WHO AM I ?

Having just read Bill Perry's notice that he is disassociating himself with The Objectivist Centre, I was drawn to one of the burning questions he will be pursuing over the next few weeks;

             " What is the difference between self absorption and rational self interest? "

Immediately, a prior question came to my mind, Who am I ?

If Bill Perry can answer these questions for himself; the rest of us, old hats and newbies alike, might listen and learn. I look forward to discovering who Bill Perry is; and more importantly, how he draws his conclusions.

Does Bill Perry realize that it's Lent, the traditional time for Christian reflection?           Hmmm.    Sometimes I'm forced to wonder about intelligent design.

So, my Objectivist friends, how do you define yourself ?

Sharon

Post 1

Sunday, April 2, 2006 - 8:54am

Sharon,

You misread the announcement. The self-absorption vs. rational self-interest question is one of the things I'll be exploring during my year-long sabbatical. It isn't one of the things I'll be writing about on SOLO Passion in the next few weeks.

Bill

Post 2

Sunday, April 2, 2006 - 10:06am

Sharon,

What do you wonder about intelligent design?

Post 3

Sunday, April 2, 2006 - 10:06am

Thanks Bill

for the clarification. I admire your ability to control what your mind pursues.

I look forward to your solution to the self absorption /self interest dichotemy/integration, whenever the penny drops for you.

Sharon

Post 4

Sunday, April 2, 2006 - 10:16am

Hi Dean

Just another one of those whimsical musings about coincidences and or relationships, that fly into my undisciplined mind.

Sharon

Post 5

Sunday, April 2, 2006 - 11:19am

As in:

"bee in one's bonnet"

" A strange idea or notion; also, an idea that is harped on, an obsession. For example, Bill's got a bee in his bonnet about burglars; he's always imagining strange noises. This term, which replaced the earlier have bees in one's head, transfers the buzzing of a bee inside one's hat to a weird idea in one's head. [Second half of 1600s]"

Post 6

Sunday, April 2, 2006 - 1:58pm

So, my Objectivist friends, how do you define yourself ?

I don't consider myself Objectivist. Do you still want to know how non-Oists define themselves, or just (self-described) Oists?

Post 7

Sunday, April 2, 2006 - 2:09pm

Is anything more than a unique name necessary to define yourself? All other known or unknown traits are inherent characteristics of that open-ended concept, facts which can be added piecemeal to an observer's body of knowledge.

(Sorry, just coming away from the A.S.D. debates on the 'other' forums)

Post 8

Sunday, April 2, 2006 - 7:53pm

Sharon,

I define myself as a man (along with the volumes of noncontradictorily-integrated data that that implies). Please specify your inquiry if elaboration is desired.

Ed
[shameless Objectivist]

Post 9

Sunday, April 2, 2006 - 8:44pm

Mike,

>As in:

>"bee in one's bonnet"

Sorry, but I couldn't figure out the meaning of this post, since it wasn't clear whom it was addressed to.

-Bill

Post 10

Sunday, April 2, 2006 - 9:38pm

William,

Sorry, I wasn't clear. I was responding to this comment [in the context of the "intelligent design" question of Dean's] by Sharon:

"Just another one of those whimsical musings" ... "that fly into my undisciplined mind."

There is a "Bill" in the "Bee in one's Bonnet" definition which is purely coincidental and has nothing whatever to do with Bill Perry.

Post 11

Tuesday, April 4, 2006 - 8:01am

Thank you to those who responded to this conundrum.

You Jenna, are among my favourite self-reflective posters; I am very interested in hearing what you're thinking.

Ed, you shameless objectivist, how uncharacteristic of you to offer perhaps, the shortest of any of your SOLOROR contributions. ahaha

Aaron and Bill, perhaps I am being impertinent to think that how you see your selves is for public consumption.

