On Saturday, July 10, 1999 11:44 AM E. Shaun Russell <e_shaun@uniserve.com>
wrote:
> Nathaniel Branden has recently revised his biography of
>philosopher- novelist, Ayn Rand. While not explicitly extropic, Rand's
>books and overall perspective of life have been a major influence on many
>extropians. Though the essence of her philosophy espoused rational thought
>and the application of moral reason in all areas of one's life, Branden
>subtly shows that her own life had many areas of irrationality, paranoia
>and contradictory ethics. Though it does nothing to dampen the objective
>reality of her own philosophy, _My Years With Ayn Rand_ is definitely an
>eye-opener into the way Rand truly lived her life. Well worth reading.
I don't want to defend Rand as a person -- I've heard enough horror stories about her atrocious behavior -- but one should be aware when reading Branden that he does have an axe to grind AND he also seems to have a tendency to white wash his own actions. At least, this is my impression. (I wasn't there, so maybe he's 100% correct, but I doubt it.)
As for Objectivism and Extropianism, well, my goals is more to know what is true, though looking for relationships between things -- including belief systems -- is one way of getting closer to that. And I'm definitely influence by both Objectivism and Extropianism.
Cheers!
Daniel Ust
http://mars.superlink.net/neptune/