tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29196034.post7525967605157094164..comments2024-03-27T05:47:21.295-07:00Comments on Ayn Rand Contra Human Nature: How I Became a Critic of Objectivism 3Daniel Barneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06359277853862225286noreply@blogger.comBlogger7125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29196034.post-28903300791922501042022-01-03T14:07:20.194-08:002022-01-03T14:07:20.194-08:00* principally derived* principally derivedJohnnynoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29196034.post-47991286136845310182022-01-03T14:05:51.262-08:002022-01-03T14:05:51.262-08:00- "Yaron Book said that IQ tests are 'B.S...- "Yaron Book said that IQ tests are 'B.S.'"<br /><br />Rand herself said in an extemporaneous Q-and-A reproduced in "Ayn Rand Answers" that she did not know what I.Q. tests measure and that she was skeptical that intelligence is inherited. She stated that a person could raise his I.Q. score by "50 points" by will alone. I believed that she used the words "focus" or "mental focus," not "will." I don't have the book handy; but it amounts to the same thing, it seems to me. Her comments were made in the late 1960s or early 1970s.<br /><br />- "Yaron has said talking about IQ is another way of talking about race (which he doesn't believe exists). I suspect its that and their blank slate view of human nature."<br /><br />I suspect you are quite correct about this. Mr. Nyquist might have a field day with the well-known but insufficiently appreciated fact that Rand's view of human nature is principally, I derived from her admiration for a heroic character in a children's adventure story (Cyrus in "The Mysterious Valley"). In Barbara Branden and elsewhere, Rand says her philosophy grew entirely from her asking: What premises would be necessary to have in order to be a man like Cyrus? That includes ethical, political, and ultimately even metaphysical and epistemological premises. (For example, a hero has self-assertive confidence, which implies full confidence in his mind's ability to grasp whatever he needs to deal with; etc.) All those recent semi-philosophical "popularizing" books we see in bookstores, with titles like "Spiderman and Philosophy," may not be very different from Rand's philosophical work.Johnnynoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29196034.post-38518676780840992202021-08-21T06:59:12.602-07:002021-08-21T06:59:12.602-07:00Lots of gossip in this interview with Richard Sals...Lots of gossip in this interview with Richard Salsman. He's been involved with ARI, TOS, Kelley etc.<br /><br />https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_UQABzMz5eE<br /><br /><br />Jason RuleAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29196034.post-82158436095752954502021-07-22T08:23:31.574-07:002021-07-22T08:23:31.574-07:00Kudos to Mr. Nyquist.
His intellectual evolution ...Kudos to Mr. Nyquist.<br /><br />His intellectual evolution is similar to mine.<br /><br />Any student of Burnham & Pareto can't go very far wrong!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29196034.post-21368239908692279492021-07-19T04:52:55.535-07:002021-07-19T04:52:55.535-07:00Yaron Book said that IQ tests are "B.S."...Yaron Book said that IQ tests are "B.S." (he didn't use the abbreviation). It's strange since IQ tests are the most gunned after aspect of social science and it's withstood every challenge. If I could give Brook a million dollars in exchange for lowering his IQ 20 points, I doubt he'd accept.<br /><br />99% of experts in the field of intelligence research think IQ tests measure intelligence. Even Objectivist psychologists accept it, so I'm not sure what's driving the train. Yaron has said talking about IQ is another way of talking about race (which he doesn't believe exists). I suspect its that and their blank slate view of human nature.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29196034.post-12743865291532711482021-07-18T17:12:24.526-07:002021-07-18T17:12:24.526-07:00Objectivists' hostility towards IQ research is...Objectivists' hostility towards IQ research is puzzling because Rand's view of the mind is implicitly IQ-oriented. Albionic Americannoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29196034.post-86188710602633952832021-07-18T14:48:30.937-07:002021-07-18T14:48:30.937-07:00I changed when I first read The Bell Curve, by Her...I changed when I first read The Bell Curve, by Hernstein and Murray. It showed that intelligence is the most important factor and its largely genetic. It also varies by race. No wonder why Objectivists hate this book.<br /><br />Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com