since Rand seemed to imagine a universe where an entire nation would sit rapt for a three hour long exposition on her particular philosophy, because that’s how real human beings behave.

And I was just giving my answer, not the answer the book gives. Because the real answer to the question “who is John Galt” is a creation who in no way resembles an actual human being, because he’s really just an empty vessel existing only to embody Rand’s philosophy since Ayn Rand couldn’t write characters, dialog or emotion. (But the sex scenes…woah, steamy! 😉)