Weekend Update

I'll start with one bit of good news: I feel quite rested, and that's a beautiful thing.

A dream I had before waking: I don't know all the details, but the home team had a something-and-goal at the 1-yard line. I don't think I was quarterback. I'm pretty sure I was running back. The QB was maybe a Cam Newton type, but I just don't know that for sure. Anyway, QB hands off to yours truly, and a sneak the ball in for a TOUCHDOWNNNN!!!!! I risk thousands of pounds of bodies piling up on me as I cross the goal line, but our team's training prepared us well for all that. I have no idea what stage of the game this was, but it meant great progress for the home team. I have little expertise when it comes to the psychology of dream states, but I hear that they can involve re-creations or integrations of past experiences, as well as a sort of mental prep for future scenarios. If that's the case, then I rather liked this particular dream sequence.

Here's hoping that all of us have a relaxing and enjoyable weekend! :-)

Update on the Perfectivism Saga

I originally planned my project as a book looking at the similarities between Ayn Rand and David L. Norton's ethical individualisms or eudaemonisms. The whole project has led to something way more than I had ever expected, of which a book would only be a part. Some readers of this blog may already know that I have roughly 20,000 words or 50ish pages' worth of manuscript, all in first rough draft form, composed in December of last year. It covers approximately 3 chapters' worth of material; the first chapter, which at the time I titled "Perfectionism," is a basic introduction to the idea I'm aiming at. Depending on the vibe I get I may post the first chapter here as preview for the public as well as prospective agents or publishers. But I just haven't figured that part out yet.

The good thing is that things have been getting back to a more even keel than they were a few days ago, but a number of things have also been keeping me on edge. So if there doesn't look like there's much activity going on in this blog, that doesn't mean there isn't plenty of progress going on. One pleasing aspect to all this is just how efficiently things have been moving along. "It's taken a hell of a lot of doing to get here, but it's been worth it." (Don't know who might have said that before and in what forms.) As time, interest, and what-have-you permit, I may take part in philosophy discussion over on reddit, but I really have quite a lot on my plate right now. It's all about prioritizing at this point. Shout-outs to all my for-real friends and others enjoying the ride. This really has been a most mind-blowing experience for me. :-)

[ADDENDUM: Just in the past few days, I've been adding names to the "perfectivism honor roll" along with Rand, Mises, et al, and the number of names keeps on expanding at a brisk pace. I'm having a tough time even sorting out who belongs and who doesn't at this point. Ain't integration fun?]

[ADDENDUM #2: Now that it isn't any secret at this point who Yours Truly is, I've re-opened my personal webpage for public viewing, which you should be able to, uh, Google up. It's already rather out-of-date on some things, so don't take it as state-of-the-art in the saga.]

Quote of the Day

"It is cruel, you know, that music should be so beautiful. It has the beauty of loneliness and of pain... The beauty of disappointment and never-satisfied love."
--Benjamin Britten

(I don't share that view, but I think I see where he's coming from.)

Playlist for the Day

Sibelius Symphonies 4 and 5 (Karajan/BPO/DG)
Nielsen Symphony No. 3 (Blomstedt/SFO/Decca)
Franz Schmidt, Symphony No. 4 (Welser-Most/LPO/EMI)
Shostakovich Symphony No. 5 (Haitink/RCO/Decca)

Scheduled for tomorrow:

Bruckner Symphony No. 9 (Walter/CSO/RCA)
Prokofiev Symphony No. 5 (Karajan/BPO/DG)
Shostakovich Symphony No. 10 (Karajan/BPO/DG)

Quote of the Day

"Music expresses that which cannot be put into words and that which cannot remain silent."
--Victor Hugo

Mind = Blown

In the "Spiritual Uplift" department . . .

On tonight's tentative playlist (I might improvise on it, of course):

John Coltrane, A Love Supreme
Radiohead, OK Computer
Euphoric Classics
The Most Uplifting Classics in the Universe
The Most Inspiring Classics in the Universe
Sibelius, Symphony No. 2 (Levi/Cleveland SO)
The Beatles, 1
Simon and Garfunkle's Greatest Hits

As Linz Perigo would say, that's KASS! :-)

EPIC WIN.

Question for the Day

Is all philosophy, as Alfred North Whitehead once said, a series of footnotes to Plato?

