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I once though myself an Objectivist and had great respect for Ayn Rand. However, I kept coming into conflict with other Objectivist, mostly over aesthetic judgements. Later, I began to find that many Objectivists seemed to be very intolerant of ideas which run contrary to their world picture. The main points of contention for me were:
Jazz - I was told that many of the styles I liked (namely Cool, Hard Bop, and Post Bop from the 50's and 60's) were nothing more than noise and sqwalking. I was also told that I would probably "grow out of it" as I learned more about Objectivism. Classical and Opera seemed to be the 'correct' music.
Literature - 1.) I mentioned that the Kafka story Metamorphosis was very reminisent of Objectivist themes. I was shouted down in a vicious tirade. 2.) I am very fond of the writings of HP Lovecraft and his circle. I was told that these stories were the worst sort of mystic anti-rational drivel. This reflected badly on my standing with the other O'ists.
One last thing that distanced me from Rand and Objectivism was idea of having to formulate a moral justification for being nice to other people. I felt like I had to perform serious mental gymnastics (at least within the O'ist theoretical framework) to justify my desire to do occational nice things for other people (like buy an ice cream for a friend at the park or stopping to help a stranded motorist). I had a hard time reconcilling these actions with Objectivist theory.
However, I do like to argue and if y'all don't mind, I'd like to post in either the QA board or the Disenters board from time to time. And even if I am not really an Objectivist I still do appreciate the heroic sense of man that Ayn Rand advocated.
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