Paul McCartney's divorce

[Alfonso Jones]

"Show me what a man finds sexually attractive[<maybe off on that word - might be desirable] and I will tell you his philosophy of life."

Say that and be patient and you can actually see the person go through actual thought and one of the most beautiful sight for a teacher or persuader to see - awareness of a truth.

I must respectfully disagree with this to some extent; I think it is over-rated. I think that Rand, like a lot of people, may have been prone to assuming that a physically good-looking person was also a good person inside.

I've seen some good-looking women get away with a lot of bad behavior (especially if they were tiny and good at playing stupid or helpless); and I'm pretty damned sure that had they been more ordinary-looking, they'd have been called on their bad behavior a LOT sooner.

That is not how I interpret the quote. Frankly, and being a heretic that went through the movement debacle at NBI, basically set us back by twenty years, I understand it, through my personal choice to mean - see the values of the person.

Anyone who chooses to "go to bed" [what a PC phrase] with a person purely on looks deserves what they get. There are no "ugly" women or men, some are more beautiful than others.

Selene -

Well put. I see no validity in assuming that when Rand said "show me" she meant that all she was interested in was "looks." There is a lot more to sexual attractiveness than looks.

Alfonso

[Alfonso Jones]

Let's look at the quote in question, in broader context:

"The men who think that wealth comes from material resources and has no intellectual root or meaning, are the men who think—for the same reason—that sex is a physical capacity which functions independently of one's mind, choice or code of values. They think that your body creates a desire and makes a choice for you—just about in some such way as if iron ore transformed itself into railroad rails of its own volition. Love is blind, they say; sex is impervious to reason and mocks the power of all philosophers. But, in fact, a man's sexual choice is the result and the sum of his fundamental convictions. Tell me what a man finds sexually attractive and I will tell you his entire philosophy of life. Show me the woman he sleeps with and I will tell you his valuation of himself. No matter what corruption he's taught about the virtue of selflessness, sex is the most profoundly selfish of all acts, an act which he cannot perform for any motive but his own enjoyment—just try to think of performing it in a spirit of selfless charity!—an act which is not possible in self-abasement, only in self-exaltation, only in the confidence of being desired and being worthy of desire. It is an act that forces him to stand naked in spirit, as well as in body, and to accept his real ego as his standard of value. He will always be attracted to the woman who reflects his deepest vision of himself, the woman whose surrender permits him to experience—or to fake—a sense of self-esteem. The man who is proudly certain of his own value, will want the highest type of woman he can find, the woman he admires, the strongest, the hardest to conquer—because only the possession of a heroine will give him the sense of an achievement, not the possession of a brainless slut. "

The situation, as you will recall, is Francisco speaking to Rearden, at the time after the inception of Rearden's affair with Taggart, and before Francisco's knowledge of that affair.

I defy anyone to read that paragraph and conclude that Francisco is speaking of "looks" in isolation from the total person.

Alfonso

[Selene]

Let's look at the quote in question, in broader context:

"The men who think that wealth comes from material resources and has no intellectual root or meaning, are the men who think—for the same reason—that sex is a physical capacity which functions independently of one's mind, choice or code of values. They think that your body creates a desire and makes a choice for you—just about in some such way as if iron ore transformed itself into railroad rails of its own volition. Love is blind, they say; sex is impervious to reason and mocks the power of all philosophers. But, in fact, a man's sexual choice is the result and the sum of his fundamental convictions. Tell me what a man finds sexually attractive and I will tell you his entire philosophy of life. Show me the woman he sleeps with and I will tell you his valuation of himself. No matter what corruption he's taught about the virtue of selflessness, sex is the most profoundly selfish of all acts, an act which he cannot perform for any motive but his own enjoyment—just try to think of performing it in a spirit of selfless charity!—an act which is not possible in self-abasement, only in self-exaltation, only in the confidence of being desired and being worthy of desire. It is an act that forces him to stand naked in spirit, as well as in body, and to accept his real ego as his standard of value. He will always be attracted to the woman who reflects his deepest vision of himself, the woman whose surrender permits him to experience—or to fake—a sense of self-esteem. The man who is proudly certain of his own value, will want the highest type of woman he can find, the woman he admires, the strongest, the hardest to conquer—because only the possession of a heroine will give him the sense of an achievement, not the possession of a brainless slut. "

The situation, as you will recall, is Francisco speaking to Rearden, at the time after the inception of Rearden's affair with Taggart, and before Francisco's knowledge of that affair.

I defy anyone to read that paragraph and conclude that Francisco is speaking of "looks" in isolation from the total person.

Alfonso

a

Just got in and practicing my other "religion" baseball. Alfonso, you understand my point perfectly. I often asked my students about the "current love" that they had accepted and posed a simple question:

Would you love that person less if they were disfigured in an accident?

If so, do you understand love. "I love you." is a declarative statement, hopefully of fact. You cannot logically get to the "you" until you define the "I".

[tjohnson]

I think physical appearance has alot to do with initial sexual attraction. There has to be something that attracts us to each other at first, unless of course it an arranged marriage. But that is not to say that over the years "love" cannot become influenced by other factors. I think love may begin as sexual attraction but evolve into something very different if we nurture our relationships.

[Michael Stuart Kelly]

Here is some more news. Apparently Paul is not such a dummy after all.

Macca's revenge: How the tables have turned on Heather Mills

By ALISON BOSHOFF and RICHARD SIMPSON

27th October 2007

The Daily Mail

From the article:

Heather, in fact, is not contemplating a triumphant re-invention in America, but is feeling vulnerable and, for the first time, although she would hesitate to say it, defeated.

She seems to have been outplayed in the game of chess between her and Sir Paul's lawyers - a powerful team headed by Fiona Shackleton, who represented Prince Charles through his divorce with Diana, Princess of Wales.

It is said that Heather now feels Paul's lawyers tricked her into getting involved in the mediation hearing, only dragging her through the arduous and highly publicised negotiations so they could find out how strong her case against the former Beatle really was.

She believes Paul's legal team had "no intention" of settling for any of the reported sums - which range from £25 million to £100 million - and were simply stringing her along.

Heather, though, took them at face value, and had been convinced that she might be only a few hours away from winning her freedom from a marriage which she found miserable, to a man whom she characterises as a stingy, controlling, unpleasant husband, who could become abusive after too much wine, and who failed to support her after her last, extremely painful and serious operation. She has truly had her fingers burnt by the whole affair.

It is, then, the sourest of times for Mills McCartney.

She has failed to get what she most desires, which is a financial settlement.

Michael

[Brant Gaede]

Well put. I see no validity in assuming that when Rand said "show me" she meant that all she was interested in was "looks." There is a lot more to sexual attractiveness than looks.

Sure: looking.

--Brant