I define myself as something of a struggler, a balancer, a tight-rope walker trying to focus a projector (guess that dates me a bit). I also see myself as the talented culmination of all my ancestors, to whom I owe my very existence today. This debt carries with it a great sense of responsibility to make something of my retirement from active working life (I was a kindergarten teacher for most of my 35 year teaching career); to do more than go fishing, or chase balls across toxic landscapes, or sit under palm shades surfing the net. I see myself still, as a creator, a person of action. These are of course, the superficial aspects. It is the deepest sense of myself that I seek. The self that feeds empathy and compassion. The self that gives a second look to the eyes behind the hand reaching for help. The self that sneers at gratuitous luxury. Why admire most of Martha Stewart and abhor most of Ralph Lauren? It is this sneering that I find troublesome. What feeds and waters my roots of empathy? Some thing exists within my self that keeps grabbing my sense of life. Something that agitates towards my being self-interested and not self-absorbed.

There you have it. Thanks for listening

Sharon

Post 12

Sunday, April 9, 2006 - 5:27pm

You Jenna, are among my favourite self-reflective posters; I am very interested in hearing what you're thinking.

Who am I is one of the hardest questions to answer for me not because I can't answer it, it's because I *can*, and it would fill a book or twenty.

I am every book I've ever read, and I am every chapter I've forgotten and found again. I am all the books I yearn to read.

I am part of and partake of my mother, my father, and my sister; in the genes and the past that we share and continue to make. I am my love for them and their love for me, despite past battles and recriminations. I am my growth that is mirrored by my family's growth.

I am all of the sciences and all of the humanities. I am heart as well as mind.

I am every artwork I've created, even the ones thrown away or erased. I am every word I've written, even though I have changed and the words have faded. I am my scientific ideas, although most may not come to fruition. I am all the underlining I did in books, and the underlining I will do; even when I've changed beyond the marks I have made. I am the medicine I take, the research I hope to make, and the knowledge behind it.

I am the responsible care I take for my home, whether my apartment or the only planet that I have to live on. I am the feet that I ground, yet the spirit that reaches. I am a fire that I've discovered, the same fire that never can be quenched despite opposing forces. I am a fighter but I prefer peace.

I am the thoughts I study, I am the playful antics of my mind. I am not afraid of the undiscovered nor of exploration; I am afraid of the discovered preventing further exploration. I am afraid of lights quenching, I am always eager to alight.

I am Chinese and the understanding, the knowledge, the judgement that comes with it, the good, the okay, the bad, the beautiful, the sorrowful, the bittersweet, the horrors, the arts. I am American for the same.

I am part and parcel, I am of earth and I live on earth. I am 32, 42, 57, 108, or more, flavors.

I am not going to say I'm the Alpha and the Omega (*laugh*) but I will say that my mind makes me free, that I am my mind and therefore, I am free. I am. :)

(Btw, "I am." will be my next tattoo.)

Post 13

Sunday, April 9, 2006 - 7:08pm

I believe it was Popeye who once said, "I am what I am."

Post 14

Monday, April 10, 2006 - 6:33am

Thank you Jenna for your thoughtful answer. You reveal a broad-based human; the culmination of all you have experienced, assimilated and rejected. I would be honoured to meet you one day.

Are you ready to read another book? It could take the rest of your life to understand it, or, you could be a quick study. An Australian biologist, Jeremy Griffith, has discovered the meaning of life. I stumbled onto his website two nights ago; and guess what? I know how to focus that projector. I'm off the tightrope. I have a perpetual smile on my face. It's better than love, the second time around. I've found my SENSE OF LIFE. www.humancondition.info

Sh.

Post 15

Tuesday, April 11, 2006 - 9:53pm

Hi Jenna,

I thought of the question "who am I?" not in detail but in essence. In ten words or less could you name the theme of who you are?

Michael

Post 16

Wednesday, April 12, 2006 - 12:18am

In ten words or less could you name the theme of who you are?

Individualistic, free-spirited, free-minded, transdisciplinary knowledge seeker.

You? :)

Post 17

Thursday, April 13, 2006 - 12:35am

Michael, evidence suggests that you just got "served." The "ball" is in your court now. Your return?

Ed
[my personal "named theme" (in-a-word): magnanimitous]

Post 18

Thursday, April 13, 2006 - 6:03am

let me get my coffee first

Post 19

Thursday, April 13, 2006 - 6:55am