Objectivism - the misunderstood way of life

It is almost impossible to go through any stage of post-secondary education without coming across at least one person who calls himself (or herself, but most of the time it's himself) an "Objectivist."  "Objectivism" is some kind of philosophy introduced by the American writer Ayn Rand.  You will also find that these self-styled Objectivists will possess at least the Ayn Rand novels like Atlas Shrugged or Fountainhead.  I read neither of them, but I am never a fan for fictions that are more than quarter inch thick.

Ayn Rand believes that selfishness is essential for personal growth, and the potential to achieve the Greater Good through selfishness can be realized through rational perception of reality.  Emotion deviates from rationality, and acting selflessly is the same as acting without purpose.  Both cases lead to sub-optimal outcomes.  So, in a nut shell, Objectivism promotes achieving collective gain through rational thinking while acting in self-interest.

Practitioners of Objectivism often praise its simplicity, unambiguity, and maximization of human nature, rendering highly effective application and adaptation.  What constitutes "rational" and "self-interest" is open to interpretation, however.  From my experience with these so-called Objectivists, whether they are aware or not, "rationality" devolves to "indifference", and "selfishness" is another word for "disrespect".  Quite expectedly, this version of Objectivism typically yields to personal losses at the expense of the Greater Good, hardly what Ayn Rand had originally in mind.

Let me take a real-life examples of what I mean by "common interpretations".  Yuri (to honor Ayn's roots) and I went out to lunch a few times.  Everytime he would eat up about 80% of his orders. Afterwards he would pick a minuscule flaw, then flagged down the waitress to demand either a refund or a replacement.  In questioning his motives, he would say, "I am simply seeing this Objectively [ed.: notice the big "O"].  The fact that I don't like it represents a problem.  I reported the problem and got a new plate served.  Thanks to my vigilance, they are now aware of the problem and they can improve on it.  They should see that I am doing them a favor."  I stopped going to lunch with him.

Another episode of Objectivist abuse came from a former mate of mine from my teenage years.  While we were sitting in a coffee shop, he mentioned Ayn Rand's Objectivist movement.  My then naive self asked him what he meant.  He said, I could earn money by referring someone to buy products that he's selling, and this way we could both win by acting in our self interest.  I ran for cover as soon as I heard him say "AmWay".   He might got the "selfish" part half right, but "rationality" wasn't exactly his selling point, in this case.

Though I don't consider myself Objectivist, I found the same problem as my two acquaintances in my more youthful self.  For instance, going to concerts during those days for me, was an exercise of listening flaws from the performance.  Though I did not always criticize the player(s) openly, it did rob me the ability to appreciate the music.  I was miserable, but the prospect of finding mistakes, so I thought, would make me better at enjoying the "perfect" performance.

In time, I realized two things.  (1), What I perceived as flaws was actually what made each performance unique, and to "correct" these flaws was to destroy the whole notion of art itself.  And (2), I did not gain anything, emotionally or materially, by being critical of the performers.  Later, I came to accept these performances as they were.  I began enjoying the music immensely, and the performers were encouraged by my acceptance.  Both grew from this experience.

This is not to say that one should just "hang loose".  There are times when it is necessary to be rational and critical.  Working on projects is a good example.  All parties have a vested interest to examine their situations and options rationally and critically.  The best solution, however, is one that everybody gains.  This is the goal of the Objectivist approach.