In a message dated 2/18/99 7:57:07 PM Central Standard Time, MemeLab@aol.com writes:
<< >>Now, where were we? Ah, yes...
Being a slave to <reason> leads inevitably to delusion.<<
Okay, I will try to give this a true meaning. If you believe that there is only one possible reasonable conclusion to any question, you will probably turn into a genuine "logic nazi" and will fill your own and perhaps others lives with delusion. Being consistently rational, is not the same thing as this.>>
The primary cause of logic nazi syndrome, is a failure to distinguish between justifications which can be reasonable and varied, and rational criticism, which is uncompromisingly consistent. Realizing this distinction allows us to understand that reasonable, rational people can differ on the answer to any one given question, while allowing us appreciate that the process of rational criticism is assymetrical, tending to create more agreements, than disagreements.
I have detected some of this "logic nazi" behavior in some very orthodox Objectivists. While Objectivism has some very commendable aspects to it, some which I have tried to incorporate myself, there does seem to be a very heady tendency among more naive and emotionally charged individuals encountering Objectivism for the first time, to slip into this logic nazi mode. Indeed some have speculated that this ferver engulfed the Objectivist movement for quite some time after the Branden/Rand split. This ferver may have prevented Objectivism from achieving the greater philosophical maturity that some individuals had hoped for it.
This particular link is very informative on this interesting dynamic. Pancritical Rationalism - http://www.extropy.org/pcr.htm
-Jake