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Sunday
January 30, 2005

Seven Deadly Sins by Lindsay Perigo

Seven Deadly Sins ought to be enough to be going on with. As will be readily apparent, they are overlapping and mutually reinforcing ... I hope that in getting my exasperation with them off my chest, I have written something of value to the reader in his quest for Nem-status and eudaimonia. It can be summed up as follows:

This above all, thine own self create, and to it forever be true …
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Discuss this Article (76 messages)

Sunday, January 30, 2005 - 4:12am

Linz identified the following as a deadly sin:

abstention from alcohol

I hope you mean abstention from fine wines and not abstention from reason-corrupting drunken stupors. I can understand why fine wines but not drunken stupors would enhance one's experience of eudaimonism.

If you meant drunken stupors do advance the experience of eudaimonism, I would like to see an explanation of how such stupors rationally further one toward "the highest ethical goal [of] happiness and personal well-being," to borrow the words of Merriam-Webster.

Luke Setzer

Sunday, January 30, 2005 - 5:38am

You could have also called this article:

"The Seven Deadly Linz" :-)

However, I do think you are missing one point.

What Ayn Rand never quite gave credit for is that "social interaction" does involve a certain amount of judgement and intelligence. Especially for clarity of communication and ideas - and for you to be able to change someones opinion or feelings if it is of value to yourself.

I am not arguing that one should be dishonest or cowardly, but that social interaction requires the same intelligence needed in other types of problem-solving.

Some of the most successful type of people are good at this.

Not just politicians, but also lawyers, journalists, PR men, salesmen, investors and businessmen - to name but a few.

Sunday, January 30, 2005 - 11:06am

Thank you Linz, for another thought-provoking piece.

Though I agree with much of what you've said here, there is one area in particular where we have a strong difference of opinion. I'd like to expand on what Marcus said a bit.

Regarding the tailoring of one's comments, I think it is important to remember that one of the most effective ways of communicating ideas and thoughts is to construct them in a way that is going to address the listener. It does not mean one has to violate one's principles, nor does it advocate political correctness.

I have met too many Objectivists who are incapable of social interaction because they just let the words fly without censor. This is *not* the way to win the culture war. People simply tune you out.

Would it be more effective to dress someone down as a loser, or calmly demonstrate how they could be a winner? I find that the latter is always much more effective. Yes, sometimes people need a reality check, and in those cases strong words are both warranted and effective. But it isn't what you say, it's how you say it. Rand alienated many people at the outset due to her neglect of this aspect of social interaction.

I am not advocating silence, repression, or hypocrisy -- I am advocating the exercising of judgment in communicating with other human beings.

Sunday, January 30, 2005 - 11:39am

Luther—that whole sentence re veganism, alcohol & MBA degrees was tongue-in-cheek. Clearly I'll need to give you T-I-C lessons at SOLOC 4. (The rest of you—kindly refrain from smutty comments!)

Marcus & Jennifer—where did I propose dressing people down as losers, or not exercising judgement in presenting one's views? I wasn't even talking about *how* one presents one views. I was talking about the vice of altering one's views to fit the situation. I *thought* that was clear.

Linz

(Scratching his head.)

Sunday, January 30, 2005 - 11:52am

Ah. I misinterpreted altering one's views to mean altering one's words in communicating said views. (I realize that in some cases they are one and the same.)

Nevermind, then. :)

Sunday, January 30, 2005 - 12:28pm

Linz,

"where did I propose...not exercising judgement in presenting one's views?"

There were the deadly Linz's of "umbrage-taking" and "cowardice".

However, as you explain above - you are not implying that one shouldn't intelligently consider the way one's views are presented - before presenting them.

Thanks for clearing that up.

Sunday, January 30, 2005 - 1:13pm

Linz,

I would also like to clarify that in my first post I wrote that you "missed the point".

That does not mean that you argued for "not exercising judgement".

What I meant was that I thought it was an important point that had not been made.

Sunday, January 30, 2005 - 4:13pm

Linz,

Pope Gregory is kicking himself for not having commissioned you to write his list.

Garin

Sunday, January 30, 2005 - 4:49pm

Ha! Had I written the same list as he, I would have called it Seven Deadly Virtues. Heh!

Marcus - why would I make a point about a subject I had not raised? This is reminiscent of the Puke thing, where I was faulted for not addressing *all* the arguments for God's existence. I never set out to do that! You shouldn't criticise an article for not fulfilling a brief it didn't set itself.

