On Mar 17, 10:51*am, Frogwatch wrote:
I was talked into reading Ayn Rand's "Atlas Shrugged" recently and
started it reluctantly. *In the past, I tried reading "The
Fountainhead" and was bored stiff by it so never tried to read "Atlas
Shrugged". *"Atlas" starts slow but does get better.
In the book, Rand's protagonist is an engineer who builds a railroad
and while she is riding on it for the first time, she looks at the
motors on the locomotive and thinks of them as "morality cast in
steel", a line that appeals to me. *Building something that is useful
is truly meaningful which is why so many of us are driven to do so.
Rand posits that it is sinful to have a purposeless life, something to
which I can agree but so many people have not yet found a purpose.
People who write software probably get the same good feeling when
their code runs well. *Cabinet makers probably take pride in seeing
their work used. *Artists take pride in seeing their work done. *It
seems to be a human impulse to build things, to take raw materials
from nature and make something distinctly human. *It is now clear to
me why I build so many boats, campers, spectrometers (work), etc.
However, this leaves me wondering how Jackson Pollock ever knew when
one of his paintings was finished.

I agree. There is nothing like sense of accomplishment. I don't
understand how people who cannot, and won't do something for
themselves are ever happy. Some people, no matter what the task,
simply have someone do it for them.