This is great forum

[Brude]

So let me ask this. I recognize John Galt as being from a Ayn Rand book, right? I've never read anything by Rand. Should I read one those massive books I see on the bookstore shelf so that I can be in on the jokes? Or is my time spent better on other literary endeavours?

An easy way might be to Netflix the movie version of "The Fountainhead," Rand wrote the screenplay for the movie herself so it's pretty purely her message and ideas, I think

The following quote from Bioshock is something John Galt would say:

Doesn't the villain say that? I always thought that statement embodies the root of the problem with Rapture, no constraint.

As Squish's post suggests, you do realize the whole Objectivist-based society depicted in that game fails so miserably as to completely collapse into the most horrifying kind of barbarism imaginable? Yeah, they get the description of her philosophy pretty right, but I don't think Ms. Rand would be too fond of their ideas about where such a society would lead.

I really think there is no censorship--I can't explain otherwise how I made it through the old board from 2001-2005. I think I was a jerk.

Ideas of any kind are pretty safe here, so long as one isn't espousing some form of hate rhetoric. Just be prepared to vociferously defend your ideas against multiple, highly educated people if they aren't popular.

Don't take it personally, Kalbear is Hindu, so we are just all alts of Brahman

See how clever the people on our board are? Existential humor, a whole new kind of comedy was maybe just invented in this thread.

[Spectral]

I'll try to address all your points here.

Here's why. I came across A Game of Thrones by accident about 2 months ago, and immediately fell in love with the book. I then spent a lot of my free time reading all the books. All the while I was avoiding looking up any info on the books online. They just seemed to have too great a potential to be spoiled, especially after what happened to Eddard Stark. So I spent 2 months reading the books, and finally finished them last weekend. I immediately ordered a book with all the Art from the series, and started devouring information about the books that's present online. I figured it would be nice to take a look at the forums, so I googled 'ice and fire forums' and this page came up on top. I registered, and started browsing through Ice and Fire related forums, and found some useful information there, that I missed while reading the books, but at the same time I also saw threads that were spoiling the series for me, even though I already read it. So I ended up not looking at those threads for now. I'll wait until the 5th book is out, and then return to those threads. At the same time, I noticed there are a lot of posts in Misc section, and then I saw that people don't get banned for inappropriate language, and some pretty outrageous thread titles, and I was instantly hooked. I am also enjoying the Literature Board and Sci-Fi/Fantasy Book Suggestions.

Whenever I sign up for a forum, I do make an effort to pick an avatar, and signature that tell something about myself, as opposed to random pictures. I picked John Galt, because I fully subscribe to the Objectivist worldview. I picked my signature to indicate that I am an Atheist, and enjoy mocking religion. I picked my avatar, because I like the emotion it conveys ('defiant') - and because I enjoyed Goodkinds books. Had I known that he is despised on these forums, I'd probably make another pick, but what's done is done.

I made this post, because I was genuinely surprised that there was no content censorship, and wanted to give board admins props for that. I found it strange, because the forum does have an author's name on it, so it's not some fringe board. I was banned from Goodkind's site a few years back, by their overzealous admin (Zedd). And I didn't even say anything bad - I just made a joke. It was a trivia thread, and somebody asked when Richard Rahl called a woman a 'bitch', so I said he did it when Kahlan put too much salt in his soup. I was immediately banned for life from the board without as much as a warning.

Isn't that the point of a forum? I guess, I could start by insulting everyone, and calling them douchebags.

Already explained that. I wanted to pick Eddard Stark, but then I figured there's probably 50 of them here (just like there's 50 Lord Rahl's on Goodkind's forum).

I guess I could pretend I'm a Democrat, but I'm really bad at pretending I like being a commie, especially when it comes to paying taxes and buying guns.

To sum up - I'm not a Goodkind fanboy. I like the guy for what he did for Objectivism, but I'll be the first one to admit that he comes off as a total douche, and Ice and Fire makes for a much better read (I actually recommend it over Sword of Truth to my friends).

I'm not a Randist - I'm not a fanatic, but I do find Objectivism to line up with my views perfectly - which is why I stick to that philosophy. Any position from gun control, to euthanasia, to tax laws just makes sense to me when explained from Objectivist point of view.

I don't get why people get so mad at Objectivists - I'm going to assume for the same reason religious fundamentalists can't stand Atheists.

I can't wait for "Game of the Thrones" pilot to come out on HBO, and am sincerely hoping that it won't turn into garbage like "Legend of the Seeker". That's what you get when you work with a public network...

Respect for this post.

I have pretty much opposing views in everything you listed and like the majority of the board think Goodkind is a tool. But you seem like a cool guy and i hope you enjoy it here.

