For Ayn Rand There Was No Mystery

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deftones1986

MemberOvomorphJuly 18, 2012

I just wanted to post this piece to provoke disucuss behind the 'suggestion' that the movie just may ultimately be about the mysteries of life, and the whole purpose of Ridley Scott creating this never ending quest for answers in the form of a film, only to leave pretty much every single question asked by the characters obviously [b]unanswered[/b], is for it to be just that....The unsolvable mystery. And to make us 'understand' per-say, that this is whats ultimately so beautiful, yet eerie about life. Pretty neat little reading for when you have Prometheus on the mind (and everything that comes along with it.) - - - Ayn Rand, the originator of objectivism philosophy, went mad and committed suicide. How could this happen to such a rare, logical mind? *** Precisely! It happened because of such a logical, rational mind. The rational mind cannot go beyond suicide and madness. That is the ultimate that has to happen. If some logical person is not mad it simply means that he is not logical enough. If some logical person has not committed suicide yet, it simply means that he is mediocre. He has not touched the pinnacle of logicality. If you reach to the pinnacle of logicality, life loses all meaning – because logic cannot give any meaning. Logic takes away all meaning. Logic is destructive, poisonous. It is love that gives meaning to life, it is love that blooms and flowers, it is love that sings and dances; it is love that becomes celebration. A logical mind by and by loses all possibility of loving – because love is so illogical it cannot exist with logic. They prohibit each other, they exclude each other. If you love, you become illogical; if you are very logical, you become unloving. And without love, what is there to live by, to live with, to live for? What is there? Ayn Rand was a very egoistic, rationalistic, realistic woman. Her philosophy is that of absolute selfishness. If you are absolutely selfish, how can you be loving? It is impossible. Her philosophy is absolutely realistic, materialistic. When there is only matter, what is there to bloom into? There is no soul. All search disappears. Life is flat and dull. There is no mystery. With the soul enters mystery and life. With mystery there is joy, because there is a possibility to enquire, to explore, to expand. There is a possibility that something may happen, can happen. Man is more than he knows. You are more than you know. Not only that, you are more than you can ever know, because your intrinsic reality remains mysterious, always remains unknown, unknowable. You can go on knowing more and more and more but that does not reduce your mystery. That’s what we mean by soul – utterly mysterious. For Ayn Rand there was no mystery. When there is no mystery, how can there be life? Then what is there to live for? Suicide seems to be the logical conclusion. And if you don’t commit suicide, then madness is the conclusion. Those seem to be the two alternatives. Either go mad – mad means go illogical, drop your rational mind – or commit suicide, drop this useless life. Jean-Paul Sartre has said: ‘Man is a useless passion.’ Now my feeling is that Sartre is not very, very logical, otherwise he would have committed suicide. If man is a useless passion, if there is no meaning in it, if life is meaninglessness, then why go on living? Why think of tomorrow – that you would like to exist tomorrow? That is very irrational. If nothing is going to happen, if nothing has ever happened, if nothing happens in the very reality, then why go on living? Why go on eating and why go on sleeping and getting up again and again? It is nauseating. Another book of Sartre’s is Nausea. But it seems it is still philosophical, he has not taken it existentially – otherwise suicide would be the logical conclusion to the philosophy. Beware. These possibilities are in you too. If you become too logical, madness or suicide or both will be the conclusion. That’s why I teach you love not logic, feeling not reasoning, heart not mind. Then life has such beauty, such beatitude, such joy, that one cannot contain it. It is so much, it is so over-flowing, so overwhelming. You ask me: Ayn Rand, the originator of objectivism philosophy, went mad and committed suicide. How could this happen to such a rare, logical mind? I say ’Precisely. ’ -Osho From Sufis: The People of the Path, Vol. 2, Chapter Ten - - - ***For the record: Ayn Rand in fact, and in real life, did not commit suicide. Ayn Rand died of heart failure, on March 6, 1982, in New York City. For some reason the creator of this piece wanted to make it seem that way. I assume to make some kind of point. But that's another story altogether I suppose... So here's to hoping you just enjoyed the text for what it was and the thoughts it provokes!!! - - - [url=http://o-meditation.com/2012/05/18/for-ayn-rand-there-was-no-mystery-osho/]Click Here For Link To Source Website[/url]

