Changes for SCO

Posted on May 6, 2012 by Jason Stotts

The first 9 months of the SoCal Objectivists has been a great time for both Earl and I. The group has had a lot of enthusiastic support, and we have met a lot of really fun and interesting people here in Southern California. We’ve seen some really great lectures and learned a lot of new things. Now, however, SCO is going to move in a different direction.

Earl is stepping down from his leadership role, in order to direct his time and energies more effectively toward some exciting (and demanding) new career and activism opportunities that have recently presented themselves. Unfortunately, this includes canceling his upcoming talk for SCO. To stay abreast of these developments, Earl urges anyone who is interested to follow his blog, creaturesofprometheus.com.

Also, due to other feedback we’ve had from our members, we’ve also decided to transition to more of a reading group format with only the occasional lecture. Consequently, we’ve decided to cancel the rest of the upcoming lectures and reform SCO into an organization of reading groups (there will still be occasional lectures). The Inland Empire region has had the most robust participation with SCO from the very beginning, and Jason will be continuing the club’s activities there, with a new reading group, which will focus primarily on ethical issues in Objectivism. More information about the SCO-IE group will be announced shortly.

Earl and I want to thank all of our members for their participation and feedback, and we look forward to the continual growth of SCO and our new course.

Sincerely,

Earl Parson and Jason Stotts

April-May Schedule Change

Posted on April 8, 2012 by Earl Parson

Due to some unforeseen circumstances, we are announcing a schedule change and swapping our April/May events.

My lecture on SoCal Modernism and its origins in 19th Century France is postponed until May, taking place on Saturday the 12th at 7:30 pm. The venue will be in L.A. and has yet to be determined.

Our April event will still be this coming Saturday the 14th. Join us for a dinner social in Riverside at The Salted Pig, a restaurant that sounds completely amazing because they put bacon in nearly every dish! WooHoo! They have an interesting menu and a full bar, which you can check out here: http://www.saltedpigriverside.com/

We will meet there between 7-7:30 for an evening of socializing and baconey goodness. They are located at 3700 12th St., Riverside, CA 92501, and their phone number is 951.848.4020.

If you can make it, either RSVP through our Facebook event page here: https://www.facebook.com/events/217062161701285/
or email me directly via earl(at)socalobjectivists(dot)com.

Upcoming Events

Posted on April 3, 2012 by Jason Stotts

April 14th: For our next meeting we’re hosting Earl Parson, Architect, on architecture:

Few people realize that the intellectual origins of today’s Southern California modern architecture can be traced back to the writings of mid 19th Century French architect Eugene Emmanuel Viollet-le-Duc. In this talk, we will explore how Viollet-le-Duc’s search for truth in architecture in 19th Century France influenced Louis Sullivan’s search for an American architecture in late 19th and early 20th Century Chicago. We will then follow the path of these ideas as they were further developed by Sullivan disciples Frank Lloyd Wright and Irving Gill, both of whom helped transplant them to Southern California, where they inspired future generations including Rudolf Schindler, Richard Neutra, and John Lautner. We will examine samples from the writings, drawings, and buildings of all these great artist-architects, tracing the influence of their ideas and buildings across the generations and continents.

May 12th: For May we’re having a Spring Social! Come and meet other Objectivists in the area and share a good meal and fun night. (Details TBA)

June 9th: We’re hosting Craig Biddle, the Editor-in-Chief of The Objective Standard, to give a talk on living purposefully. (Location TBA, Orange County)

Objectivism holds that one’s success in life depends on one’s choosing and achieving three cardinal values: reason, purpose, and self-esteem. While much has been said about reason and self-esteem, relatively little has been said about purpose. What exactly is this value? How does one embrace it? What does it mean to live purposefully? This lecture examines the nature and importance of purpose, surveying its place in the Objectivist ethics, its role in both motivation and thinking, its relationship to the virtues, and potential misconceptions of the value (such as the error of freezing “purpose” at the level of “central purpose” or “career”) which can retard one’s life. The lecture aims to expand one’s understanding of this vital concept and thus to enhance one’s ability to live fully selfishly.

