OCON 2010

 Posted by on 31 March 2010 at 9:00 am  Announcements, FormSpring, OCON
Mar 312010
 

Remember… today is the last day to register for OCON 2010 in Las Vegas with discount pricing. I’m enthused about all the general sessions, as well as about more of the optional courses than I can possibly attend. In fact, I’m pretty seriously worried that I’m going to burn myself out with this so-called vacation! (I plan to be very careful about eating and sleeping well.)

Here’s my own course:

Luck in the Pursuit of Life: The Rational Egoist’s Approach to Luck:

When most people speak of a businessman’s wealth as “good fortune” or wish a student “good luck” before an exam, they are not speaking in mere idioms. People commonly regard their lives as driven by luck. That’s wrong, yet luck undoubtedly affects us. So what is the practical significance of luck?

To answer that question, this course surveys common false views of luck, focusing on their effects on a person’s ideas and actions. It then develops a proper view, drawing on the insights of Aristotle and Ayn Rand. While Rand’s remarks in her essays are brief, a rich view of the role of luck in life can be unearthed from her novels.

By focusing on the ethics of luck, this course offers fresh insight into the practice of the Objectivist virtues and reveals common errors about luck that hinder us in our pursuits.

I’m going to have all kinds of fun with that!

Update: On FormSpring, I just answered the following question:

OCON prices go up later today. I am thinking of registering but the cost seems so high. I have heard it’s not necessary to register for all General Sessions. Do you recommend this? Any other don’t-miss parts I should consider?

I said (with a few additions):

You can register for the general sessions a la carte. This year, all the general sessions look excellent. (That’s not always true.)

As for optional courses, I recommend choosing two or maybe three courses per session, and choosing courses largely based on the quality of the speaker. Some speakers are consistently awesome, particularly live — such as John Lewis, Robert Mayhew, and Eric Daniels. I’d listen to them speak about varieties of mud, because they’d make that interesting.

I like quite a number of other speakers too, such as Greg Salmieri, Dina Federman, and Brad Thompson. However, sometimes I have to get those courses on audio because my schedule just won’t allow me to take their course live.

(Note: The names I’ve mentioned are people who happen to be speaking this year. Craig Biddle isn’t, for example, but I always love his courses. Oh, and some other good speakers tend to speak on topics of little interest to me.)

I do avoid a few speakers, based on past experiences. (If you want to know who those people are, you can e-mail me. My experiences are somewhat old… and hopefully outdated.)

Of course, much depends on scheduling. I have to miss John Lewis entirely this year because I’m speaking opposite him.

Honestly though, this OCON looks to be one of the best ever in terms of its line-up of speakers. And it’s likely to be Leonard Peikoff’s last speaking event.

I wouldn’t miss it!

(Yes, I will be posting my various FormSpring Q&As to NoodleFood soon. I’ve got some gems!)

   
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