Although this account is new I've been lurking on this forum since 05. I used to have an account but i think it got deleted for inactivity.

[delete this account pls]

Every time a n00b with a big personality or brazen habits appears, it seems like there's a rush to declare him/her an alt. Like the first person to guess it gets props or something?

I mean, even if he was, who cares? So some old school boarder fools me into thinking they're a n00b. So what? If your really putting this much effort into an alternate personality just to fool a bunch of geeks on a message board? Then really, the joke is on you, not me.

Seriously, it seems like we go through this half a dozen times every year, and most of the time it isn't an alt (unless Triskele is playing one hell of a long con)

[The Progressive]

Alt or not, it doesn't really matter .............. all Objectivists are mentally ill anyhow.

He should fit right in.

[Max the Mostly Mediocre]

Slacktivist convinced me ages ago that I'd much rather read Left Behind than SoT, because LB seems to be a lot more evil, as well as substantially less intelligent. I mean, I know, noble goats, chicken and all that, but Russia sending its entire airforce into Israel at the same time its emptying its ICBM silos at the country? All the planes and missiles failing and plummeting out of the sky without killing a single Israeli? Everyone on the planet seeing some sort of divine vision? The world at large shrugging and going about business as usual, because...well, because I guess that sort of thing is unremarkable.

It doesn't get better than that, folks.

Oh, JG, welcome. Mind if I call you Ballard?

[SpectralFremen]

Slacktivist convinced me ages ago that I'd much rather read Left Behind than SoT, because LB seems to be a lot more evil, as well as substantially less intelligent. I mean, I know, noble goats, chicken and all that, but Russia sending its entire airforce into Israel at the same time its emptying its ICBM silos at the country? All the planes and missiles failing and plummeting out of the sky without killing a single Israeli? Everyone on the planet seeing some sort of divine vision? The world at large shrugging and going about business as usual, because...well, because I guess that sort of thing is unremarkable.

It doesn't get better than that, folks.

Oh, JG, welcome. Mind if I call you Ballard?

I just did a wiki on "Left Behind" and i dont think i found what you were referring too?

[Watcher]

I guess I could pretend I'm a Democrat, but I'm really bad at pretending I like being a commie, especially when it comes to paying taxes and buying guns.

I'd just like you to expand the ideal that Democrats are communist, because as a proud Democrat I don't think you understand the meaning of either of those terms.

I'll also make you the same bet that I've made with several of my local friends. It's a friendly $20 bet, where I give you 3 to 1 odds, that there will be no anti-gun laws passed by the Federal Government between now and 2012. I'll even throw in that you can pay me while at any Federal Park while we look at the guns I own.

[Commodore]

As far as censorship goes, expect intense personal ridicule for your views, and expect it to go uncensored. Which is as it should be. "Are you really that stupid?", "You're not even worth responding to", "You're so silly", all responses you should get used to seeing.

Just understand and accept it for what it is. This is definitely the place to refine your arguments and have your views intensely scrutinized.

[The Real Will]

The following quote from Bioshock is something John Galt would say:

Are you pro-genetically-engineered-super-zombie? And what is your stance on small children sucking the blood out of decomposing corpses. :P

I'm sorry. I've just finished Bioshock and I can't help but feel that it isn't the best example of Objectivist dogma. The creator said he wanted to base the story on a Rand style dystopian society, but I can't help but notice that in Atlas Shrugged the Objectivists are opposing the dystopia, while in Bioshock the Objectivists caused it. One of the things I liked about Bioshock was that I felt it gave a fairly accurate impression of what the end result of an Objectivist society might look like (with, or without Big Daddies).

Still, welcome to the board.

Well...he's kind of a villain, but also a victim if you look at it.

I'm still amazed that it's Quark who does his voice.

If he is the victim (and I realise that the entire plot is supposed to be stood on its head from around the midpoint), then he is very definitely a victim of his own making. He wonders on a number of occasion whether he should curb some of the more excessive tendencies among his followers and always decides that he can't for ideological reasons. The point seems to be that he would have to abandon part of his Objectivist philosophy in order to prevent the breakdown of Rapture.

Also, in many ways he's still pretty clearly a villainous villain. Having people spiked on the walls of your foyer is not a sign of a balanced mind (whatever those people may have done to you), and he was quite willing to turn off the oxygen to the entire city because he "owned" it and it was his "right" to do as he pleased. I'm not certain that even Rand would subscribe to that last part.

So let me ask this. I recognize John Galt as being from a Ayn Rand book, right? I've never read anything by Rand. Should I read one those massive books I see on the bookstore shelf so that I can be in on the jokes? Or is my time spent better on other literary endeavours?

