I think you're misreading the statement. The article refers both to John Galt, the character in Atlas shrugged, and a hypothetical John Galt, who is a particul

I think you're misreading the statement. The article refers both to John Galt, the character in Atlas shrugged, and a hypothetical John Galt, who is a particularly self-interestmd member of a primitive society. When the article says "He refused to participate in society and no one has seen him since", it's talking about the hypothetical John Galt. The point the article is making that in primitive societies, the John Galts of the world who refused to fall into the fold would have been ostracized and then died without the community.