nysalor
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July 19, 2012

Deftones You may have done better by simply asking the question: pasting long dodgy mini-essays centred on minor cult leaders is not a very effective way of raising such issues. People a lot more competent and respected than Rand have looked at the issue in far more cogent ways. At base though, your question doesn't scan for two reasons. Firstly, mystery and questioning are basic to intelligence, to conscious cognition. We wouldn't be human if we didn't ask questions. Nor would we be human if we didn't cling to the arbitrary answers we create through religion, mythology and philosophy. Secondly, every movie asks questions, and a good percentage of them ask big questions, consciously and clearly, often with less clumsiness and banality than Prometheus. Here, for example is a quote from Stanley Kubrick, who tackled in Space Odyssey the twin themes of machine/human/god and indifference of the universe while Scott was still making nappy ads. "The most terrifying fact about the universe is not that it is hostile but that it is indifferent; but if we can come to terms with this indifference and accept the challenges of life within the boundaries of death — however mutable man may be able to make them — our existence as a species can have genuine meaning and fulfillment. However vast the darkness, we must supply our own light." We make our own light.

sukkal
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July 19, 2012

@joeyjoe I'm not uninformed on Ayn Rand, I just find Gore Vidal’s "summary" of her philosophy rather spot on. AND: ~~~~ quoting from the link I previously posted ~~~~ ...What Vidal could not have known in 1961 was that Ayn Rand’s ultimate lesson would be, [i]“Do as I say, not as I do.”[/i] At the end of her life, suffering from lung cancer as a result of a two-pack-a-day nicotine addiction, Rand quietly renounced her philosophy of selfish self-reliance. According to the Oral History of Ayn Rand by Scott McConnell, founder of the media department at the Ayn Rand Institute, after the American capitalist medical system had wiped her out financially, she used her married name, Ann O’Connor, to [u]apply for and receive[/u] Social Security and Medicare. Yes, in the end, when Ayn Rand found herself in the unfortunate position of those she’d built a philosophy, not to mention a career, castigating — when it was she who was elderly, broke and ill — she availed herself of the crown jewels of American socialism. Vidal concluded his Esquire “Comment” with a warning that in retrospect seems to presage the rise of her cult at the core of the American empire. [i]“Ayn Rand’s ‘philosophy,’”[/i] he wrote, [i]“is nearly perfect in its immorality,[/i] which makes the size of her audience all the more ominous and symptomatic as we enter a curious new phase in our society. Moral values are in flux. The muddy depths are being stirred by new monsters and witches from the deep. Trolls walk the American night. Caesars are stirring in the Forum. There are storm warnings ahead.” ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ She was a human being, but not one I have very much admiration for. She only cared about others of her own ilk, and [u]that[/u] when it was convenient for her... She was happy to sit at the top of the pyramid, abhorring all of those whose backs were broken in the process of building it so that she could have a view from on high.

RSAND
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July 20, 2012

I became angry because I was personally attacked without ever having done so on this site at any time. I will never take that from anyone and was merely trying to make a point not provoke anyone into an argument. It's very easy to attack someone while sitting behind a keyboard. It is insulting and stupid to castigate a poster for an opinion which is what my posts were. I stand by my opinion of Ayn Rand and her mistreatment of those in need. Can we please get back to Prometheus and off politics???

Rubirosa
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July 20, 2012

Im sorry @RSAND but sometimes a film like Prometheous will bring all types of questions to this site. The movie itself is about humanity. But we as humans sometimes want to add our own point of view. That point of view sometimes is embedded in politics, science or religion. We cannot escape that.

EddieTheBarsteward
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December 19, 2012

Bizarre - Deftones - or should that be Mouch writes a lie and bases his hate-speech diatribe on it, has he read any of Rand's work and posted ironically or is he just an example of all she railed against throughout her life?

For Ayn Rand There Was No Mystery

deftones1986

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