About me

I was born and raised in Sofia, Bulgaria. I grew up under a communist regime in the family of priests of the Armenian Church. My grandfather, Rev. Fr. Karekin Garabedian had chosen the path of the cloth after serving as an officer in the army of the Bulgarian King Boris. After the communists had taken power, his mission in life became the spreading of the Word at any cost. He taught me that I must earn my freedom.   My father Rev. Fr. Mesrob Benlian had arrived in Bulgaria from Armenia via Lebanon. As a foreign head of a minority community he struggled for 27 years to raise the awareness in people that there is a better life, beyond the borders of communist Bulgaria. My mom and dad helped many to leave and/or escape Bulgaria to freedom. They had, and mom still does have, many friends on every continent, in many countries. My mom and dad taught me that there is no limit to what I can accomplish, as long as I learned the language of the free -- English. I am grateful to my mom for inculcating the spirit of independence in me no matter what it cost.   After a mandatory military service in the Bulgarian Army at a base fondly called the “Triangle of Death”, and after the collapse of the communist regime, my father and I boarded a plane on the way to the USA. My father was excited to arrange a visa for me and secure a scholarship for my studies in the land of the free. He had dreamed of seeing his family in America as far back as I could remember.  I was in disbelief. I am eternally grateful to my father for giving me the life I had with him.   In 1990 Concordia College accepted me to their English as a second language program. In 1992, I became matriculated student and in 1994 graduated with a BA in Psychology.   Andrew Bernstein, Ph. D., taught business ethics at Concordia. At the time of my enrollment in his class, I wanted to become a celibate priest in the Armenian Church. He required that all students read The Fountainhead, by Ayn Rand. I did. The Fountainhead, changed my life.   In time, I learned to call Professor Bernstein affectionately -- Andy. Today I’m proud to have him as one of my older brothers. I’m grateful for all the care he gave me when I most needed. Andy taught me, and continues to teach me to reduce all my thoughts to a see level. Thanks, Andy.   In 1994 began classes at St. Vladimir’s and St. Nersses Theological Seminaries and in 1995 quit both.   That same year I became a stockbroker on Wall Street, a few years later became a research analyst with Safian Investment Research, two years after that worked at UBS Warburg as an investment banking analyst. In 2001 started a day trading career that lasted seven years. In 2008 got forced out of the trading business and concentrated on my love for objectivist epistemology.   Armed with Andy’s referral in 1996 to study with Glenn Marcus, Ph. D., I interviewed with Glenn and became one of his students for several years. Before I met with Glenn, Andy told me that if I wanted to study epistemology there are two men equal to the task; Harry Binswanger, Ph.D. and Glenn Marcus, Ph.D. I am honored and proud to have studied with Glenn. He taught me to always refer to the beans, the units of reality. Thank you, Glenn.   In April of 2008 picked up Dr. Leonard Peikoff’s lectures on the DIM Hypothesis to refresh my memory and discovered a whole new world that could not perceive on first listening. Thanks to Dr. Peikoff’s brilliant hypothesis I got inspired to apply what I’ve learned from the DIM Hypothesis and Objectivism in psychology and in my life. It has been a rush.   This website is the genesis of an exciting chapter in my life. Armen, my wife of fifteen years, has been instrumental to my work in the application of Objectivism to psychology. Without her steadfast support and constructive criticism  I could not see myself advance. Thanks, Armen.   

I, Arshak Benlian, am an independent investigator of psychology as applied through Objectivism, the philosophy of Ayn Rand.  I have no affiliation to any organization, institution, corporation or academic establishment.   The ideas represented on this website are inspired by Objectivism and the DIM Hypothesis lecture series of Dr. Leonard Peikoff. The DIM hypothesis related material on this website is my interpretation of the content delivered in the original lectures by Dr. Peikoff. For further information on the forthcoming book on the DIM Hypothesis please click here.  I am a student of Objectivism, the philosophy of Ayn Rand. It is my goal to present a systematic application of Objectivism in psychology. My interpretation of the writings of Ayn Rand is just that, an interpretation. It should not be construed as representative of Objectivism. Readers interested in the ideas of Ayn Rand are referred to the corpus of her work as marketed by the Ayn Rand Institute.