[Freak_NL]

> "No gods or kings, only man" is a Bioshock reference that pops up sometimes in those parts.

Which in turn uses Ayn Rand's philosophy (Objectivism) as the basis of the fictional (failed) society in Bioshock.

(Compare with this quote: https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/207108-at-first-man-was-ens... )

Ayn Rand and her philosophy are quite popular in right-wing circles (and incidentally, largely denounced in academic circles).

[wmil]

> and incidentally, largely denounced in academic circles

Not surprising. A tenured professor getting government grants for research is a villain by Randian standards.

[jandrese]

It has been many years since I read the books, but I'm pretty sure university intellectuals were actual villains in Atlas Shrugged. IIRC didn't they say that more testing was needed before they could count the new supermetal as safe?

I remember thinking at the time that the hero was being really reckless and that advanced composites often fail in new and unexpected ways and that building an entire rail line out of the stuff before you understand how it fails is beyond risky. Of course because it was a book the metal is perfect in every way and never has a problem, but the real world is rarely so forgiving.

[hithereagain]

BB&T, through its "BB&T Charitable Foundation", spent a lot of money injecting Ayn Rand into college curricula:

https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2015/10/16/new-paper-det...

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=9010409...