Notes on The Economics of a Free Society by Alan Greenspan

[Donovan A.]

Hello everyone,

I am wondering if anybody has a copy of this NBI lecture: he Economics of a Free Society by Alan Greenspan. I would be very pleased if I could borrow the lecture or pay for their copy. If you have any detailed notes taken from the lecture that would also be of interest to me. Please contact me, if you can help me out.

Thanks so much,

Randall (DA)

[Chris Grieb]

Randall; The Economics of a Free Society was a ten lecture series. I never got to take the course. I suspect if someone ever came up with transcripts of the lectures Greenspan would exhaust his supply of Depends.

[Reidy]

As far as I know the only NBI courses that were ever for sale as physical media are Nathaniel Branden's Basic Principles of Objectivism and Barbara Branden's Basic Principles of Efficient Thinking. Maybe Greenspan himself has old copies of his tapes.

[Chris Grieb]

Randall; Barbara Branden in an earlier post on OL said many of the lectures given at NBI were stolen by a disgruntled employee at the time of the split.

The Greenspan lecture series would probably be the among the most interesting material. The answers Ayn Rand gave during the Q&A at NBI would also be very valuable.

Edited September 5, 2009 by Chris Grieb

[Selene]

Randall; Barbara Branden in an earlier post on OL said many of the lectures given at NBI were stolen by a disgruntled employee at the time of the split.

The Greenspan lecture series would probably be the among the most interesting material. The answers Ayn Rand gave during the Q&A at NBI would also be very valuable.

Chris:

Boy are you on point Chris. It is such a clear indication of McLuhan's theory that we create our tools/technologies and then they re-create us.

I think back to some of the intensity that was virtually tactile in the rooms back in the early years. I was in such an intellectual "zone", anyone who has competed in a sport will

understand what I mean, that much of it is riveted, but to have the tapes of those Q@A's priceless. They were electric.

I wonder how NBI would have handled the current 24/7 technology and cell phones at the lectures. lol

Adam

[Donovan A.]

I understand that it is doubtful that anyone has a copy of the actual lecture. I am hoping that someone has detailed notes. Most NBI students I'm convinced took detailed notes. So, if anyone has notes on this course, will you please contact me. I would like very much to have a copy of the notes or at least be free to read them and return them.

Thanks so much,

R

[Philip Coates]

> Most NBI students I'm convinced took detailed notes.

I wouldn't be too sure of that: My experience during the Peikoff years and TAS seminars was not a lot of furious note-takers. A lot of idiots - with slovenly, "coasting" habits from high school or college or grad school - trying to rely on their memory with regard to very innovative and detailed stuff which they actually did not know or know fully or couldn't apply properly beforehand.

Was it different during NBI?

I am one who takes detailed notes, pages and pages and pages, EVERY SINGLE EFFING TIME. So much so that my wrist hurts. Accessing them and spending hundreds of hours typing them up is another question . . .

Edited September 6, 2009 by Philip Coates

[Selene]

> Most NBI students I'm convinced took detailed notes.

I wouldn't be too sure of that: My experience during the Peikoff years and TAS seminars was not a lot of furious note-takers. A lot of idiots, with bad habits from high school or college or grad school, trying to rely on their memory with regard to very innovative and detailed stuff.

Was it different during NBI?

I am one who takes detailed notes, pages and pages and pages, EVERY SINGLE EFFING TIME. So much so that my wrist hurts. Accessing them and spending hundreds of hours typing them up is another question . . .

Phil:

"Was it different during NBI?"

I can only speak of my little group and it was totally different than what you describe. I also take notes always.

I know that I took notes, where they are, I have no clue. Sadly, they did not survived 4 decades of life, even with the few moves that I have made.

Adam

Adam

[anonrobt]

The lecture notes I have from the NBI courses are - modern philosophy[17], contemporary philosophy[34], efficient thinking[27], economics of a free society[35], basic principles of objectivist psychology[47], and somewhere, ancient philosophy and medieval philosophy... they're on legal length paper [and the numbers refer to the number of pages of notes]...

[Chris Grieb]

Anonrobot; Sounds like you did a very good job of taking the notes. You are to be commended.