(Some thoughts on that question: Plato's ideal utopia described in the Republic had a strict regimen of activities inculcating virtues. At the "head" of this utopia is a Philosopher King. Seems that if Whitehead is right, then everyone throughout the history of philosophy is responding to that ideal. I, for one, like Aristotle's more integrative, or perfective, sensibility, as I've made clear on numerous occasions in this blog, about which recent newcomers to this blog might not be aware. The contexts of understanding may be clashing. But Aristotle was, as dialectical grandmaster or perfectivist, a master of the art of context-keeping. That's why certain perceptive philosophers - Ayn Rand, for one - have the highest regard for him. You can't refute perfectivism. :-) )

For Your Viewing Enjoyment

The internet seems to be getting more and more funny by the day (well, for me, anyway). I'll happily return the favor:

Couldn't embed this one, but it's worth it.

Ain't integration fun? :-)

Spiritual Uplift for the Day

I'm just amazed this band isn't more well-known. May not be exactly to everyone's liking, but it is to mine. :-)



(There are two videos of this on YouTube, but the audio quality is way better on this one.)

And a bonus:

Tying Together Strands

In recent days, there have been a lotta facets, lotta ins, lotta outs, lotta what have you's, lot of interested parties. Not only that, what was at first a modest task has turned into an ordeal, an odyssey if you will.

Nothing is fucked here, though. Nothing is fucked.

Quote for the day: "All the Dude ever wanted was his rug back. It really tied the room together."

Quote #2: "And this guy peed on it."

Quote #3: "I'm talking about drawing a line in the sand here! Across this line, YOU DO NOT-- Also, Chinaman is not the preferred nomenclature. Asian-American, please."

Enjoying the ride yet? :-)

(And to all my online "collaborators" out there: Thanks for the input. :-) )

Sunday Worship, 4/17/2001

Ain't integration fun? :-)

*wipes tear from eye*

Question for the Day

In the Singularity, do we all die laughing?

[ADDENDUM: Focus!]

Quote of the Day

"The highest responsibility of philosophers is to serve as the guardians and integrators of human knowledge."
--Ayn Rand

Question for the Day

Ain't integration fun? :-)

The Benevolent Universe Premise

The Benevolent Universe Premise of which Ayn Rand spoke is something that takes years to really understand, deep down. It takes years and years of automatizated or habituated integration before the full reality of it becomes clear to oneself. People coming way, way, way late to the game here are not going to understand what whirlwind they have sown for themselves.

If you accept the Benevolent Universe Premise, you refuse to accept the potency of evil. The existence of evil depends upon sanction from the good. When that sanction is withdrawn, it is as if a whole new universe of possibilities opens up to oneself. You don't have to accept that the injustice and irrationality of the status quo are the given. In fact, if you operate on the Benevolent Universe Premise, you creatively find ways to turn negatives into positives. The last day has taught me that in a completely first-handed way.

If you accept and act upon the Benevolent Universe Premise, you know that evasion comes at a price, but that the good - i.e., justice - can and might win out in the end. You even learn that a single dedicated independent individual can win out over an entire army of context-droppers and second-handers thrown together hastily and with a sometimes-appalling disregard for principles - or even for simple human decency. I hope that the coming days, weeks, and months will illustrate the importance of the Benevolent Universe Premise in fueling and fulfilling one's life.

In the name of the best within us,

Spiritual Uplift for the Day

Wouldn't it be great if a lot more music today was this inspiring? (You go, Lenny!)



Story about Mahler's masterpiece here.

Go forth and eudaemonize! :-)

Spiritual Uplift for the Day

From the "Roarkian Soul" department:



(h/t: Frank O'Connor) (Also: TUW)

(ADDENDUM: More spiritual uplift.)

(ADDENDUM #2: Is this far and away the best philosophy blog on the internet, or what? :-D )

(ADDENDUM #3: Nicely done, self. Keep it up! :-) )

Ayn Rand isn't Going Away, Ever

(Story here.)

The "educators" are going to have a real problem on their hands if they don't clean up their acts, and fast.

Perhaps you've heard of Ayn Rand or her Objectivist philosophy in the news, in blogs, and in real-time discussions a lot more lately than you did a few years back. There's a reason for this. It's called the power of ideas - especially when the ideas carry such a fascinating and compelling quality that they cannot but generate discussion. This is especially true in the case of the ideas of Ayn Rand.

One thing that Ayn Rand's way of thinking inspires other like-minded thinkers to do, is to think long-range, long-term. If you think long-range enough to search and consider this graph, for example, you find that her ideas just keep on growing, growing, growing over time. If you'll notice, this particular Google application only goes up through 2008. Ayn Rand-related discussion has risen quite markedly since then; I don't think there is any denying this. (Note that this graph refers to percentage, not volume.)

The great thing about this growing phenomenon, is that it gets ideas out there which - despite a constant stream of forest-missing, misrepresentations, distortions, and outright smears against them (including even from some leading "educators") - really cannot be refuted once they're actually understood. Ayn Rand's ideas are too perfectivist to succumb to the usual attacks. Given the Rand-haters' decades-long cognitive stagnation, this is a juggernaut they simply are not prepared to handle.

