Discussion with Caller (Show 066)
This week Arthur is attending and working at the Objectivist Conference in Newport Beach, California and Brandon was in New York City for the weekend, so they could not attend. (Brandon visited a few sites relevant to Ayn Rand in New York, so there may be a write-up on his trip soon.) However, Mosley was able to host the show!
The show mainly consisted of a conversation between Mosley and a caller, but first Mosley discussed a few different topics. First of all, he mentioned the Ayn Rand Institute’s new website design at http://aynrand.org/ which he finds to be much more user-friendly and easier on the eyes. Check it out!
Then Mosley had a brief discussion on video games, which he was playing before the show, and explained how they don’t have to be mindless time wasters like some people think. They can be a form of recreation like any other. In order to stay productive, one sometimes needs to take time to rest and enjoy the fruits of labor. Video games can be one way to do this — they often exercise the mind and are a good reason to get together with friends and have fun, which can promote a more benevolent view of life.
Mosley also discussed how he discovered Objectivism and gave some suggestions on where to start for newcomers. He suggests that Ms. Rand’s fiction such as Anthem, The Fountainhead, and Atlas Shrugged are great places to start and a good next step would be to move onto some of her other works such as For the New Intellectual, The Virtue of Selfishness, and Philosophy: Who Needs It.
Afterward, there was a caller who explained how he stumbled into talkObjectivism a few months ago and found it interesting. Being familiar with Objectivist ideas through reading Ayn Rand’s works (such as Atlas Shrugged many times over), he and Mosley carried on a discussion about how Objectivist ideas are in the minority and how this can be changed. The caller suggested an experiment: ask around and see how many people have heard of Objectivism and Atlas Shrugged. Other may wish to do this as well. If you do, let us know what your findings are. Also, don’t forget to recommend Ayn Rand’s works if they haven’t read them!
July 9th, 2008 at 7:02 pm
I am only in high school, but I went and asked a couple of my friends if they have heard of it. Some of my closer friends have because I have mentioned it before, but the majority sadly have not.
Unfortunately most of them are not interested in learning either.
August 10th, 2008 at 8:59 pm
I am sorry to hear that, but keep talking about Objectivism. The more people that talk about it, the better. Cultural change will not happen over night.