In response to my comment on a student's email "signature" which quoted from Ann Rand's "Atlas Shrugged" (see below)
You wrote >>>>
Dr. Lowery:
Thank you so much for answering my letter. I'm very grateful, and it has focused my studying.
Glad to hear that you're an Atlas Shrugged fan. What do you think about The Fountainhead? I've found throughout the semester by listening to you...and also by your "You will find, when you die, that that part of yourself which you gave to others does not die with you" quote that you and I have some very similar philosophical views about life, etc. Your liking of Atlas Shrugged just buttressed that hypothesis of mine. Through your years, have you read any other books in particular that you would highly recommend? Any recommendations for a book for winter break? A galfriend of mine and I are planning on reading Kerouac's On the Road over the break and then get together and discuss it when we get back. But, I'll surely have time for some other books too. Any ideas?
Also, kinda curious if you just liked Atlas Shrugged or if you like Rand's ideology as a whole? I take bits and parts of it and apply it to my life <self-reliance, inner strength, confidence, etc.> but I tend to not adhere too strongly to her ideas of religion or her cold outlook of love. Judging by the fish at the end of your emails, I suppose you might agree. Well, I realize you're probably really busy and this may seem a distraction....just get back to me when you may have a little time to burn. Interested to hear what you may have to say. Maybe a response from you will provide a nice little study break from the Engr211 study-a-thon I have planned for tomorrow. I'm totally straddling the A/B fence in your class...so hopefully with some diligent studies I can hop on over to the A side :-) Well, so long for now...have a good day
Thanx
* Happiness is that state of consciousness which proceeds from the achievement of one's values -- Ayn Rand, Atlas Shrugged *
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Actually, I guess the only thing I really gained from Atlas Shrugged, was a healthy respect for letting people who are competent do their thing and prosper from it -i.e. free enterprise. After seeing every other system of government around the world fail dismally, it sure seems to be the best way of governing, for all its faults.
Other books?
Well, it's my honest opinion, that be you Christian, Atheist or just about any other persuasion, you're really not well educated unless you've read the Bible. Cover to cover. Not because I think it would convert people, but because our entire way of life in the western world is based upon it and cannot truly be understood without reading the reference upon which it is built. Plus, it's better than any mystery novel I ever read. I love Science Fiction, and Engineering texts, but they really don't hold a candle to the writing skills and thrills and chills of the Bible. I got about half way through the old testament and couldn't help but root for the good guys, and wonder how they could be so foolish as to do some of the things they did, against strict orders, and with such obvious consequences. And how the old testament rituals that even the Patriarchs questioned were such obvious precursors to the new testament, which at that time they couldn't see. Fascinating correlations.
So my first vote would be a leisurely stroll through that book which your ancestors held sacred, for which they worked, and fought, and died, and found hope, and peace. A book that you wouldn't dare read in public in half the world because they would kill you on the spot. What a privilege to be able to study it unmolested. A book that half your professors would consider you an idiot to take seriously - but since half of your professors are idiots, that's understandable. The most widely purchased, published, quoted, read, longest running best seller on the face of the earth - unthinkable that a person with a degree in any field would consider themselves educated without having read it.
Boy. I'm as long-winded as you!
Good luck on the final.
L^3