>Go over that Prisoner's Dilemma again.
Later. Not enought time right now. William Poundstone
wrote an excellent introduction to game theory called
"Prisoner's Dillemma" that I recommend you read
>You didn't escape the assumption that the individual is the thesis, but you
>outlined the reason for the stagnation that results from thinking you already
>have all the answers.
One need not "escape" an assumption. An assumption is a prison of air.
My reply was direct, valid, and addressed the significant underlying
structure of your statement.
>What do you mean, we are "all in the same boat" and "I'm not moving anymore"?
>... now it is just a
>matter of time before objectivist philosophy is disseminated to the population.
>And, no, Rand was not free of mistakes--she was trapped in a closed system in
>many ways and some of her ideas were not the best IMO.
Heretic! ;-)
>Not necessarily, better, but it is more "useful" to assume priority over
>cyanobacteria. The environmentalists sometimes speak from a perspective that
>there is this Earth that takes priority over individuals. As if we are a small
>part of a super-organism that has more importance.
Interesting you should use that word. Have you read "The Lucifer Principle"
by Howard Bloom? He has some very interesting things to say about
Superorganisms.
>Objectivism is not immutable, it can always be improved.But,it would still be
>objectivism since it has an error-correction mechanism.
Here is a parable:
Ayn Rand builds a ship and names her "Objectivism" using a bunch of
spare parts that are lying around. After she passes away her heirs
decide to maintain the ship. Unfortunately the elements get to it,
some former owners demand the return of components she borrowed
and other pieces just seem to disintegrate with time.
But, true to their faith, the heirs rebuild and replace the components
which have gone missing and keep the ship intact. Until...
One day one of the heirs awakens and looks at the ship. He is struck,
suddenly with a revelation. The only thing that remains of the
original ship is the tattered flag, flying like Old Glory in The Star
Spangled Banner.
He looks at the ship and realizes it is entirely unlike Rand's conception.
How did it happen? In place of Rand's little schooner is a modern
luxury yacht, but it still has that flag "Objectivism"
But, if he looks really closely, he can see something written underneath
that word, like a scribe's palimsest and faintly:
"Ozymandias"
Reed
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Reed Konsler konsler@ascat.harvard.edu
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