Hi John B:
If you were saddened by my responses to the attack on the U.S. and
the free world, I was equally saddened by yours for several reasons.
First, you "sensed" in Sam’s contributions an underlying concern for
the MOQ value of truth, implying that those who disagree with Sam are
somehow less principled. I hope no one in this group is arrogant
enough to believe he has a monopoly on "the truth."
Second, if you wish to believe that the terrorist attacks were ideological
and therefore intellectual, you are of course free to do so. I consider
those attacks a crime against humanity based on the biological "law of
the jungle." I fear you may have fallen into the category of "new
twentieth-century intellectuals" as described by Pirsig in this passage
from Chap. 24:
"In the battle of society against biology, the new twentieth-century
intellectuals have taken biology's side. Society can handle biology
alone by means of prisons and guns and police and the military. But
when the intellectuals in control of society take biology's side against
society then society is caught in a cross fire from which it has no
protection."
Please notice the reference to the military.
Third, there's no question that in Pirsig's view, SOM intellect has a
defect in it.
"The defect is that subject-object science has no provision for morals.
Subject-object science is only concerned with facts. Morals have no
objective reality." (Chap. 22).
If you disagree that this represents Pirsig's view, you should cite an
equally flat statement from the MOQ.
Fourth, another sign of unbecoming arrogance, hopefully unintentional,
is your implication that Quality (with a capital Q) resides only among
the views of anti-Americans, anti-capitalists, anti-consumerists and
radical environmentalists as espoused by Thom Hartmann and other
left-wing radicals whose previous apocalyptic predictions are now a
joke.
Fifth, perhaps you'll explain why you see my reactions and Roger's as
"religious," implying that what we say is unworthy of intellectual
consideration. Was that what you meant? If not, what did you mean?
Finally, one thing we can agree on. You wrote: "It is the fundamentalists
of whatever ilk, armed with technology the could never have created,
but can easily use or corrupt, who scare me." A great description of
those who took over the jet liners, made them into bombs and
slaughtered 6,000 people. If we don’t get them before they get
biological and atomic weapons, Australia may be the best place to be.
Platt
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