As I said, what I was presenting was "enough to be going on with." It should be treated as such. Focus on what *is* there, rather than on what isn't! :-)

Linz

Sunday, January 30, 2005 - 4:54pm

"As I said, what I was presenting was "enough to be going on with." It should be treated as such. Focus on what *is* there, rather than on what isn't! :-) "

OK Linz, point taken.

I was just trying to attach a caveat.

Sunday, January 30, 2005 - 8:45pm

Thanks, Linz, for being vocal with your frustration and more importantly reminding us what makes us "SOLO'ist" Objectivists! It was a timely reminder.

Jason

Sunday, January 30, 2005 - 10:25pm

*abyss*

Any or all of the following Seven Deadly Sins that have exasperated me recently qualify their practitioners for the abyss...

I'll have company then? Sweeeeet. Tea and crumpets for all! (No, I don't know what a crumpet is.)

Dilettantism. This is especially maddening, and common among the potentially best of Nem. These are folk who have a ton of talent they could employ in the furthering of freedom, but don’t...

...In such a context, the dilettante’s approach of doing nothing, or emerging just occasionally and fleetingly to offer up intimations of what he is capable of, is a disgraceful cop-out. Dilettantes are spiritual freeloaders on those who do care and do make the effort.

*whistling innocently*

Monday, January 31, 2005 - 1:29am

The author of this article strikes me as an elitist arrogant prig, and I want to thank you profusely for writing it.

Allow me a back story to elaborate.

I read Atlas Shrugged on a dare, which after many sleepless nights subsequently caused me to leave my christian college from which I was pursuing a degree in liberal arts (ha!). Ensuing months have been spent reading every work of Rand I could get my hands on and immersing myself in the Objectivist online presence. Looking for an O'ist community with a little more... testosterone, led me to this treasure of a site, and I have in recent weeks exhausted your forums and archives with a 'humorous pseudonym.' Many postings have brought me to tears, some to anger through disagreement, yet I have lacked the courage to reply until now.

Your Seven Deadly Sins may merely be a venting of frustrations, I cannot tell. For this individual however they are dead on. The article reads like a lovely biting satire to my life and interactions. It appears your recent 'fill of annoying bastards' consists of my group of arrogant prigs' yet-congealed convictions and the paper self-esteem derived thereof.

Perhaps a good follow-up to this article might be some practical tactics to absolve oneself of such deadly sins? One complaint I have of this community is that everyone appears to be a relative expert, with the majority of postings consisting of highly abstract concepts or inside jokes. However I fear I may be breaking another implied commandment: that of expecting knowledge to be spoon-fed to me. Fortunately I am beginning to resist blaming parents and MTV, and concretize proper concepts; I will accept the current learning curve as mine to climb.

If you'll allow me, I wish to see this reply as a step in the right direction, to "stand up and be counted." Now if you could kindly point me to the 'SOLO'ism for Sinners and Dummies' section...

Monday, January 31, 2005 - 1:58am

Stephen, may I be the first to applaud your courage, and welcome you to this forum.

The learning curve is a steep one, yes, but we all got here the same way: We had to think it through. Some here are far more skilled at debating the abstract issues than others, but the product of their diligent thinking can sometimes offer a view we haven't thought of yet.

These are the sparks that will propel you forward. And the honesty and integrity of a post like yours is what continues to propel those of us who have been where you now stand.

Well done.

Jennifer

Monday, January 31, 2005 - 2:21am

As the arrogant, elitist prig who wrote the article, I can only say this is the kind of response I normally could only dream about. So pervasive is the culture of sneering that part of me wonders if this isn't a joke. Assuming—and hoping—it isn't, I can only say, Stephen, stick around, & ask all the questions you want re what you call "SOLOism" but what is really Objectivism as it always should have been.

Of course, the article wasn't "merely" the venting of frustration. It was partly that, because of recent exposure to ongoing hostility to what I try to do from people I thought were on side. But it was much more than that—it was a cri de coeur against this goddawful postmodern culture where sincerity counts for nothing & is derided. I hate it with every fibre of my being. The few soulmates I have who hate it equally are spiritual oxygen. Have I just found another one?

