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Ayn Rand, in Spades - Claire Bridge

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''If I played perfectly every time,'' he says, ''what would be the po<strong>in</strong>t?''Wildavsky seems to have forgotten all about the loss when I meet him later at the hotel bar.''Objectivism is a reality-based philosophy,'' he will say later. ''We realize that time only moves <strong>in</strong>one direction. Whatever is <strong>in</strong> the past is not undoable.''We run <strong>in</strong>to Wildavsky's fellow bridge players Sheri W<strong>in</strong>estock and Uday Ivatury, who arehav<strong>in</strong>g cocktails and talk<strong>in</strong>g about Objectivism. W<strong>in</strong>estock is married to Fred Gitelman, anotherObjectivist bridge player, and together they write and distribute bridge educational software throughtheir bus<strong>in</strong>ess, <strong>Bridge</strong> Base.Ivatury, meanwhile, is a computer programmer who helped found the Pipel<strong>in</strong>e with James Gleick(also a bridge player) and is not any k<strong>in</strong>d of Objectivist. In fact, Ivatury openly, smil<strong>in</strong>gly, claimsthat he is try<strong>in</strong>g to deconvert W<strong>in</strong>estock away from right-w<strong>in</strong>g fanaticism. He has been needl<strong>in</strong>gGitelman and W<strong>in</strong>estock about <strong>Bridge</strong> Base: if they're such hard-l<strong>in</strong>e capitalists, why are theygiv<strong>in</strong>g this program away?''Uday doesn't understand that selfishness is not always about money,'' W<strong>in</strong>estock says. ''The game Ilove is dy<strong>in</strong>g. If I help br<strong>in</strong>g people <strong>in</strong>to the game, that is good for me.''Wildavsky nods. ''You can do th<strong>in</strong>gs for other people so long as it's not a sacrifice.''Some weeks later, I press Wildavsky on a similar po<strong>in</strong>t: if Objectivism truly gives him an edge <strong>in</strong>bridge, why share it with the competition? He gives me two answers, both of which I th<strong>in</strong>k are true.First: ''I just decided that my philosophy is the most important th<strong>in</strong>g that makes me what I am, and itcouldn't hurt to let people know.''The second explanation: it has to do with Sept. 11 and the sense that day provoked <strong>in</strong> Wildavskythat our society is under attack, not just from collectivism with<strong>in</strong> but also from a k<strong>in</strong>d of destructivenihilism without. ''It's more clear now that the survival of Western civilization is at stake,'' he says.A more Objectivist world would be a better place for Adam Wildavsky to live, and that wouldtrump whatever advantage he might lose <strong>in</strong> bridge.At the end of the night, back at the bar, Wildavsky runs <strong>in</strong>to Michael Polowan, Jason Hackett'spartner dur<strong>in</strong>g the controversy over the 10-second delay. ''I want to give you some advice,''Wildavsky says. ''There is a rule that I don't th<strong>in</strong>k Jason understands.'' Wildavsky goes on to expla<strong>in</strong>that under A.C.B.L. rules, he was correct to wait the full 10 seconds and posits that perhaps Jasonwas mistakenly follow<strong>in</strong>g the European rules on wait<strong>in</strong>g. Polowan rolls his eyes slightly, probablyth<strong>in</strong>k<strong>in</strong>g, sour grapes. But I don't th<strong>in</strong>k that's it at all. As a bridge player, as a programmer, as aphilosopher, Wildavsky is always f<strong>in</strong>e-tun<strong>in</strong>g the system. Why? Look for the selfish motive.

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