Episode 48 - Ayn Rand: Is There a Value to Being Totally Selfish?

"If thinking is the most important thing you have, then what you want to feed to your machine, that does the thinking, are facts - not lies. Lies are distortions, anti-facts; they disrupt the function of the human mind. [...] The idea of a post-truth era would be her [Ayn Rand's] idea of the end of the world." -Dr. Yaron Brook, Director of the Ayn Rand Institute Ayn Rand. As you read that name, half of you are thinking about Fountainhead or Atlas Shrugged and how much it changed your life and the other half has already stopped listening. But regardless of your views, it’s undeniable that as a philosopher, Rand has left an enduring mark on the world. Her philosophy of objectivism preaches something called rational self-interest which maintains that as individuals we are innately selfish beings and that selfishness, however counterintuitive this might sound at first, should be the highest value of our morality. Sacrifice, in her opinion, is evil. But before we mislead you anymore about the philosophy of Ayn Rand, let us introduce Dr. Yaron Brook. Dr. Brook is the Director of the Ayn Rand Institute in Irvine California and he joins us today to talk about Ayn Rand, her life and philosophy.