Pretty much everyone here has commitments outside OT. So what? You set up this thread and you are dodging important questions, and ignoring information that runs counter to your arguments. Nothing less than I would have expected.jimkabrhel
Yes, I set up a Q&A thread as a favour to those interested in learning about Objectivism. I am doing this by my own volition and I am not under any obligation to do more than I want to, so to complain about me not doing even more than I already am is absurd. That is just the typical liberal entitlement complex. I would go on, but I have more questions that I am interested in answering.There are severely autistic people who can't speak and spend all day hitting themselves. What about them?Â
What's wrong with altruism? As a minarchist, I see nothing wrong with helping others so long as it's voluntary.scoots9
You are missing my point about autism. Autism is not a well-defined disorder with explicit standards that must be met before there is diagnosis. It is a blanket term applied to people who cannot or do not socialize according to societal conventions. The process of a "professional" diagnosing someone with autism is a subjective judgement rather than an objective determination.That is actually true of most mental "disorders". Mental disorder labels are always applied to people to who are different from the norm, because they are different from the norm. The question of whether their difference makes them superior to the norm is not even considered. A genius with an IQ of 180 is labeled as an autistic savant who can barely function. He is considered mentally disabled. It is never considered that perhaps it is the 100 IQ cretins who cannot function according to his superior standards.
Modern psychology is a populist pseudoscience, and nothing more. It consists of theories designed to persecute those who are different from the norm. It takes for granted that the average is the ideal, without ever considering the question of "why?" Of course there are people with legitimate mental impairments, but when a term such as "autism" is applied equally to the mentally handicapped and to the geniuses, it ceases to have any meaning.
As for your second question, an act of altruism is an act of self-immolation. It is self-sacrifice for the well-being of another. It is a symptom of an absence of self-esteem, and a lack of value for your own life. It is fine to help others, depending on the circumstances. If you help someone you admire to do something that furthers your values and interests, then that is fine. In such a case your helping that person is an act of self-interest rather than altruism. An example of altruism would be giving $5 to a bum just because he asked. You do not know anything about him other than the fact that his life has been a failure, but you sacrifice a portion of your finances to him without asking questions because you live on the assumption that those $5 are better spent furthering his interests, regardless of what they are, than your own. That is immoral.
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