Programmers and Religion

It is any surprise that a profession that demands intense logical analysis would find a very large number of people rejecting a very illogical proposition. According to an self-report, non-random survey, the highest religious affiliation with almost every programming language is... Atheist! Knowing as much as I do about survey research, I can only take this finding with a grain of salt. There could have easily been vote early and often phenomena, or even the tell your friends but not your enemies phenomena that could have swayed the results. However, this survey does match some of my own observations in the geek world.

I know Rand said "there is no compromise between food and poison. Poison always wins." I can't remember if she said there is no compromise between the rational and irrational, but it certainly sounds like something she would say. So a profession that deals explicitly with identifying facts of reality and logical connections between these facts will likely attract individuals who question faith and reject irrationality on principle.

Shake your what?

Brenda thought it would be fun to teach Thomas (our 2 year old) the song "Shake you booty". Well, last night, while Thomas was taking a bath, he decided to put his own twist to the song. So he stands up, starts shaking back and forth, and says "Shake, Shake, Shake. Shake your penis. Shake your penis." all the while his penis is flopping back and forth. To say the least, Brenda and I laughed our heads off.

What can I say. He's all boy!

Stimulate with deregulation

I couldn't have said it better. Brook is dead on with his editorial about the supposed stimulus package coming from Congress. I've been bitching and moaning about it to my wife for weeks. It's good to see it in print.

Shelter me no more

This is a great story about how anyone can move from poverty to good financial standing with hard work and a can do attitude. It also shows how most welfare systems are largely irrelevant.

Hat tip to Noodlefood

Foundations

Last night as I was drifting off to sleep, I had a vision about my original idea of marketing Objectivism to the masses. To briefly summarize my previous post, I believe that Objectivism will only be able succeed in sweeping the world if a organization or business offers the same social environment and self-help services that current religious organizations attempt to do now. Let me explain...

In my half sleepy state, I referred to this organization as "Foundations" in reference to the foundational values of Reason, Purpose, and Self-esteem. The purpose of this organization will be to help individuals achieve these values through lectures, guided discussions, workshops, presentations, and whatever other means are effective. Special topics - such as "How to think clearer", "How independent thinking can help you", "How to be more productive", "How to follow through with your goals", "How to increase self-awareness" - would be presented in weekly meetings. Perhaps on Saturday mornings or Sunday afternoons. Any number of different formats might work, but one idea I had was to start the day with a presentation about a topic followed by breakout groups to discuss the topic in depth or perform activities that improve some skill. Say a 30 minute presentation, followed by an hour long breakout session. And perhaps equally important, follow up the with a social gathering (perhaps with coffee and donuts, or a light meal). This gathering offers two pieces of value, it encourages integration of ideas through casual discussions and it builds psychological visibility which encourages participants to come back on a regular basis.

Critical success factors

• such an organization must provide a value that 90% of the population can immediately grasp so that they eagerly take part.
  
• The format of the presentation must be in a non-threating, self-growth format.
  
• Presenters and/or group leaders should be well versed in Objectivism.
  

Obviously, this vision is still in the early stages, so I'm open to suggestions as how to improve it, or even arguments against it. But like most business ideas, the best means of determining success is to try it and see if it succeeds. If not, change it and try again.