I have the advantage of being old. My family is all grown and can handle themselves. Personally, I salivate over someone challenging me, I can hardly wait to engage. The only thing that has caused me caution lately is the unexpected (by me, at least) rise of anti-Semitism in America.

I've used Zero throughout my life.
For several years I introduced myself as such but these days it's just a screen name and pseudonym.
Imparted by one of my first Great Mentors, I am very fond of my "other" name.

But, of course, there is also privacy.
We are stripping away all vestiges of boundary and personal space in this age of social media. I resent it and I resist it.
I have every right to keep my private-life private. Including (especially) my political views.
I am not quiet with my beliefs but I choose the venue.

Sure the scoundrel hides his face during a cowardly attack, but the honest man has reason for prudence as well.

And, just to have it asked - how in the hell does this violate some OBJ principle?
I consider myself educated on the subject but there is always more to learn - so educate me.

Heck no! I signed up on this site to spend a couple of years talking about some movies...

...If I had foreseen the duration of my engagement here and the range of discussions, I might well have taken a pseudonym. (I rarely post on any other lists (LOTR & io9) and I have carefully implemented an anonymous name for the latter.) I do not do Facebook or any other social media, so my online profile is pretty much 'here'.

I sometimes think I should have implemented a nickname for this site, but since I did not - and Wm had told me his 5th grade English teacher story - I went in the other direction and reminded myself of my visibility by actually signing all of my posts,

Jan

perfect precipitate, Thor! -- j
.

Even though I left in 1959 before the death of the county, here is where I am from and I use the alias because it keeps me grounded.
https://www.facebook.com/VintageWestV...

I'm glad that you made it, Doc;;; that's a tale for the
ages, and you can just imagine how it piques the
interest of people here!!! -- j
.

Very cool, "jetmec". :-)

OK, I'll disclose this much in that mine is a combination of my real name and what I did for a hobby for over 20 years. When my older brother figured it out, he thought it was rather funny!

Emma, what if I researched all of the Emmas in Albany
and came to visit you -- just for sport? . you might be
pleased with the bouquet of flowers I'd bring, but you also
might be -- well, non-plussed -- that I could find you.
my training in "open source" information gathering,
to do my classification officer job years ago, taught me
a lot about personal information. . take care, wonderful
friend, and We Love You Here!!! -- john
.

correction /glad to share/'

good one, herb!!! -- j
.

Well said, Zenphamy, and I'm in agreement. I'm sure if someone really really really wanted to find me, they wouldn't have too much trouble. However, I do use a pseudonym on most sites, including this one, because my opinions and comments can get strong from time to time and I have no desire for a brick through my window or any other shenanigans. Now, I may be wrong in THAT opinion, but for now I'll stick with it. [Side note: I'm not at the point where I can call myself a pure Objectivist, but I've been a long time fan of Ayn Rand and lean in that direction.]

Interesting question. I am in agreement with Zenphamy... "I would be glad to my identification with certain individuals on a selective basis... there is a lot of ID mining in internet age...It may be sound advice to be cautious....'trust but verify'.

my best male friend -- currently living here with us --
dreams of being a "naught" like the characters in the
old tv show "max headroom." . the reason is twofold:::
first, the stuff which is put on the internet is effectively
eternal -- it can come back to bite you. . and second,
the more you are exposed to the world, the more
you may be at risk, 'cuz the bad guys look for marks,
here.

if I just mention that tomorrow is "land taxes" day,
or that we have a tree farm, it reveals that we can
afford to pay land taxes, and if you add that to the
other stuff which I have revealed, you can track us down
and, well, you know the rest.

thus, anonymity is a value. . even to objectivists. -- j
.

My nom de plume says what I do!

My name is Herbert David Shapiro and I was named after my mom's grandpa. The name in Hebrew is "Chaim Dovid" which means "Life Beloved." I was born in 1934 the year of the lowest birthrate in the 20th century, which makes both me and Ralph Nader and my wife rare people. And I don't care who knows it. I have been putting my name in front of lost and punishing causes for over 50 years, so what the hell. I became an Objectivist 56 years ago and it's been a bumpy but satisfying ride. And so, who are you and what is your relationship to Flash Gordon?

Good question. Fivedollargold can't remember where his name originated, but thinks it might have a connection with objectivism.

Perfectly stated. My sediments exactly.

this is my real name.

There are many objective reasons why one would use a pseudonym here. Ranging from physical threats to overzealous would-be employers, to basic preference for privacy and making it more difficult for crawlers to tie one's posts in disparate arenas together to identify you for example. Some people have a mental block to ideas if they know some of your unrelated opinions and thoughts. By operating under a pseudonym you can preserve the purity of context it sometimes takes to get through to people. How many times have solid, objective, and reasonable commentary been dismissed based on unrelated factors such as the author's skin color, background, or other demographic?

Curiously, in a sense Galt turned his own name into an effective pseudonym as illustrated by the phrase "Who is John Galt?" and how it became somewhat mythologized and genericized. This produced the heavier impact when he revealed himself. We've seen similar occurrences in actual American history. Sometimes the content is more important than the author or their identity.

That is my two cents worth anyway. For my handle here, it is a bit of branding and a pointer right at my real name - which people normally assume incorrectly. ;)

My name is Ric Hornsby but I have used the online name of Eyecu2 for many years and on many sites. In fact I first started using Icu2 on video games over 30 years ago.
Eyecu2 is an online moniker that I am proud of.

Yeah, and as a reward I also get misquoted.

My screen name is "ProfChuck". I chose that because that name is also used on my other social network sites such as Facebook and Twitter. My real name is Charles Ivie. I am a retired scientist and educator. I worked for NASA for over 35 years and taught astronomy, physics and mathematics at several universities and colleges. I am not ashamed to be a strong supporter of objectivism and Ayn Rand's principals. As a scientist they make more sense to me than most political and economic philosophies.

allosaur is short for Allosaurus, Latin for "different lizard."
I don't quite fit in anywhere but at least I'm not a vegan.
I was using that moniker before I showed up here where I have revealed my really for really real name from time to time..

Never gave it a thought...too many with my name so I am forced not to...kinda like the olduglycarl, it's honest and no one else would be willing to admit they got ugly with age.
My name is Carl by the way and I use my full name in publication of my book.

Never would of thought anyone might consider a screen name not objective...where's that coming from?

Bet that gets mispronounced a lot.