There are several fundamental premises. The Ayn Rand Lexicon is helpful here. Most people skip right to self-interest, especially theists. "Reality exists as an objective absolute—facts are facts, independent of man’s feelings, wishes, hopes or fears.". Rand contends that "Reason (the faculty which identifies and integrates the material provided by man’s senses) is man’s ONLY means of perceiving reality, his ONLY source of knowledge, his ONLY guide to action, and his basic means of survival." Translation of the two prior statements: Rand contends that no "god" is necessary to guide a human's acquisition of knowledge, whether he/she wants, wishes, or hopes that such knowledge could be obtained from a "higher source" or fears that it might not. She contends that one not only can come to conclusions based on one's perception of reality, but must do so for one's survival. I capitalized the word ONLY multiple times, as that word is chosen carefully to exclude divine inspiration.

I have numerous dreams (more than one per year) that serve as inspiration for my next great ideas, innovations, and inventions. Part of that certainly is human preparation. As golfer Gary Player said, "The more I practice, the luckier I get." However, I have a hard time coming to a conclusion as to the source or sources of dream inspiration. During dreams, is one really "conscious"? We all know how important consciousness is to Rand's philosophy.

Self-interest is certainly also a fundamental premise, but it is predicated on the earlier two statements.