Meeting #7: Andrew Zey on “Music as a Natural Language System”

Posted on March 8, 2012 by Jason Stotts

Just a reminder that the next meeting of the SoCal Objectivists is coming up on Saturday! The meeting is March 10th at 7:30pm at the China Palace Restaurant (13444 Newport Ave, Tustin, CA 92780).

Andrew Zey will be presenting ”Music as a Natural Language System,” where he will argue that music is an objective system of expressing and communicating emotions that can be understood rationally. He will also discuss the shortcomings of several other popular views. (see more)

Please make sure you RSVP to the event so that we can make an accurate reservation at the restaurant. You can RSVP by emailing Earl [Earl(at)socalobjectivists.com], sending him a tweet (Earl3D), or RSVPing via our Facebook event.

Meeting #7: Andrew Zey on “Music as a Natural Language System”

Posted on February 26, 2012 by Jason Stotts

Just a reminder that meeting #7 is coming up in just two weeks!

In the 20th century, Abstract Modernism has affected all of the arts with its core value of subjectivism, which distorted the objective basis of esthetic judgement. Literature was impacted the least, fine art was substantially impacted, and classical music has been completely dominated by it.

As the late philosopher Ayn Rand observed in her work, The Romantic Manifesto: “Until a conceptual vocabulary is discovered and defined, no objectively valid criterion of esthetic judgment is possible in the field of music.”

This presentation titled “Music as a Natural Language System” by Andrew Zey will seek to refute the prevalent view that music is abstract and subjective, and provide a framework for understanding music as an objective system of idioms designed to express and communicate emotions.

Andrew will provide a historical and scientific perspective on the questions of what music is, and what functions it serves. Music will be presented as an important evolutionary device that has shaped human culture. New scientific evidence will be presented that establishes the physiological ground for emotions, and what impact music has on them.

This talk is great for anyone who is interested in music and understanding the profound impact it has on people’s lives. Hopefully this stimulating presentation will provide you with a framework for reevaluating and understanding your musical preferences. The talk will be accompanied by audio and visual aids, and no prerequisite knowledge in music is required. Be sure to invite all family and friends.

Andrew Zey is CEO of Braavo Enterprises, a Los Angeles based business that conducts several classical music programs, including the Synergo Music Method. The Synergo Music Method is an idiomatic, language-based approach to teaching music and piano. For more information, please visit http://braavo.org/.

Please see our Facebook event for more details: https://www.facebook.com/events/275385185844436/

Meeting #6: Jason Stotts on Love, Sex, Relationships, and Happiness

Posted on February 9, 2012 by Jason Stotts

Just a reminder that the next meeting of the SoCal Objectivists is coming up on Saturday! The meeting is February 11th at 7:30pm at the Punjab Palace Restaurant (10359 Magnolia Avenue, Riverside, CA). Jason Stotts, of the blog Erosophia, will be presenting a lecture on the importance of Love, Sex, and Relationships for Happiness and will present an in-depth way to understand these issues and their interconnections. The lecture will be followed by a Q&A on any questions related to the talk or to sex, love, and relationships more generally.

Meeting #6: Jason Stotts on Love, Sex, Relationships, and Happiness

Posted on January 28, 2012 by Jason Stotts

Our sixth meeting is coming up in just two weeks! It will be on Saturday February 11th at 7:30 in Riverside. Jason Stotts will present his lecture: “Love, Sex, Relationships, and Happiness.” Following dinner, there will be a Q&A where he will field questions from attendees on any issues related to love, sex, relationships, happiness, emotions, etc.

Please RSVP for the event by Thursday February 9th through the Facebook event page or by emailing Earl at Earl(at)SoCalObjectivists.com.

