Conversation

The Straussian tell: reacting to any thought by another person with even the weakest possible link to their headspace as a sign that they've read their sacred books: Alice: Any transaction between mutually consenting adults is fine by me Bob: Ah, you've discovered Ayn Rand
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It's a kind of functional fixedness, where they assume their path to an idea is the only path. In the most extreme cases, accusations of plagiarism and credit-stealing start to fly. Alice: It's a nice day, let's eat ice-cream! Bob: THAT WAS AYN RAND'S IDEA PLAGIARIST!
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There's a weird horseshoe theory type effect between extreme autodidacts who have never experienced institutionalized academia and extreme Straussians within the academy (rare outside of specific disciplines like economics or political science). Both have this kind of reaction.