The Dynamics, or Why I don't like Ayn Rand
When I first started college, a political science course inspired me to develop my own philosophy. A major issue in political theory is "is the individual more important than the state, or is the state more important than the individual?" My solution was to not try to determine which was more important, but to realize that both the state and individual were important, which I think is an improvement over the attitude that one factor is all-important, and the other factor is to be ignored.
L. Ron Hubbard expressed a similar idea with his concept of the 8 dynamics. (To the question "would you recommend that I become involved in Scientology?" see the article "Scientology and Me.") This idea is as follows: a person is trying to survive in a variety of ways: as an individual, as a member of a family, as a member of various groups, as a member of mankind, as a lifeform, as a material being, as a spirit, and as a part of infinity. These are the 8 dynamics in order. For a solution to any problem to be considered an optimum solution, it has to take into account what is best for all of these dynamics. For instance, cheating on your taxes may help you and your immediate family (dynamics 1 and 2), but would be bad for the country (dynamic 3), and then again would be bad for you and your family if you got caught. Or, building a dam might be good for you, your family, and the country (dynamics 1, 2, and 3) but it might kill off a species of animal (dynamic 5).
My perception of Ayn Rand's philosophy is that she was solely and exclusively concerned with the first dynamic. Such a person is described in Scientology as an "only one," one who acts as though he or she is the only person in the world. In a way, such a person is only one-eighth alive. Consequently, I don't think much of her philosophy.