And you ain't seen nothin' yet.

:-)

[ADDENDUM: For advanced students of Objectivism: Peikoff/ARI and Sciabarra: A shining example of clashing contexts. Chew/integrate that one for a bit.]

[ADDENDUM #2: Focus!]

The Nature of the "Educators"

From the interview with author, educator and psychotherapist Larry Cole, in 100 Voices: An Oral History of Ayn Rand, p. 468:

I read [Ayn Rand's essay] "The Comprachicos" during the time we were in the middle of a totally chaotic educational fiasco in this country, and it nearly brought me to tears. They were partly tears of recognition, especially her translation of the segment from Victor Hugo's The Man Who Laughs. I told Ayn that I promptly sent it to all my radical educator friends, trying to stir up dialogue. They were all the big names in education. I sent them the article with little notes on it saying, "I think you should read this, and we should talk." It was the only time they did not respond, none of them, ever.

Zons of Beetches!

Not even the courtesy of a response? The only time they didn't ever respond?

I'm past the point where this sort of corruption surprises me any longer. (If I were steaped in pragmatism, like the "educators" are, I'd devolve quite naturally into cynicism, pessimism, defeatism, and stagnation, just like they have done, and just as they've fostered it in their victims. This is why Rand, Aristotelianism and Perfectivism will win, and why they will lose (or come to the winning side by necessity). It's just a matter of time.)

It's one thing to reject the arguments in Miss Rand's article and explain why; it's another not to even address it and to pretend it doesn't exist.

I have a pretty good idea as to why they did not bother to address it: She's absolutely right-on in her masterful identification of the naked essence of what Aristotelians are up against in this country, and they have no way to refute her. This is a recurring pattern with Ayn Rand's ideas, and there's no denying it. The light comes on, and the cockroaches scatter. It's like clockwork at this juncture.

Good thing that the butchers' days are numbered, 'cause I for one am sick of 'em.

The honorable educators, whoever they might be, they can stay. But definitely not the cockroaches.

(Rand's recommended alternative.)

Essentialized Comprehensiveness

If you have a look at the selection of books in my Profile, you find that it has a lot of books by or about Ayn Rand, enough to take up about half of the intellectual-theoretical books listed there. The rest consists to a large extent of economic-theoretical works in the "Austrian" tradition. Why, if I aim for comprehensiveness, don't I include a massive selection of influential works from all across the spectrum of ideas? Because the list is essentialized for the sake of unit-economy. Unit-economy is a highly capitalistic principle. Ayn Rand's whole system is geared toward people who think like capitalists. She recognized the essential principle behind capitalism: that it is, unavoidably and undeniably, the system geared to the requirements of human life, i.e., of the mind. (Hint: It's the principle behind Aristotle's boundless intellectual activity and productivity.)

So, the list basically gives you all that you need to know, in essence, to figure out what's what, and then to flourish like you've never flourished before. The key is not in resenting the capitalists (and stagnating), but in becoming a capitalist (and growing). (The truth here is an exact inversion of Marx.)

In this, Rand was so far ahead of her time that, for the most part, and so very tragically, she was casting pearls before swine. (See, e.g., here.) Only swine turn away from the essential message of John Galt's radio address - the role of the mind in human existence - and of Ayn Rand's body of work. Only anti-capitalist uber-swine who call themselves "philosophers" would blank out this stark and glaring theme, and indulge the mainstream swine in their base and ignoble ignorance regarding the role of the mind in human existence. (To paraphrase a pearl cast heroically before so many swine, such "philosophers" should be provided a club and bearskin and a cave to dwell in, instead of chaired university professorships. The latter situation is fucking insane for an advanced civilized society.)

If you want an actual real-life instantiation of Plato's Allegory of the Cave, look no further than the widespread swinish reaction to Ayn Rand's pro-mind and pro-life ideas. Only swine run from the word "selfishness," for instance, without giving any sort of careful thought to meanings (intended or otherwise), or to context, or to hierarchy, or to integration. The swine have been conditioned to react to stimuli in certain ways (e.g., to words instead of concepts or ideas or essentials), so much so that they revolt even against a messenger who advises them to use their minds to the utmost so that they might then move past swinehood and into the adulthood of the intellect.

Unlike myriad academically-tenured destroyers of the mind, this here philosopher is no swine.

And things are going to change drastically for the better, and much faster than the out-of-it crowd could even begin to realize.

Mark my words.

:-)

Sunday Worship, 4/10/2011

"The choice to think or not, is the choice to live or not." -TUP (h/t AR)