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I'm concerned about what level of evidence an Objectivist society would need to pass such a law. According to Chapter 33 of "The Passion of Ayn Rand," Ayn Rand
by gpcz 14y ago
I'm concerned about what level of evidence an Objectivist society would need to pass such a law. According to Chapter 33 of "The Passion of Ayn Rand," Ayn Rand demanded a "rational" explanation of why to stop smoking and said the statistical evidence of the link between smoking and lung cancer wasn't proof. It took an X-ray of her own lung cancer to get her to stop. Since the lead/crime hypothesis bases its conclusion heavily on statistics, I don't think it would pass the Rand test.
- javert 14y agoShe didn't trust the specific evidence presented by the US surgeon general. It wasn't an issue of not trusting any kind of statistical evidence. She was actually very pro-reason, pro-science, etc. I haven't read that book, but while I'm sure there are many facts in it, the overall tone (and motivation for its writing) is a giant (and dishonest) character assasination. Supposedly this is documented extensively in the book, "The Passion of Ayn Rand's Critics" (by James Valiant), though I haven't read that, either.