Also, please do bring questions and come prepared for a rousing lecture and discussion.

Another Chance to See the Atlas Shrugged Documentary

Posted on January 23, 2012 by Earl Parson

By the time we announced it the other week, or shortly thereafter, the Arclight Hollywood screening of the documentary Ayn Rand and the Prophecy of Atlas Shrugged was sold out.

Fortunately, there are several theaters across SoCal screening it again, this Thursday evening, the 26th. There will be screenings in Anaheim, Buena Park, Cathedral City, Downey, Monrovia, Poway, Redlands, San Clemente, San Diego, and Vista. You can get more info about theater locations and times at http://atlasshrugged-thedoc.com/.

I am definitely going to take advantage of the opportunity to see it, and will likely end up at either the Downey or Monrovia screening. If anyone wants to meet up and make a SoCal O’ists event of it, leave a comment below and let’s coordinate!

Ayn Rand and the Prophecy of Atlas Shrugged

Posted on January 15, 2012 by Jason Stotts

Just a heads-up for anyone in the group who is interested:

There is an upcoming screening of Chris Mortensen’s documentary Ayn Rand and the Prophecy of Atlas Shrugged. It will be screened (one time only) on Tuesday January 17 in LA at the Arclight Theatre (6360 W Sunset Blvd Los Angeles, California 90028) and the event will include a panel with Yaron Brook and others. More info can be found on atlasshruggeddocumentary.com.

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Synopsis:

Ayn Rand & the Prophecy of Atlas Shrugged is a feature length documentary film that examines the resurging interest in Ayn Rand’s epic and controversial 1957 novel and the validity of its dire prediction for America.

Set in what novelist and philosopher Rand called ‘the day after tomorrow,’ Atlas depicts an America in crisis, brought to her knees by a corrupt establishment of government regulators and businessmen with political pull – the ‘looters’ and the ‘moochers’ – who prey on individual achievement.

Less a conventional work of fiction than a philosophical manifesto in the form of a romantic novel, over the course of a thousand-plus pages, Atlas tackles no less an essential argument than the one debated by philosophers and theologians since time immemorial: altruism vs. self-interest. Am I my brother’s keeper – or not? For Ayn Rand, the answer is an emphatic no. To Rand and the disciples of her Objectivist philosophy, self-sacrifice is as heinous an act as murder…murder of the soul.

Upon publication, Atlas Shrugged was widely scorned by critics for its ‘preposterous’ plot and one-dimensional characters. Intellectuals and academics from across the ideological spectrum roundly dismissed the new and original philosophy called ‘Objectivism’ that Rand so compellingly illustrated in the novel.

Despite this pummeling, Atlas became a best seller and has remained in print ever selling a healthy 75,000 or so copies each year. Then with the new century, sales began to increase dramatically. In 2007, its fiftieth anniversary year, Atlas sold a record 180,000 copies. Since then Atlas Shrugged – published over a half century ago – has sold over a million copies.

Why? Because – as evidenced by pointed and frequent references to Rand and Atlas Shrugged in the media – an increasing number of Americans – right or wrong – see their society devolving into a nightmare scenario like the one Rand projected over a half century ago.

Ayn Rand & the Prophecy of Atlas Shrugged looks into Rand’s background for the ideas and philosophy that inspired and shaped her novel and seeks to determine whether America is indeed headed for the disastrous outcome she predicted.

Meeting #5: Alex Epstein Q&A

Posted on January 2, 2012 by Jason Stotts

Just a reminder that the next meeting of the SoCal Objectivists is coming up soon! The meeting is January 14th at 7:30pm at the China Palace Restaurant (13444 Newport Ave, Tustin, CA 92780). We’re hosting Alex Epstein, former Ayn Rand Institute fellow and founder of the Center for Industrial Progress, for a Q&A on Objectivism and his work on Energy.

Also, make sure you come prepared to ask Alex questions!