Welcome to the Florida chapter of Rebirth of Reason (RoR)!  We hope that you enjoy your stay here.  Please browse the site and be sure to read this Welcome message carefully.  It can help you readily to grasp how to put the essentials of Ayn Rand's philosophy of Objectivism to good use to improve your life right now.

Objectivism can invigorate and sometimes intimidate those newly exposed to it.  We want to help you to learn and to apply Objectivism's most relevant aspects both intellectually and experientially.  To do this, we employ key terms and models of the Franklin Covey Company, one of the world's largest time and life management training organizations.  These training tools can help to clarify and enable you to practice the Objectivist ethics rigorously on a daily basis for lifelong benefits.

The articles listed below employ these tools.  By the time you finish reading them, you should be able to grasp the most basic ideas of Objectivism intellectually and be able to arrange your affairs so as to grasp them experientially.  The rest falls into your hands.  Use these tools consistently and you face a bright future.

Note that these articles occasionally use terms like "spirit" and "spiritual" in a secular fashion, i.e. in reference to a person's consciousness or awareness of self and existence.  As a fully non-theistic philosophy, Objectivism rejects ideas of a mind separable from body or "supernatural" realms knowable through non-sensory awareness.  Should a word's meaning come into question as you read this, keep this fully secular outlook in mind and always assign words in these articles a worldly meaning.

1. Objectivism and the Nature of Living Organisms
2. Experiencing Objectivism through Franklin Covey
3. Experiencing Objectivism through the Productivity Pyramid
4. Experiencing Objectivism through the Reality Model
5. Experiencing Objectivism through the Enhanced Tri-Quation
6. Experiencing Objectivism through Microsoft Outlook 

For an example of how to create a life blueprint using these tools, visit the RoR Florida Club Coordinator's home page and pay close attention to his Values List.

For insight into some of the motives behind writing these articles, read "Hazards of Benevolence."

Franklin Covey Tools and Moderated Discussions of Objectivism

Objectivist Clubs offer the advantage of "psychological visibility" during live exchanges in a moderated discussion format.  Participants can learn more about themselves in these settings than they can in solitude.  Participants in Rebirth of Reason in Florida discussions employ the moderated Great Books Shared Inquiry format.

Occasionally, such discussions can provoke passionate exchanges.  The moderator augments the standard discussion format with appeals to the models discussed in this article, challenging each participant to examine the principles on his Belief Window – especially that subset of principles constituting his Governing Values – in search of the principles that drove the outburst.  The moderator accomplishes this inquiry with two questions:

1. What principle on your Belief Window drove your behavior?
2. How does that principle satisfy your Needs over time?

Examination of these principles by the standards of Objectivism can yield new understandings of self and lead to growth opportunities.  Together, these tools of discussion and self-examination synergize to form the powerful system we call the Objectivist Junto, a modernized version of Benjamin Franklin's Enlightenment era discussion forum.

Local Events

To fuel the growth of your human spirit to its fullest potential today, please contact:
Luther Setzer
Coordinator
(321) 544-7435
LutherSetzer@yahoo.com

Recommended Reading 

1. Ayn Rand Institute.  Suggested Reading List.
2. Barnes and Noble University.  Focus.
3. Branden, Nathaniel.  The Psychology of Self-Esteem.
4. Branden, Nathaniel.  The Six Pillars of Self-Esteem.
5. Covey, Stephen R.  Focus.
6. Covey, Stephen R.  The Eighth Habit.
7. Covey, Stephen R.  The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People.
8. Cowen III, Martin L.  Fellowship of Reason.
9. Kelley, David and Thomas, William.  The Logical Structure of Objectivism.
10. Locke, Edwin.  Setting Goals To Improve Your Life and Happiness.
11. Merriam-Webster Dictionary.  Junto.
12. Smith, Hyrum W.  The Ten Natural Laws of Successful Time and Life Management.
13. Smith, Hyrum W.  What Matters Most.

More Details

For more details about RoR Florida, contact Luke Setzer by email (note, you must be logged in to view this email address).