An Informal Proof That Ayn Rand Was A Dipshit & "Objectivism" Has Always Been Totally Out To Lunch:
Premise I: Objectivism posits that rational self-interest is the highest goal one could ever aspire to serve.
Premise II: Rational self-interest includes the biological imperative - in other words maximizing the proliferation & survival of one's genetic code.
Premise III: The proliferation & survival of one's genetic code is inhibited/threatened by competition.
[continues]
Premise IV: Competition can be split into two subsets: competition for mates and competition for resources (ie food/water). Any reproductively capable organism of the same species and same sex can be considered a competitor for mates; most other macroscopic non-photosynthetic organisms can be considered competitors for resources.
Now for the fun part.
Inference I (see PII/PIII): Rational self-interest would dictate that one minimize competition inasmuch as it is possible to do so.
Inference II: Objectivism therefore encourages minimizing competition.
The problem:
Minimizing competition (for mates) would entail minimizing the number of reproductively capable individuals of the same species+sex, & (for resources) would entail minimizing the # of (most) macroscopic non-photosynthetic organisms.
In other words, Rand's "Objectivism" would encourage each individual to - if feasible - sterilize or kill all other individuals of the same sex & eliminate most wildlife.
Yikes 🤯
@IrelandTorin
The fact that non “neurotypical” phenotypes are extremely common demonstrates that we have not survived by the absolute strongest eliminating competition. We’ve thrived because we can cooperate in ways that allow us to take advantage of traits that are disadvantageous enough to be called “disorders” (by those neurotypical people with their obsessive need for conformity) but which allow different problems to be solved in different ways by different brains.
@MerionFriends I know - you're totally correct, and that's actually kinda my point.
The whole thing was a reductio ad absurdum meant to bash / ridicule "Objectivism"; rational *self-*interest is completely unconcerned with the well-being of the human race as a whole... it's only concerned with the well-being of oneself and - thanks to the biological imperative - one's descendants.
The fact that humanity's success depends on non-uniformity reinforces the absurdity of the conclusion.