Eliezer_Yudkowsky comments on Whining-Based Communities - Less Wrong

59 Post author: Eliezer_Yudkowsky 07 April 2009 08:31PM

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Comment author: Eliezer_Yudkowsky 08 April 2009 09:28:53AM *  3 points [-]

A fair question. But an old, bitter, un-achieving character isn't likely to inspire much heroic empathy and desire to emulate. So Rand didn't write John Galt that way; she wrote the villains that way.

The question is what happens when some real-world person takes John Galt as a role model. In the story he's not just a former great physicist, he's all buff and heroic and has his own little survivalist ranch and society actually falls down without him. But in reality...

Comment author: buybuydandavis 19 February 2012 01:17:18AM *  2 points [-]

So the answer to Arundelo's question would be "none of Rand's heroes are that way, while her villains are that way." Wouldn't such a choice by a writer generally indicate disapproval of such a trait? Particularly given Rand's theory of Romatic Art, I'd say that's a certainty in her case.

The question is what happens when some real-world person takes John Galt as a role model.

I have a rather limited sample of Objectivists that I have known sufficiently well to know that they in fact took Rand seriously. 3 people. They all turned out quite well.

What's your data?

I can't detect an actual case being made in your comments, though I think I see a lot of innuendo. Do you think you've made a clear and compelling case? Could you spell it out for me if you think you did?