Ayn Rand - Atlas Shrugged

What can I say?

Phenomenal. Off the hook. Mind-popping.

This book is pure CRACK... It's THAT GOOD.

The plot is pretty straightforward -- all the prime movers of the world (the captains of industry, scientists, artists, and even top manual labourers) are deciding to walk off the job. The metaphor being that Atlas, the figure from Greek mythology who holds the world on his shoulders, decides that he's going to drop the ball.

Atlas Shrugged is a book that's read by all sorts of high profile people (eg: Warren Buffet) as well as angst-ridden teenagers looking to find themselves.

At it's best, it offers tremendous insight into topics like...:
-Mastery over your physical reality
-Having your own values and standards
-Seeing past the standards and norms of the past
-Walking through the world with ease and competence
-Not being a victim or expecting handouts from anyone
-The joy and appreciation for that which you've EARNED
-Using your rational judgement instead of looking to mysticism
-How self-esteem is correlated mastery over your physical reality

The book is 1200-1500 pages (depending on the edition), and believe it or not, the size of the book is a selling point.

It means you're wrapped up in Ayn Rand's pseudo objectivist world for an extended period of time, and that the ideas are hammered into your head until they're internalized.

Think of it like having the needle in your arm for a few bonus rounds... Oh yes, it's soooo yum for your brain.

Now before you jump on this book (as many people do), understand that YES, I "get it" that a lot about this book is...:
-Melodramatic
-Oversimplified
-Circular and question begging
-Encouraging an unhealthy suppression of one's emotions
-Assuming an unrealistic level of integrity in laissez-faire capitalism
-Wooden (characters all sound the same -- although I think it gives it a secret society "competence recognizes competence" type feel)

Ayn Rand's ex-boyfriend Nathaniel Branden, a very intelligent dude who was basically tarred-and-feathered and ex-communicated by Ayn Rand after she caught him messing around behind her back (haaa!!), has also written about how people read themselves into a trance of delusion by taking this book too seriously -- www.http://www.nathanielbranden.com/catalog/rand.php#

So...

All that said, why am I recommending this book so highly?

Well first off, I wouldn't be surprised if Real Social Dynamics has even more people who who misinterpret our stuff and take it too seriously than Ayn Rand does.

It just goes with the territory -- it's the same with Tony Robbins or anything that's written by an author who communicates with a high level of certainty and passion for the material...

There will always be the sheep-like masses who gravite mindlessly towards the "certainty" they feel emanating from it, and who wind up turning-off the intelligent people who associate the audience with the philosophy even if they've never actually given it a fair reading.

Whatever...

This book is just so phenomenally intuitive.

Look past the cult-of-personality and find the value -- it's SATURATED.

I don't want to give away the plot here (very entertaining), so just to say what I like about it --

Atlas Shrugged breaks down the psychology of achievement versus the psychology of the victim on a level of detail I've never seen.

It has phenomenal descriptions of what it means to be truly competent and "walk through the world with ease."

The characters carry themselves with a sense of purpose and total conviction in the power of their own reason (as opposed to social conditioning).

More than anything, as a guy who dedicates his life to creating excellence, it gives you a feeling of "Yes, somebody GETS what I'm going through here..."

The general themes of the book are EXCELLENCE, COMPETENCE, and FOLLOWING YOUR OWN PURPOSE.

It's entertaining, sucks you in, and even after 1500 pages it leaves you wanting more.

I've also read that both Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie are huge fans of Ayn Rand and are gunning to play the roles of John Galt and Dagny Taggart in a possible movie release.

In spite of the individualist theme, both are tremendously active (as in -- they WALK THE TALK) in terms of humanitarian issues.

I've got to give this book a perfect 10 out of 10 in terms of "self actualization" value.

Go out and read it... Just do it... NOW.

Seriously. It will change your life.


Tyler