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Post 0

Wednesday, February 14, 2007 - 6:08amSanction this postReply
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Just as a supplement, these topics had lower numbers and did not even make the cut to the poll:

Psychology (1,300)
Economics (102)

See also the discussion at

http://rebirthofreason.com/Forum/GeneralForum/1004.shtml


Post 1

Wednesday, February 14, 2007 - 10:06amSanction this postReply
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Luke, consider the low score on psychology good news. Unless of course you want to spend an evening with someone that considers it a virtue, that 10 years ago they graduated magna cum laude - - from the Betty Ford clinic.

 

George

(Edited by George W. Cordero on 2/14, 10:07am)


Post 2

Wednesday, February 14, 2007 - 10:45amSanction this postReply
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That was funny and insightful, George.  Thanks for posting.

Speaking of humor, I got this e-mail today from someone in PROPEL™ Illinois:

I can't imagine how I got on THIS list!...I reject Ayn Rand and her selfish, right-wing philosophy!
 
...In other words...I will NOT be at the meetup...Please take me off your list.

I removed this person as requested and replied:

Done!  Please exercise greater care in the future regarding your registration for various topics within Meetup.


Post 3

Wednesday, February 14, 2007 - 12:42pmSanction this postReply
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One topic that did not occur to me until just now is:

Ethics (1,346)


Post 4

Wednesday, February 14, 2007 - 11:12pmSanction this postReply
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I voted for Book Clubs.

Books rule.

;-)

Ed

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Post 5

Thursday, February 15, 2007 - 11:47amSanction this postReply
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Luke,
   
I think the search terms indicate a strong interest from people who are idealists.  I think most eveyone who subscribes to objectivism is an idealist at one level or another.  If you look at the list , really, it boils down to two subjects: they are either about how to improve your life (making money) or how to improve yourself (self help and philosophy).  Lastly, I think the list shows the the particular idealists that are attracted to objectivism are either agonostics or athiests.  People who are religious tend to be immediately turned off by objectivism based on it's athiest premise which causes them to discount everything that goes with it too.
   
So our target market is an idealistic athiest.  Which is perfect for us to becuase that's exactly the audience that we want and the people we want to associate with.  Given this, I think we should definitely add terms relating to: 
  
>   "PERSONAL GROWTH" 
>   "SELF-HELP",  
>   "SELF IMPROVEMENT"
>   "ENLIGHTENMENT"
>   "ENTREPRENUERSHIP"
       
People come to objectivist clubs becuase they have been enticed and want to go further.  But because they are athiests and agnostics, it usually also means that they don't want to become ingrained and dogmatic but merely that they have found a premise for living their lives and want to expose themselves to similar trains of thought to help them live a better life and help them strive for human perfectibility.  I think it would be helpful if we add the aboved terms and also focused discussions to help members improve their lives in the areas of personal growth and business rather than continue in circles on the same race track.  We can use objectivism as our basis for philosophy, but I think we also need to give people practical tools and practical knowledge that they can use to make their lives better and to understand the human experience more. 

This would also make ROR very unique from other objectivist clubs because then objectivism would only be merely a portion of what we discuss and personal growth and business another aspect.  We go from a purely philosophical premise to a also include practical approaches to obtaining and becoming more.  It would be like a practical "how to" approach to objectivism rather than just a philosophical approach.  That is just my $.02.  Let me know your thoughts.
   
Will



Post 6

Friday, February 16, 2007 - 5:41amSanction this postReply
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This feedback has been very helpful.  Interestingly, it has made me re-think how to approach atheists and freethinkers.  In other words, as Will noted, people interested in Objectivism tend to want to improve their own conditions.  They value themselves most highly and embrace the virtue of self-reliance.  Many self-styled atheists and freethinkers still embrace altruism a la the secular humanist movement.

Robert Davison has suggested in the past that the best approach to introducing new people to Objectivism relies on challenging altruistic ethics rather than supernatural metaphysics.  Show a man that his own life is his own highest value, and that he can achieve that value through his own reasoning, and his emotional need for "Santa God" -- or "Nanny State" -- or "Mother Earth" -- dissipates.  This "inside out" approach starts at the deepest spiritual level of the soul (self) and then works outward through emotions (self-esteem), mind (reason), and body (purpose).  See my recent article about the PROPEL(TM) brochure and download the PDF file to see the graphic representation of this approach.

Meetup members interested in the Entrepreneurs, Book Clubs and Self-Improvement topics, I think, all implicitly grasp this need for self-motivation and independent thinking more than do many Atheists and Agnostic types who are simply angry at religion.  I had suspected this for a while, but the poll results corroborate my own suspicions.


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Post 7

Friday, February 16, 2007 - 11:39amSanction this postReply
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Based on these poll results, I have updated my Meetup with new secondary topics and reflected these in the "About Us" page at

http://aynrand.meetup.com/12/about/

Please take a look and comment.


Post 8

Friday, February 16, 2007 - 9:29pmSanction this postReply
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Hey Luke, your Meetup page looks good. I found this part really catchy ...

=============
... the "Five Rs" of Ayn Rand's monumental philosophy of Objectivism:


* Reality in metaphysics
* Reason in epistemology
* Rational Egoism in ethics
* Rights in politics
* Romantic Realism in esthetics
=============

... did you come up with the Five Rs?

Ed

Post 9

Saturday, February 17, 2007 - 5:22amSanction this postReply
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No, that comes from the notes to Gary Hull's online audio lecture on Objectivism at the ARI Web site.  I use it in the club brochure, too.

Post 10

Sunday, March 18, 2007 - 9:31amSanction this postReply
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I scanned the Townhall Meetup groups list yesterday and it has many, many interested people -- over 20,000.  I would have to wonder how interested they really are in Ayn Rand, however.  In addition, PROPEL(TM) aims more at helping members to cultivate good character to live a good life.  By contrast, Townhall seems primarily focused on political activism.  But I wanted to post a blurb about this in case someone could make a good argument otherwise.

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