To: Marco, John, Rob, Clayton and the Bard
From: Rog
Here is my response to Marco's post on the Q.
THE Q:
What do the patterns of higher quality have that those of destruction, decay
and disorder don't? That is to me the fundamental question arising out of the
MOQ.
MARCO
I guess there is no answer to Rog's question. It's like when Pirsig says that
writing a metaphysics is a degenerate activity. Quality is undefinable but we
have to define it.
Equally, even if it is IMO impossible to state WHY higher Quality is better,
I want to try a (partial) answer. Let me offer a metaphorical view about the
evolution of the intellectual level (and I guess it is valid for every
level). The puzzle.
One quibble from the MOQ is that we are "evolving towards DQ" while "creating
SQ from DQ". It seems a bit strange: creating a greater amount of SQ should
correspond to a more complicated and less creative world. If one of the
purposes of the intellectual level is to create the Big Picture of universe,
the more the pieces of the puzzle, the less is the empty space for new
pieces.
Actually it is seems obvious that all these new concepts, ideas, philosphies
etc etc make our intellectual world much more hard to be managed. And if we
spend all our time to manage the old static ideas, we can't be dynamic and
build new concepts. At the contrary, an intellectual level made of few simple
concepts should grant us more room to be dynamic and creative.
Well, not at all. When the intellectual level was made (roughly speaking) of
a single simple idea <<all things happen according to a God will>>,
*everything* was explained. The picture was complete. No need to create new
pieces and pursue DQ. You see, few simple concepts and at the same time a
very static situation. Then, the *bad guy* comes and shows he is able to
predict an eclipse. A God between us? hmm... perhaps we have to find a better
explanation. We have a *new piece* for the picture: <<It is possible to
predict an eclipse>>. New questions arise: How? When? ....
What is great here is that we have a possible double outcome: new pieces for
the puzzle AND new room. New answers AND new questions. Simoultaneously...
or, better, in loop.
ROG:
I find your metaphor to be a great way to look at the MOQ. It opens "new
rooms".
Let me share a similar concept that I read in two different books (most
recently one by Daniel Dennett). The insight was to envision a library of
every possible 500 page book that could be written. Every conceivable pattern
of spaces and characters. Somewhere in this library would be the book of
nothing, somewhere else the book of 500 pages of Z's, somewhere would be Moby
Dick, surrounded by uncountable numbers of variations on Moby Dick where only
a few characters per page differed. Every book ever written, and ever to be
written is contained somewhere in this library (longer books can be
considered combinations of multiple 500 page books, and shorter books have
blank pages/spaces at the end.) The problem is that there are more books in
this library than there are atoms in the universe, and most (almost all) of
these books are just plain jibberish. But every good idea, every great
sonnett, every metaphysical breakthrough ever written and ever to be written
and every solution to every problem past present and future is somewhere to
be found in this nearly infinite library.
My point is that if we equate a Quality pattern with a book in our library,
we further elaborate upon your metaphor. Patterns OF VALUE are indeed rare
in this library, but this library is so vast that the problem isnt that we
have "less empty space for new pieces" (or in Dennett's metaphor "less books
available with quality patterns." The true problem isn't exhausting patterns,
it is finding the good ones. The solution is that the books aren't stored
randomly. The best place to look for the perfect copy of Romeo and Juliett is
in those rooms with near variations to the book/play. As such, a major value
of patterns of quality/books is in their ability to lead us to other high
quality books. And some books even include all the good ideas of how to
navigate in the library, but many more suggest wrong ways!
Long way of agreeing with you that the creation of patterns of quality does
not appreciably exhaust our supply of patterns, and it facilitates further
creation by leading us to new patterns that could only be found after
discovering earlier patterns. Creativity leads to patterns (sq) that allow us
to reach spaces previously beyond our reach. Patterns (or at least some
patterns -- those of the greatest value) lead not to less creativity and
complexity, but to more creativity and complexity.
MARCO:
The problem is that it's not easy to insert the new piece in the picture.
Sometimes we have not the skill. Sometimes the former picture does not allow
new pieces and it becomes necessary to destroy it (partly) to make new room
(it happened, for example, with the Copernican revolution). Here comes the
temptation to destroy everything: it happens when we are not able to put a
new piece of SQ in the picture that others depicted before us.
So, what do the patterns of higher quality have that those of destruction,
decay and disorder don't? Destruction creates room, but does not solve the
problem. Low quality static patterns solve the problem, but fill the room.
Static patterns of higher Quality solve the problem AND create new room for
new future static patterns. That's why I fear those claiming they know the
Truth: they think they have completed the Big Picture!
In conclusion, how do we evolve towards DQ? Well, making a good job when we
create and place new single pieces of the puzzle. We have to solve the
current problem leaving intact the room (or, even better, creating new room)
for new static patterns. Not easy.
ROG:
I agree. The challenge is not to destroy patterns, it is to adapt and
experiment with patterns in ways that preserve them while improving them so
that the current pattern reveals all the archways to other rooms, each of
which can be filled with more evolving patterns that eventually can lead to
more rooms...
Thoughts?
Rog
PS -- Dennett introduces the idea of a "crane". This is a pattern that
facilitates the creation and development of new HIGHER QUALITY patterns. It
is a pattern that reduces the randomness of change/experimentation and that
enhances the likelihood that new patterns will be of value. We need cranes
in this forum if we ever hope to progress collectively.
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