms of cause and effect. One of the questions above, even the most loyal follower who has not gone through this process won't know the answer. In order to answer this one question, you have to have gone through it. I've been through this process so I know what Ayn Rand describes in her books, particularly Atlas Shrugged. This is why my friend told me about Ayn Rand and the Institute. But as I said, I'm just looking for someone to talk with that knows her philosophy very well and/or has gone through this process of understanding. I'm still learning as I go along and it is a life long process. Once you start it, it stays with you until the day you pass away. Even if you can answer just a few of these questions, I would still really like t speak with you through email and not message boards.