I write about systems — technical and human. Building high-signal spaces for #philosophy, #infrastructure, and crative rigor with a focus on clarity and intentional architecture.
#AynRand’s original introduction to The Virtue of Selfishness is now online—and it directly contradicts most of the claims people make about her #ethics. If your picture of Rand comes from social media threads, YouTube rants, or second-hand “hot takes,” this is the text that breaks the spell: https://courses.aynrand.org/works/introduction-to-virtue-of-selfishness/
Let’s clear out the biggest straw men right away:
❌ “Rand said selfishness means hurting people.” No. She argues that rational self‑interest forbids coercion, exploitation, and parasitism. Predators aren’t “selfish”—they’re short‑range, self‑destructive, and irrational.
❌ “It’s just an excuse to do whatever you want.” She draws a hard boundary between whim and #reason. Her ethics demands long‑range thinking, integrity, and principled action — the opposite of impulse.
❌ “#Objectivism celebrates cruelty.” The introduction explicitly rejects cruelty as irrational. Benevolence is not only compatible with #egoism—it’s a natural expression of a rational, confident person.
❌ “Rand denies moral principles.” She denies sacrifice as a moral ideal. She does not deny #morality. She argues for a code rooted in reality, reason, and the requirements of human life.
If you want to understand the argument instead of the mythology, read the primary source—it’s short, sharp, and surprisingly accessible.
I’m a platform engineer pivoting from 30 years in #Perl to #Go, #Kubernetes, and #AWS. I write about systems thinking, career transitions, and production engineering at https://PhoenixTrap.com
I’m an #Objectivist—principles aren’t aspirations, they’re requirements. When reality and principle conflict, you change reality. I write about consciousness, identity, and the work of crossing the boundary between theory and practice at https://TheBeautifulPrison.com.
#AynRand’s original introduction to The Virtue of Selfishness is now online—and it directly contradicts most of the claims people make about her #ethics. If your picture of Rand comes from social media threads, YouTube rants, or second-hand “hot takes,” this is the text that breaks the spell: https://courses.aynrand.org/works/introduction-to-virtue-of-selfishness/
Let’s clear out the biggest straw men right away:
❌ “Rand said selfishness means hurting people.” No. She argues that rational self‑interest forbids coercion, exploitation, and parasitism. Predators aren’t “selfish”—they’re short‑range, self‑destructive, and irrational.
❌ “It’s just an excuse to do whatever you want.” She draws a hard boundary between whim and #reason. Her ethics demands long‑range thinking, integrity, and principled action — the opposite of impulse.
❌ “#Objectivism celebrates cruelty.” The introduction explicitly rejects cruelty as irrational. Benevolence is not only compatible with #egoism—it’s a natural expression of a rational, confident person.
❌ “Rand denies moral principles.” She denies sacrifice as a moral ideal. She does not deny #morality. She argues for a code rooted in reality, reason, and the requirements of human life.
If you want to understand the argument instead of the mythology, read the primary source—it’s short, sharp, and surprisingly accessible.
I’m a platform engineer pivoting from 30 years in #Perl to #Go, #Kubernetes, and #AWS. I write about systems thinking, career transitions, and production engineering at https://PhoenixTrap.com
I’m an #Objectivist—principles aren’t aspirations, they’re requirements. When reality and principle conflict, you change reality. I write about consciousness, identity, and the work of crossing the boundary between theory and practice at https://TheBeautifulPrison.com.
Four #stories: an #LLM trapped in vintage hardware, #vampires learning restraint is #love, forest beings choosing self over dissolution. Two essays on #AI consciousness and honest critical engagement.
TIL that software (especially #scripting runtimes like #Python, #Perl, and #NodeJS) running in #Alpine#Linux containers is often slower than in other distros like #Ubuntu. This is despite Alpine being faster on startup and often vastly more efficient with CPU, memory, and storage.
It mostly comes down to Alpine’s use of musl libc rather than #GNU’s glibc. musl is optimized for minimalism, not raw performance. Also, the Alpine packages are often not compiled with as many optimizations.
Mark Gardner
“Rand said selfishness means hurting people.”
