Not quite in the spirit of admitting ignorance, but since it's in this thread, I'll answer it.
Did organized Objectivist activism, at least in some of its nuttier phases, offer to turn its adherents who get it right into a kind of superhuman entity? ...
another cult
No.
So despite Rand's disclaimer, if you view....
So despite what Rand or any Objectivist ever said or did, if you choose to view Objectivism as a nutty cult, you can.
If you were actually interested in why Rand's characters are the way they are, you could read her book on art, "The Romantic Manifesto". Probably a quick google search on the book would give you your answer.
This thread is for asking any questions that might seem obvious, tangential, silly or what-have-you. Don't be shy, everyone has holes in their knowledge, though the fewer and the smaller we can make them, the better.
Please be respectful of other people's admitting ignorance and don't mock them for it, as they're doing a noble thing.
To any future monthly posters of SQ threads, please remember to add the "stupid_questions" tag.