When I started reading this I thought "Is Andrew Yang a Randist??" haha. I love learning about these different philosophies.
I think Atlas Shrugged is one of the greatest books ever written, but I didn't take it as a moral guidebook of any sorts. I also think The Fountainhead is great, but I've always been surprised by the politics that arose from these works of literature.
Ironically, or not, many successful women I know (including myself) LOVED Atlas Shrugged and The Fountainhead because they featured hard working women who had passionate affairs and didn’t die. It’s funny to me that so many conservative men love it too. Now that I am older, I see how her rigid work ethic was part of the patriarchy. But that’s what was needed at that time for women and men to succeed. I’ve evolved to a more flow model of life, but I still want passionate affairs without dying! And…there is a John Galt inside of each of us, for better or worse.
Love this. Learning to see the self as something fundamentally fluid and avoiding the trap of claiming and fixating on any kind of fixed identity has definitely been key for me.
Absolutely. Rand was crucial for me early on. I would say that her literature changed my life. Not that I became a Tea Party, Maga Patriot, Atheistic Objectivist. Far from it. However, I needed to get over my conditioning, some of the influences of my family, culture, church, neighborhood. I needed to develop a positive sense of self-worth, self-esteem, self-reliance, independence from the crowd. Her writing gave me the tools to do that.
On the other hand, as I dove deep into Eastern Philosophies I eventually came to the direct realization that there is no "self", or rather it's not what we think it is in our relative day-to-day existence. Life is a paradox. In relative terms, "I" am self-reliant and motivated as I navigate the world. In absolute terms, if I look close enough all ideas of "me" and "the world" disappear and reveal "just this". I think the skill is found not in debating or proving anything about "this" or "that", but in living with that paradox. We could quote Nisargadatta here: "Wisdom is knowing I'm nothing. Love is knowing I'm everything, and in between the two my life moves".
Truly excellent insights here. The Self sits at the center of the individual perceptive Universe. Not because of egoism but from frank metamechanics.
The blending of Yingism (which I had not been aware of) and Taoism I believe moves toward a greater truth, much like stoicism and the philosophy of Nietzsche blend for greater perspective. Thank you! Will send some latte money your way for the lesson! 🙏
Well that made me feel the most normal in awhile 🤌🏻😎😘
When I started reading this I thought "Is Andrew Yang a Randist??" haha. I love learning about these different philosophies.
I think Atlas Shrugged is one of the greatest books ever written, but I didn't take it as a moral guidebook of any sorts. I also think The Fountainhead is great, but I've always been surprised by the politics that arose from these works of literature.
I so prefer the two Chinese philosophies you've mentioned to those of Rand. To be honest, I really dislike her.
What is it about her work that you dislike? Just curious.
I read one of her books decades ago, but I remember it feeling very cold and uncaring, and was all about skyscrapers. It just didn't move me.
Ironically, or not, many successful women I know (including myself) LOVED Atlas Shrugged and The Fountainhead because they featured hard working women who had passionate affairs and didn’t die. It’s funny to me that so many conservative men love it too. Now that I am older, I see how her rigid work ethic was part of the patriarchy. But that’s what was needed at that time for women and men to succeed. I’ve evolved to a more flow model of life, but I still want passionate affairs without dying! And…there is a John Galt inside of each of us, for better or worse.
Yes, Yes, and YES! You are so spot on here Maria.
☺️
who is John Galt?
😂
Love this. Learning to see the self as something fundamentally fluid and avoiding the trap of claiming and fixating on any kind of fixed identity has definitely been key for me.
Yes! But it’s so tricky.
The trickiest!
I can relate.
Now I’m curious. Can you share more?
Absolutely. Rand was crucial for me early on. I would say that her literature changed my life. Not that I became a Tea Party, Maga Patriot, Atheistic Objectivist. Far from it. However, I needed to get over my conditioning, some of the influences of my family, culture, church, neighborhood. I needed to develop a positive sense of self-worth, self-esteem, self-reliance, independence from the crowd. Her writing gave me the tools to do that.
On the other hand, as I dove deep into Eastern Philosophies I eventually came to the direct realization that there is no "self", or rather it's not what we think it is in our relative day-to-day existence. Life is a paradox. In relative terms, "I" am self-reliant and motivated as I navigate the world. In absolute terms, if I look close enough all ideas of "me" and "the world" disappear and reveal "just this". I think the skill is found not in debating or proving anything about "this" or "that", but in living with that paradox. We could quote Nisargadatta here: "Wisdom is knowing I'm nothing. Love is knowing I'm everything, and in between the two my life moves".
Thanks for the prompt.
Truly excellent insights here. The Self sits at the center of the individual perceptive Universe. Not because of egoism but from frank metamechanics.
The blending of Yingism (which I had not been aware of) and Taoism I believe moves toward a greater truth, much like stoicism and the philosophy of Nietzsche blend for greater perspective. Thank you! Will send some latte money your way for the lesson! 🙏
Yangism🙄