[kiaer.ts]

Anonrobot; Sounds like you did a very good job of taking the notes. You are to be commended.

No, I have it on authority from Harry Binswanger that anyone who takes notes has a concrete-bound psychoepistemology.

[Brant Gaede]

Anonrobot; Sounds like you did a very good job of taking the notes. You are to be commended.

No, I have it on authority from Harry Binswanger that anyone who takes notes has a concrete-bound psychoepistemology.

Ayn Rand would say it was a psychological example of "projection."

--Brant

[Philip Coates]

> The lecture notes I have from the NBI courses are - modern philosophy[17], contemporary philosophy[34], efficient thinking[27], economics of a free society[35], basic principles of objectivist psychology[47], and somewhere, ancient philosophy and medieval philosophy... they're on legal length paper [and the numbers refer to the number of pages of notes]...

Robert, Can I come down to visit you for three days and two nights? Until I can spend twelve hours a day reading those notes for psychology and, if time permits, one of the philosophy courses? I could find a motel somewhere. Did you say you lived in the South like me right now? (Who knows, if I were rich someday, I might even be a customer for some of your art works.)

[Reidy]

I can't help thinking of the surviving text of Aristotle, much of which seems to be student notes. This was OK wnen literacy was new and printing was centuries off, but you have to wonder about texts from the late twentieth century. Bradford of Liberty has suggested that the Objectivist preference for spoken lectures stemmed from the fact that you can't stop and think, spell arguments out or note doubts with a lecture as you can with a printed text.

[Donovan A.]

Hey you guys, I asked first! Is there any chance I could borrow the notes or have a copy?

R

[anonrobt]

> The lecture notes I have from the NBI courses are - modern philosophy[17], contemporary philosophy[34], efficient thinking[27], economics of a free society[35], basic principles of objectivist psychology[47], and somewhere, ancient philosophy and medieval philosophy... they're on legal length paper [and the numbers refer to the number of pages of notes]...

Robert, Can I come down to visit you for three days and two nights? Until I can spend twelve hours a day reading those notes for psychology and, if time permits, one of the philosophy courses? I could find a motel somewhere. Did you say you lived in the South like me right now? (Who knows, if I were rich someday, I might even be a customer for some of your art works.)

If you wish to come down and visit, that would be interesting - you're one of those here whom would like meeting... and you could simply have the notes run off a copy machine somewhere around here for your own [i still have to hunt down where placed the other sets, which were once being used for some other writings of mine]... and yes, you'd have to use a motel - my little place is strictly for myself, so small it is [tho, would welcome a female if some good looking one wished to stay over ;) ]

And yes, live in Tampa - am in the phone book, A. Robert Malcom...

Edited September 7, 2009 by anonrobt

[anonrobt]

Hey you guys, I asked first! Is there any chance I could borrow the notes or have a copy?

R

Sure you may have a copy... have to check for the misplaced sets, then see how many pages it'll come to... then see what the price these days for copying... unfortunately they're legal length, so could not use the fill-packet from the PO to send [it'd fill it right tight], so no idea offhand how much postage would run, even as mere printed matter...

[Selene]

Robert:

Why don't you either scan them and e-mail them or scan them and put them on a disc and mail the disc.

Electrons move faster than feet and you would only have to do it once.

Adam

[Donovan A.]

I actually have a high speed scanner and I could probably get it all done in one or two days. I could then ship the notes back to you with a digital copy on a CD. I have already been doing this for another person who has some notes from the NBI days. I understand that trust may be an issue. You do not have to send me everything at once. I am more than willing to earn trust.

Thanks so much,

Randall

[Michael Stuart Kelly]

Robert and Phil (and anyone else for that matter),

I have a very practical suggestion for you if you have about a hundred bucks. Get a program called Dragon Naturally Speaking and maybe a 10 buck microphone for your computer if you don't have one.

This is voice-to-text technology. You speak into the microphone and it types what you speak. Thus you could simply read your notes out loud to get a transcription. Of course, you have to proofread and correct the text, but the accuracy of the latest version (v.10 and upgrades) is very good—in the 97%+ range if you "train" the program correctly and take their advice on mic position, etc.

