Introduction

I’m trying to read Atlas Shrugged.

Some background: I’m a liberal American Jew. I have a PhD in Computer Science from one of the country’s top schools, and my day job is teaching at a small liberal-arts school in the Pacific Northwest. My specialties are Artificial Intelligence and Bioinformatics. I certainly have my political biases—which lean heavily leftward—but I’m not a party-line Democrat. (In fact, I’m currently registered as an independent.) Starting in 1996 (when I was first eligible to vote for president), I’ve gone Nader-Nader-Kerry-Obama-Obama.

So why the bloody hell am I reading Ayn Rand? Well, I’ve read so much about her, and there’s no debating her influence. Frequently, I would argue against her positions. But, one of my friends—who’s a big Rand fan—called me on it. How can I argue about her if I’ve never read her? She had a very good point. I am, first and foremost, a scientist and a teacher. If someone is able to argue to me, rationally, why I should believe a certain thing, I’d like to believe that I will change my mind. In fact, my ethics require it. So a year ago, I picked up Atlas Shrugged, and started trying to read it.

But it’s not easy going. It’s so dense, and the characters frequently just start ranting and pontificating for no discernible reason. Hence, this blog. This is here to let me organize my thoughts. Not all of it will be coherent; it’s a work in progress, and will be done in a stream-of-consciousness manner. There will be very little editing. Maybe other people will read it, and maybe they won’t. But, ultimately, I hope that I’ll be able to put together a cogent argument, about what I will come to believe from my own experience about the works of Ayn Rand.