caroljane

Considering Bloom's eminence, perhaps I should call his pronouncements "unicameral", as he was speaking in literary critic mode and ascribing to great writers powers they do not have.

Harold Bloom, oh please. Shakespeare recorded and transmuted the reality he knew, which existed around him as well as within him. The reality existed long before Shakespeare and long before Bloom's halfwitted musings on "concepts of interiority."

Some might call it coincidence ...some might call it reworking a thesis into a self-published book ...some might go and cash in her $5 lotto win... best lol of the day, PDS

Michael, I really recommend that you read the book. Jaynes writes better than Bidinotto!

(I had medium lips and used to think they were too big) Another objective fact: People tend to be attracted to people that look like themselves. Of course, women tend to have thicker lips than men. Could it be that when you were young, there were a lot more girls of marrying age with ancestors from northern Europe? Such girls tend to have thinner lips. Now, there are more girls of marrying age from minority groups that tend to have thicker lips. Well, Chinese don't tend to have thick lips, but a lot of other minority groups do. Darrell you are right Darrell. Everybody in my town was white, English/Scots/Irish descent, except one Jewish and one Chinese family.

Adam, No tongue!

(I had medium lips and used to think they were too big)

Cultural influence is a big part of it. When I was growing up, thin lips on girls were considered attractive and big lips ugly. Yet now it is the opposite.

Auditory hallucinations are so common in psychosis. Some hear the voices (physicall)y inside their own heads, some hear them as if from outside like Joan. And remember, J Neil Schulman not only heard God, but saw him.

Just checked my innards, and half are still ugly for disagreeing with J about guns, but the other half are as cute as Miley! Objective reality should correlate my outards with my innards, so it is just a question of keeping my cute side facing the public, and my social life will soon start looking up!

The Jaynes book is my favourite popular science book, ever. His theory makes absolute sense to me. I looked at his Wiki and learned that new neuroscience discoveries are tending to support his ideas - also that he influenced the great Philip K. Dick!

I agree that it is a literary device, Rand's master plotting at its most effective; shocking and staggering.

In the Steors review , the schadenfreude is pointed out in the narration,not the characters.

The kind that killed 12 people. This is me, Adam. Can't not comment though there is nothing more to say.

And the ever-reliable AR-15 continues its cull.

Aren't most people taken for granted by prime movers? We are all people , taken as given, or granted, to or by each other.

, , true the followers have nothing to do with the leader, since she never asked them to follow her. As we are talking of the novel, I spoke only of the matter-of-fact horror, I personally do not find authenticity there. It was a climactic, necessary plot point in the story of AS, Prime movers do not offend me, but the idea that they are hated or resented by everyone who is not a prime mover, that offends me a lot, I admire prime movers but disagree with Rand that there are only a few. I know there are many,

We know because of journalism, the dread MSM,who dig out public records and interview witnesses. As you well know,

That contempt and hatred for the "relatively few" creators, is so common as to deserve general "collateral damage"--even in a novel. this is hard to swallow, and it is to Rand's credit as a novelist that she made it seem inevitable. I agree with others however, that in driving home her point with his ruthlessly dramatic scene, Rand drew tha black and white line in the sand which her followers never dared to cross.

But he was not charged for the prior incidents - no record. No way to know he had any gun problems.

It should bother you. In a novel it is easy to despatch the wrong and the bothersome through plot.What if in real life the collateral damage is your cousin, your classmate, yourself?

J, you have said this many times, but that last sentence was the best and most succinct way you have ever said it. And what you say is true.

Oh, Adam!!! Without violating his rights how could anyone have ascertained that he was a rabid dog and not a law abiding citizen?

Cripes, does that make me a plagiarist?I thought it was an old quote frequently rephrased. Anyway it is true.

You are describing psychopathic killers, and I agree with your description. In such cases there is no why that we could understand. Me being me, you will understand that I feel sad that the "how" was so continuously available to the apparently deranged person who took so many lives.