Don't Be Boring: Winning the Attention Game by Don Watkins

There has never been more competition for people’s attention. And yet you can’t win the war of ideas unless you can cut through the noise and get your message heard. In this talk, Don Watkins looks at the theory and practice of capturing attention and how you can use that knowledge to promote Ayn Rand’s ideas.

Recorded live on July 3, 2022 as part of the Objectivist Summer Conference.

Subscribe to ARI’s YouTube channel to make sure you never miss a video:
Download or stream free courses on Ayn Rand’s works and ideas with the Ayn Rand University app:

******

******

[AssaultSpeed]

Don needs to get in contact with people in RSD

[SimplyApollo]

I think in general the trickle down theory is the accurate one. You should never expect your average joe to come home from work and turn on a Peikoff lecture. The point is influencing the people who are specialized enough to have a chance of finding you in the first place. Religiously following the 5 S's or any other trick is a Misintegration, yes it is helpful but ultimately what matters is having a solid metaphysics, epistemology, and an ethics based on survival. If every ARI video was hitting 100M views like a Mr. Beast video then something is probably seriously wrong with reality, sure it would put more food on the table, but the masses attention is a arbitrary and pointless thing. Get the leading intellectuals on your side and they would spread your ideas to the people that matter.

[BeefT-Sq]

Boring ? Me ? Not likely . I promote Objectivism by speaking up wherever I can . I don't shy away from Identifying myself as an " Objectivist " even though I am not some sort of expert on the philosophy . I make sure I don't present Ayn Rand as an infallible deity ; people have to know that I am open to the possibility that her opinions on the American Indians or animal rights or some other topic could be wrong . The distinction between the philosophy and Ayn Rand herself must be clear . I use plain language when possible ; I talk about the right to keep what you earn, the idea that taxation is immoral and ought to be minimalized even if we can't get rid of it completely but I avoid language that people don't understand such as " achieving one's values ", " the law of identity " etc.  
I am out to reach anybody, including the anti-intellectual rednecks because I think it is important to let everybody know that somebody disagrees with the ideas that are popular . Maybe they won't be persuaded but they won't ask who Ayn Rand is again .  
One idea that ARI hasn't had the sense to use was my idea of "tracts" like the small literature that religious organizations distribute , with comic book formats and so forth and catchy titles like " Property Rights and Taxes " , " Reason or Religion ", " Living a Moral Life " , " Charity vesus Self-sacrifice " , " Disciplined thinking and Conspiracy Nonsense ", " Ethical Living ", " Law and Order " etc.
I say : Go after the masses . Confront. Agitate. Challenge . Set the example. Speak up . Argue honestly . Don't just preach to the choir or the brilliant .
And stop kicking people like Carl Barney and Robert Tracinski to the curb . This cultish thing has got to stop .

[aarononeal]

Please talk about Ecosia they are a search engine that plants trees

[drstrangelove]

we're in a financial crisis right now

[maryahhaidery]

Don’t you love when utterly unsuccessful narcissists whose novels no one has ever heard of give lectures on “How to be Successful?” based on their limited success in their secondary careers parroting other people’s ideas?

[drstrangelove]

for Yaron, maybe if he wasn't one of those typical TDS people like all the other "public intellectuals"?