(not trolling, just asking :) )

Pick up Atlas Shrugged. Turn to the chapter John Galt Speaks. Read. Cry quietly to yourself. Go on with your life.

As a note to anyone who feels Atlas Shrugged is a great work of literature (the philosophy aside), great literary masterpieces do not need to include a hundred page summary of the themes. Especially not when the reader has been unashamedly brutalised by those same themes for 900 pages already. Some degree of subtlety is admirable from a writer.

[tzanth]

Don't take it personally, Kalbear is Hindu, so we are just all alts of Brahman

:rofl:

I made this post, because I was genuinely surprised that there was no content censorship, and wanted to give board admins props for that. I found it strange, because the forum does have an author's name on it, so it's not some fringe board. I was banned from Goodkind's site a few years back, by their overzealous admin (Zedd). And I didn't even say anything bad - I just made a joke. It was a trivia thread, and somebody asked when Richard Rahl called a woman a 'bitch', so I said he did it when Kahlan put too much salt in his soup. I was immediately banned for life from the board without as much as a warning.

The reason people assumed you were an alt/troll is not because of this question. Its because in your first few posts you espoused views which are quite frankly the antithesis of those commonly found here in eurocommieville.

Also, you mentioned Goodkind, who is generally considered to be a subject of ridicule round these parts.

[Mentat]

Whenever I sign up for a forum, I do make an effort to pick an avatar, and signature that tell something about myself, as opposed to random pictures. I picked John Galt, because I fully subscribe to the Objectivist worldview. I picked my signature to indicate that I am an Atheist, and enjoy mocking religion. I picked my avatar, because I like the emotion it conveys ('defiant') - and because I enjoyed Goodkinds books. Had I known that he is despised on these forums, I'd probably make another pick, but what's done is done.

I really like your avatar. It's a girl with a sword. I like girls and I like swords, hence I aprove. The blueish-green choice of colour is also nice.

I've never read Goodkind myself, but I feel it's too late for me. I've been hanging out on this board for a few years, and they have infected me with such a strong bias I know I couldn't enjoy them even if they were actually any good (which I'm not convinced they are).

I don't really know anything about objectivist philosophy, though I feel if I had something meaningful to say on a philosophical level I probably wouldn't resort to fantasy fiction to do so.

Anyway, welcome to the board :)

[dalThor]

I don't really know anything about objectivist philosophy, though I feel if I had something meaningful to say on a philosophical level I probably wouldn't resort to fantasy fiction to do so.

It. Is. NOT. Fantasy. :)

It's kind of like the chicken that isn't a chicken.

[needle]

Bioshock geekery in a weclome thread. Awesome :)

John Galt, welcome but beware of the commies. there are rather a lot of commies around - whole continents of them, in fact.

*proud Eurocommie*

[sologdin]

I'm really bad at pretending I like being a commie, especially when it comes to paying taxes and buying guns.

JG--

i don't wanna pick on you too much, as it's your first day and you seem polite, civil, &c.

however, just let me chime in real quick:

this is a nonmetaphorical commie speaking.

i am the man who loves his firearms and his moneys.

i hope that doesn't deprive you of a victim or withdraw an enemy or whatever.

welcome, and be sure to check out the goodkind threads.

[Ser Scot A Ellison]

Watcher,

I'd just like you to expand the ideal that Democrats are communist, because as a proud Democrat I don't think you understand the meaning of either of those terms.

I'll also make you the same bet that I've made with several of my local friends. It's a friendly $20 bet, where I give you 3 to 1 odds, that there will be no anti-gun laws passed by the Federal Government between now and 2012. I'll even throw in that you can pay me while at any Federal Park while we look at the guns I own.

Do new or updated regulations from the BATF or any other federal agencies dealing with firearms count?

[DanteGabriel]

As far as censorship goes, expect intense personal ridicule for your views, and expect it to go uncensored. Which is as it should be. "Are you really that stupid?", "You're not even worth responding to", "You're so silly", all responses you should get used to seeing.

Just understand and accept it for what it is. This is definitely the place to refine your arguments and have your views intensely scrutinized.

For what it's worth, I do appreciate the great lengths to which you will go to defend oppressed white plutocrats.

[WhiteHaven]

Wtf is objectivism?

[MinDonner]

*gets popcorn*

[Taron]

Wtf is objectivism?

LMGTFY.

[WhiteHaven]

LMGTFY.

That is so...disappointing.

I thought that maybe one of my fellow lemmings would agree to tell me. Google lies, it is all lies, socialist lies!

So again - what is objectivism? :)