Linz

Monday, January 31, 2005 - 6:17am

Stephen,
Bravo! On reading your post I initially had the same concern as Lindsay, i.e., that this might be a put-on. After re-reading it a couple times it seemed sincere, so in the same good "faith" I'd like to welcome you to SOLO and this forum. This is truly an excellent place for life-loving Objectivists (the only true kind, surely) to be! I'd like to complement you on the intellectual honesty your post shows - I'm sure many have dropped Atlas like a poisonous snake and shut their minds to its implications ever after.

Don't worry about the learning curve - Jennifer is right, we've all been there and we all got through the same way - independent thought. And that means recognition of truths written by someone else as much as it means original thought.

Things can get intense here, but that's one of the reasons I stay here!

I wish you all the best!

Jason

Monday, January 31, 2005 - 8:37am

Stephen,

Welcome to the world of the "named." When we post under our own names, rather than a pseudonym, we are saying:

These are my ideas, statements, and opinions. I'm confidant enough to express them and take responsibility for them, I'm willing to speak and take the credit or blame for whatever I say.

The journey for me has been long, and you will find many articles here, espceially those from Mr. Rowlands to be useful. One does not change their views overnight, and discussion and argumentation are all parts of learning.

Welcome to SOLO,

Ethan

(Edited by Ethan Dawe on 1/31, 8:41am)

Monday, January 31, 2005 - 12:11pm

Jennifer, Jason, and Ethan,

Thank you! This is exactly the response and welcome I don't believe I deserve, yet secretly hoped for. You're right as well, I am afraid I am not joking. Your forum has its share of hecklers as I've seen, and I understand your trepidation. You will have to forgive me; my recent enlightenment, while fantastically invigorating, has left me extremely lonely. To find such a culture of like-minded confidants as this therefore tends to propel my enthusiasm to seemingly implausible proportions.

Your comments are very kind and I will take your suggestions to heart. Despite my fears of 'getting it wrong' I will accept the responsibility of my education as mine to bear, and the goal of achieving your level of confidence as mine to embrace and one day enjoy.

Linz,
I must apologize for the arrogant prig bit. That was a by-product of my dry humor and not appropriate among strangers. Many of your writings have been a great source of guidance for me, and I have come to view you as somewhat of a mentor. The assumed intimacy was my faux pas.

And Oh, to be considered a soulmate! The very notion ignites within me a happiness I couldn't begin to describe! But I can not even come close to such an honor. While my newfound convictions are right and true, my actions betray an inconsistency and hypocrisy of values that plague me daily despite knowing better... I'd better explain that.

It wasn't Atlas Shrugged that awoken me, but The Fountainhead. It hit home for me personally because a childhood dream of mine was to become an architect; a dream long supplanted by my mature, adult duty and resolution to become an evangelical missionary. I see now such a life path would have ended in misery and disaster; a hollow disciple for a god I gave up long ago.

My recent uprooting has left me dependent on my parents again, whom are behaving consistent with those that believe their son is going to hell. Also I've acquired a food service job to subsist, which surrounds me with the opposite end of the American value spectrum; nihilists believing their sum of existence as the avoidance of pain, with any pleasure being some type of reality-escaping drug.

I've applied to 21 architecture programs across the country for the fall, and long for the day when I move out and move forward. But at the present I find myself lying and cheating a great deal to keep my associations amiable and pacified, causing me understandable guilt and shame. But I am sure for the first time in my life that I am on the right path, and this give me tremendous joy and confidence by contrast.

As you can well read, my sin of solipsism is appalling and I am ravenous for encouragement and approval in these tough times. Like a sponge I soak in every Objectivist thought and idea I find, but I lack solidity. I wonder, as I slowly apply critical thinking (something of which I am far out of practice,) how many other visitors to this site are in a similar boat, but lack the courage to ask for help?

I belive I've hijacked this thread for long enough. :)

--Stephen

Monday, January 31, 2005 - 12:31pm

Stephen,

Welcome to SOLO! Having spent a summer working in a restaurant while in college, I can relate to your disgust with the nihilistic hedonism of many of the short order cooks and dishwashers in kitchens across the country. I encourage you to browse the SOLO Florida Welcome page for some ideas on getting yourself focused on your values and goals as your pursue rational egoism.

Luke Setzer

Monday, January 31, 2005 - 12:38pm

Luther, you just gave me an idea. :)

Stephen, if you would like to see a more life-affirming view of the food world, you can join us at SOLO Food. I've recently posted a restaurant story or two that might serve as fuel for another day.

Cheers.