Checkered Premises

Altruism is the idea that everybody who is doing better should help anybody who is doing worse. It teaches that if you fail you can rightfully expect help from those who do not fail, and that if they do not help you, they are bad. It tempts everyone to be slightly less successful so they can be slightly more morally deserving. It says to turn a blind eye to anything other than a person's degree of failure, and to hold as most deserving those who have failed most completely. Altruism is frequently confused with compassion for those who have had bad luck. Bad luck is an unusual occurrence that creates difficulty, as when a tornado destroys your home. It's a circumstance you don't control, due to the inherent risk of being alive. It's sad, but it's not your fault. It's perfectly reasonable to offer charity, if you can afford it, to those who've had bad luck. Decent people sometimes have bad luck, and to offer them charity is to try to smooth out the bumps that ...

What follows is an extended quotation from Ayn Rand's The Fountainhead. It's a monologue by the villain of the book, disclosing his strategy. In the original, it was a single paragraph. I have divided it up, for clarity. I've also removed any references to specific people or events in the novel. "I shall rule. [One man.] The world. It's only a matter of discovering the lever. "If you learn how to rule one single man's soul, you can get the rest of mankind. It's the soul. Not whips or swords or fire or guns. That's why the Caesars, the Attilas, the Napoleons were fools and did not last. We will. The soul is that which can't be ruled. It must be broken. Drive a wedge in, get your fingers on it—and the man is yours. You won't need a whip—he'll bring it to you and ask to be whipped. Set him in reverse—and his own mechanism will do your work for you. Use him against himself. "There are many ways. Here's one. Make man feel small. Mak...

There may come a day when you wake up and start getting things done that you've been putting off for months, or even years. Don't be worried. Everything is probably OK. There really is no need to stop the progress so that you can write a Facebook post about your new adventure. Try to take it in stride, even though it is unfamiliar to you. Let the adventure continue. Observe it without attempting to explain it. The explanation is not the point. It's probably not evidence of a major change in your life, and it doesn't have to be. You are just having a good day. It only surprises you because of the contrast. It's OK to have a good day. Many people may even have several of them in a row. Don't worry. There's no requirement that you have more than one at a time. There's not even a requirement that you enjoy it. Just observe it. Live through it without interrupting it to make it more normal. There's also no requirement that you do not enjoy it. You can mak...

I'm an Objectivist. What does that mean? It means that my fundamental belief is in reality. It also means a lot of other things, but that's the main thing. It also means that most people on Earth disagree with me. Some people believe in reality but say a supreme being created it and could change it whenever he wishes. That means their fundamental belief is in the supreme being — not reality. Others claim it's naïve or dangerous to attempt to say anything about "a reality" we all share, especially that we all share it. With these people, whenever you say "reality" they feel the need to ask "Whose reality?" as if there can be no reality that is not a personal attribute. They take comfort in believing that their reality is not mine. People who disagree with me think "a reality" belongs to someone. They think that "each reality," as such, is created by its owner. That's the idea I firmly reject. Instead, I hold that reality...

There is truth, and there is bullshit. The truth may not be easy to find, but with effort, one can distinguish it from bullshit. Honesty is the dedication to truth and the rejection of bullshit. Dishonesty is the dedication to bullshit. Dishonest people promote bullshit, and they hope others will accept it. Dishonest people fear the truth. They repel or attempt to defeat or even destroy truthful people. Dishonest people want respect for their bullshit, and they despise anyone who rejects it. Honest people can mistakenly accept bullshit. They may err, but they seek evidence for their positions and will observe contrary evidence, so they can ultimately discover and reject the bullshit they have fallen for. A dishonest person denies evidence presented against his bullshit, and he's satisfied with his position as long as he can repel, defeat or destroy anyone who disagrees with him. An honest person seeks truth and doesn't wish to harm those who disagree with him. He wants to persu...

Music communicates an emotional experience through sound. Sometimes that experience is happy or triumphant. Sometimes it is sad, dreadful, or angry. Just like great fiction, music has happy and sad moments. I'm not going to define "music" here, but for now, I wish to include a broad range of works of organized sound, from songs to movie music to symphonies to pure percussion works. I'm talking about sound organized (composed) by people for human consumption. Such work serves lots of purposes, but the overarching purpose is to communicate an emotional experience to the listener. One can question why the particular experience is being communicated, i.e. why the composer/producer considers the experience important enough to communicate in a given context, but I hold that the greatness of music as such lies in how effectively an experience is transmitted through the sound. Quality music is integrated for the sake of the emotional purpose at hand. Anything that distracts t...