[deepdowntruth]

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Anytime I've gotten into conversations with people that adhere to Rand's Objectivism philosophy, it seem that I'm talking to someone devoutly religious. I was wondering if others have had this experience? OR - if you are an Objectivist (uh hum, jthegreat), then what are your thoughts? I don't know any Objectivists personally, so I don't know their background. But, it seems to me to be very "religious", in the sense that the followers seem very devout, and almost brainwashed. I don't mean to offend... it's just my perception based on a few online conversations I've had.

(PS: I have read a bit about Objectivism, and to me, it seems valid on the surface, but the deeper you go, the more weird it becomes.)

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I've been studying Ayn Rand's philosophy for over 10 years, consider myself an Objectivist, and majored in philosophy at a large, reputable university.

I agree that some of those who call themselves Objectivists can remind me of religious people. I've thought about this phenomenon a lot myself, trying to identify exactly what it is that I am seeing in these people.

To an observer, many Objectivsts, exhibit behavior that is strikingly similar to that of a religious nut, namely, passionate certainty about claims they are unable to explain.

What is actually operating here is something like the following: 1.) People tend read Ayn Rand when they are very young (16-22), thus the fervor or passion that a certain segment of young people bring to abstract philosophical questions. 2.) While they have read Ayn Rand and agree with what they are reading while they are reading it , they haven't internalized the content and logic of it to a degree that allows them to properly explain it while they aren't reading it. So they are often certain of what they are saying, but when it comes time to explaining their reasoning, they forget what it is--but at the time they are reading and thinking about it, it makes absolute perfect sense.

What you are observing are people relatively new to Ayn Rand's ideas who are stirred by them. This is not a particularly good sample to draw your generalizations from, though there's no way you could know that.

(Incidentally, the phenomenon above is not restricted to Objectivism. Almost any new intellectual movement will attract or engender such people. The pragmatism of Peirce, James, and Dewey; the existentialism of Heidegger and Sartre; the mathematical and logical approach to poker a la Sklansky and Malmuth, etc. All of these movements, when they were new, attracted followers both thinking and unthinking as any new intellectual movement is sure to do.)

Of course, there is another factor that could be operating here. Some people think that certainty and secularism are incompatible, and therefore anyone making claims they are certain about most be making a "leap of faith", i.e. akin to religion. Obviously I'm going to reject this claim, but I haven't the slightest idea why (just kidding, but I can elaborate if you wish).

You'll find three kinds of older Objectivists: 1.) Those who never get beyond that first stage and slowly drift away (usually becoming Libertarians); 2.) Those who never get behond that first stage and become more fervent with each passing year (usually because of some pre-existing psychological pre-disposition to such behavior, too smart to fall for religion, but applying its logic and methodology to a secular content); and, 3.) Those who continue to study the philosophy, make it their own, and calm down. (Hopefully, I fall into the third category.)