A really cool feature is that you can feed audio files (like mp3) into it and watch as it transcribes them. If the audio file is with you speaking, it will perform with approximately the same accuracy as if you were speaking directly into the program via mic.

Like all new programs, it's a pain at first until you are familiar with it. But I would put the learning curve at just slightly above easy. Take a day off and do nothing but train it. Then spend a lifetime with a skill that will bring you massive benefits in both saving time and in getting your information typed out (including information you would otherwise not type).

Michael

[Philip Coates]

Michael, do you have it yourself? Have you used it regularly? I'm wondering what personal tradeoffs you've observed.

[Selene]

Robert and Phil (and anyone else for that matter),

I have a very practical suggestion for you if you have about a hundred bucks. Get a program called Dragon Naturally Speaking and maybe a 10 buck microphone for your computer if you don't have one.

This is voice-to-text technology. You speak into the microphone and it types what you speak. Thus you could simply read your notes out loud to get a transcription. Of course, you have to proofread and correct the text, but the accuracy of the latest version (v.10 and upgrades) is very good—in the 97%+ range if you "train" the program correctly and take their advice on mic position, etc.

A really cool feature is that you can feed audio files (like mp3) into it and watch as it transcribes them. If the audio file is with you speaking, it will perform with approximately the same accuracy as if you were speaking directly into the program via mic.

Like all new programs, it's a pain at first until you are familiar with it. But I would put the learning curve at just slightly above easy. Take a day off and do nothing but train it. Then spend a lifetime with a skill that will bring you massive benefits in both saving time and in getting your information typed out (including information you would otherwise not type).

Michael

Michael:

It is an excellent program and well worth the time to "train" it. An additional, hidden asset effect using this program is that you subconsciously eliminate some of the "laziness" that we all acquire in clearly enunciating words.

Great tool for anyone here.

Adam

[Michael Stuart Kelly]

Phil,

I used to use this program regularly in Brazil when I was a translator. It was excellent then, although there was quite a bit of clean-up. I am not a fast typist, so this was a life-saver.

I stopped using it here in the USA because it reminded me too much of translating. (I did about 35,000 pages in 10 years and I got sick of it.) Anyway, I wanted to increase my typing speed and the only way to do that was by more and more typing. Now I do all right. Not great, but all right. And time has passed. So now I can use the program without dredging up past memories of mind-numbing boredom.

I recently got the latest version of Dragon because I am obliged to start pumping out a huge volume of content due to my career change to Internet marketing. I presently have over 300 different accounts under my own name and pen names. Most are for very specific one-purpose ends, but even so, they still need content from time to time.

I have only fiddled with the program so far, but from what I have seen, it is sooooooooo much better than before.

Earlier this year, I tried to use version 9.5, but it was so slow and bloated it disgusted me. I uninstalled it. But because of recent gushes from people I respect, I got the 10+ version and decided to give it a run once again. So far, it actually is everything they say it is.

I still need to stop everything and train the program. This means reading the text they give you so the program adjusts for your way of pronouncing things. I will probably do that today or tomorrow. I don't have the time, but I simply have to make the time. This is one of those weird occasions where you waste a lot of future time by not stopping now and doing just one thing only.

If you like, I will report in my experiences as I start using it.

After I train the thing, who knows? I might start making long posts...

Michael

[Philip Coates]

> If you like, I will report in my experiences as I start using it.

Sure, that sounds great!

> After I train the thing, who knows? I might start making long posts...

Uh-oh!

My only problem is that I often type faster than I speak. Not sure about error rate comparison though. I'm pretty happy with typing stuff since I touch type.

Open to voice to text at some point, though. Will listen to hear of your experiences, though...especially as you are planning to be a high volume user. I've only got 1 GB memory on my PC - may be an issue.

[anonrobt]

Sorry haven't replied for the past several days - when did try for this forum, several times it was 'offline', so let it go for a time... plus, am in the midst of getting ready for a hip replacement surgery next month, so attention has been elsewhere - and, for that matter, so has what little money around [meaning am broke at present and could not get anything like a program, no matter how great it may be]... I may try scanning these notes - at least the economics one - and see how they take, tho it'd be two scans per page, depending on when feel have the time to bother with as it is not high on my time-wasting list - so it'll come when it comes...