Wisdom

[Don E.]

Michael, I want you to know that I've re-read your post here several times: http://www.objectivistliving.com/forums/index.php?/topic/16120-galts-oath/&do=findComment&comment=258448

It's rare in life that I encounter any real wisdom. Are you a psychologist? Because this is great stuff. 

I got a big dose of wisdom 20 years ago when I first read Ayn Rand. But other than that, it's been pretty rare. And as a kid growing up there was nobody around me dispensing wisdom - just religious people telling me what to think, and getting annoyed with me for asking too many questions. So it's a rare treat when I can actually learn something new and useful and enlightening about life, or relationships, or myself. 

One of my hopes in joining this forum was to learn new things, and get new perspectives from other rational people. And you delivered in a big way, right away with that post. So I just wanted to give you another public "thank you" for that. And I wasn't sure at first what kind of people I was dealing with here, but now I can see that there are a lot of interesting points of view.

[Michael Stuart Kelly]

Don,

Thank you.

Stick around. There's a lot more coming. Not just from me.

 

Note, we are all seekers here, not prophets. That, to me, is the cool part.

As I say a lot, Objectivism on OL is a starting point, not an end point. We all have been impacted by Rand in some way and that is one of the key points of common attraction. Where each person takes it from there is due to their experience, interests, and best honest thinking. 

Each one's experience coming across Rand was personal, anyway. Her words may have been the same as for others, but the life that encountered them was different in each case. Thinking is a dynamic process, not a static one. There are not only stages of learning this philosophy, there are stages of life where this philosophy will mean different things to different people. This is true even during a small time frame like a day. That is, we experience life in waves, not in a straight line. Something really important when we are pumped up and hungry for it (top of a wave) will not even be interesting when we are sad and tired (bottom of a wave).

This means everyone on OL, including me, speaks only for himself or herself. On OL, you, Don, represent you, Don, not Ayn Rand or any group or guru that purports to represent her. And it's OK to be only Don, whether in agreement and disagreement with others. Not just OK, that's good. Really really really good.  

This is a different approach than many O-Land sites where you are expected to learn a specific interpretation of Objectivism, then try to mold your life to it--as you try to mold the lives of others who show up.

That way is not my way. It's not the way of the people who tend to stick around here, either. I don't speak for them, but I've known them long enough to know that.

Michael