It was only called that once. For 20 minutes. In the 1960s.
Maybe Owen Rand was a sociopath?
Especially because it wasn’t pointed out… oh… about 1000 times before your post. Bravo.
I’d very much like to read more of THIS penthouse letter. Someone with more wit than I, perhaps you, care to volunteer?
Oh, man. Choice. Somebody should start “what if famous writers wrote to Penthouse?”
Fuckin’ Ä Giraffe.
Does it bother anyone here that I visualized a guy riding an emu past a crossing guard and into a school?
- Her name is Atlas like that book by Ian Rand
- Oh Atlas, Atlas dance across the Rio Grande
by Der Rand Der Rand
Did you know that if you covered the Objectivist Ian Rand with salt, you could go to the Yale prom?
Wow. Me, I’m just Drinkin’ Ä Beer.
Kudos.
Ah, it’s a 1920s style Ayn Rand. [sub]ducks[/sub]
Ayn and it’s rhymes with “whine.” You know, kinda like the OP?
And he claims he’s going to be a nurse. shudder
No. Here in America we are trained to respect fantasies of all types, no matter how sick, twisted, and perverted they are.
Emus? Ewww.
Cite?
With a fowl . . .
Actually, it’s “Fucking A. Tucci” as in that scene in Jungle Fever with Wesley Snipes.
You’re confusing someone’s right to think whatever they want with the right to do whatever they want, that’s where you’re going wrong. People have to respect your right to believe that you’re above the rules, but they don’t have to put up with your bullshit when you start acting like you’re above the rules.
See, I can believe that everyone with blond hair and blue eyes is the agent of Satan sent to kill me, and that my only chance of survival is to kill them all. It’s just peachy for me to believe that. It’s not peachy, however, for me to actually go around killing people.
I disagree with this stance… while one has a metaphysical right to believe whatever they want, some beliefs are just wrong. And while, yes, actions are the only things which may really be punished in a civil society, I don’t think we always need to ‘spare the messenger.’
If, for instance, one believed that all blond folks were agents of Satan, the correct course of action would be to get them to a psychologist/psychiatrist asap. And yes, they have the ulimate existential right to believe it, but instances of dangerous beliefs should still be fought.
YMMV.
The question is, if you didn’t change the oil in your emu for 100K miles, would the oil then be fowl? 
We all have to respect cheater and sociopaths. Otherwise they’d fire us.
It should also be pointed out that the primary societal objections to sociopaths are not their ideas, but their behaviors. Those behaviors are, at times discussed and justified with ideas, but the pretty much arise out of an emotional deadness, that won’t allow the sociopath to consider others to be people, but rather complex objects to be manipulated and used. Arguing philosophy with a sociopath is fine but be aware his or her evaluation of the importance and definition of winning the argument are unlikely to be similar to your own.
Of course, you should treat sociopaths with the same respect that you treat all people. Understanding that that attitude is probably not reciprocated is not disrespectful, or unreasonable.
Tris
“The road to truth is long, and lined the entire way with annoying bastards.” ~ Alexander Jablokov ~
To keep this thread on topic, I’ll ask:
Do have to to treat sociopaths as I would Ayn Rand? 'Cause then I get to beat them to death.
{Checks to see what I wrote, or if I was just blathering}
Thanks, mang.
That is an excellent point, CrazyCatLady. Is it really okay for people to think and believe any old thing they want, as long as what they think and believe doesn’t have an impact on anyone else? If our hypothetical sociopath thinks that everyone that thwarts him should die, but he never does anything to anyone else, does that make him a bad person?
(I love the idea of famous writers writing to Penthouse. Can you imagine Stephen King’s version? I think we need Scylla to write that one.)