Freedomain Radio

Hello all. I'm extremely glad I found this site. I'm trying to think of a decent metaphor for my feelings of late. I suppose... well, I've had the feeling lately that I'm either the only sane person or the most insane person in New York City.

 First, a brief "about me" - Grew up in a household with my mother and grandparents (mother's parents) as "guardians." Mother is a truly irrational being (I remember one time when I was 6 and an elderly neighbor had bought me a small porcelain box. Mother grabbed the box out of my hands, smashed it on the sidewalk, and then denied to my face that she had just done so when the pieces were lying on the ground between us), my grandmother was a hyper-religous Catholic, and my grandfather was a hyper-religious Presbyterian who had been so whipped that he never said anything (literally) besides "Yes, dear." I never really believed in God - though I tried most desperately to - so I had a hard time of it for a while. By some great good fortune I found The Fountainhead when I was 11. Read halfway through it, till I realized exactly what Rand was trying to do with the book, then went back and read the whole thing in one sitting. Started Atlas when I was 13, and have never looked back. My beliefs have undergone several modifications since, as I've slowly been crawling out of the pit my family dug me into. Hence the screen name NonAbsolute - you remember Hank Rearden's stoolie, don't you?

 Anyway, I'm in college now, having taken a very circuitous route to get there. I started two years "late" at Columbia. It's as horrible as I thought it would be. I swear, were I a Marxist it would be hog heaven. A good number of the professors are avowed communists, and of course you all heard how our university president acted when he invited Ahmadinejad. It's ironic, because I want to be an academic. Or... not truly - not one of them - but my discipline is archaeology, which is funded either through a gun pointed at y'all through taxes, or an academic institution, which comes to the same thing.

 So, my question: how do you begin how to learn to think? That's a silly question, so I'll rephrase. I have noticed over the last month that I've been looking around whenever I'm on the subway. I try to listen to the conversations that people are having. Some of the people... well, they were born and raised in America, but they don't speak any language that I recognize as English - or any other language. They grunt unintelligibly and think they're speaking. I suppose that amoral (anti-moral?) people do the same thing intellectually - they propose their theories and think they're speaking truth, but in reality they grunt. What I'm afraid of is running so far away from them that I end up turning around the other corner and becoming one of them.

I've found my metaphor: I'm out alone in the middle of a field at night and a storm is coming on. I've found some of the parts that I need in order to put my shelter up, but am searching about desperately for the last few pieces and the instruction manual before the storm hits. So... where are the other pieces?

 I guess I'll start with the absolutes. :) Thanks Stef, and thanks to the rest of you for bringing the lantern.

Welcome!

I'd say that you already can think, but like all of us, you have certain emotional blocks that stand between you and clarity. I'd certainly recommend my own book (see below), let me know if you're low on funds and I'll send you a copy for free, pay me whenever.

You might also enjoy my free "intro to philosophy" series, here:

http://www.youtube.com/view_play_list?p=C1647D7F937DDE7A 

Thanks to you both! I've been putting off the video series till after midterms. Having to digest a lot of pap about "gender archaeology" so I've put up my tiny mental shield. Don't want to let it down again just yet. Girding my loins and all that. ;)

 Speaking of shields, I hope people on this forum can take a joke. My avatar (if you can't see it) depicts the medieval "Three Estates" - cleric, knight, and peasant. Fitting, I guess.

Thanks, Karl! Sorry about the modern music. I prefer medieval and renaissance music. A lot of the songs are about killing Muslims, but at least they had a sense of melody. :)

I've never really pursued Branden's work. Is there a book/essay/anything that you particularly recommend? 

Brilliant NonAbsolute. That was very interesting reading. It does seem that no one talks anymore, not about substance. I hear kids talking and about four times in a sentence they will use the word "like". What sort of education are these kids getting? I wish you all the best.