Hi 3WD,
I want to come back to you about something you wrote a few months back (last
message below). I would quite like to explore with you precisely what is
involved in the interaction between the different levels, because part of me
strongly disagrees with you, and part of me thinks that what you are saying
is 'obviously' true!
In particular, if we go back to Pirsig's analogy of the levels on a computer
system, I was wanting to argue that emotions carry a cognitive weight (that
is, they determine judgement). Now I agree with you that the phrasing I
originally used was too loose, because an emotion can exist on different
levels. If we have the intellectual level as equivalent to the 'novel' on a
word processor, with bodily reactions (eg hormonal responses) as the level
normally running beneath that (software) and the physical environment (eg
oxygen etc) as the hardware, what I want to claim is that bodily reactions
determine some of the intellectual content, rather as if a word processing
program wrote some of the novel for you. (Imagine a much more sophisticated
grammar checker!) I would want to distinguish this interaction from the
interaction that eg oxygen levels might make. The computer might crash; a
bug might develop from overheated parts, but they are not taking part in the
writing of the novel (even if they might have some effect on the novel) in
the way that emotions do. Or at least that is what I would want to claim.
Is that a bit clearer? If so, do come back at me with disagreements.
Sam
----- Original Message -----
From: "3dwavedave" <dlt44@ipa.net>
To: <moq_discuss@moq.org>
Sent: Friday, January 25, 2002 6:54 AM
Subject: Re: MD truth and reality/emotions and the MOQ
> Sam
>
> I see more "purely" now your point.
>
> > I understand the various oppositions to this (the idea that emotions
carry a
> > cognitive burden) to involve saying that the intellectual level,
primarily
> > focussed on logical reasoning, is emotion-free (or is defective in so
far is
> > it is not emotion-free).
>
> But I don't think the intellectural level under the MoQ can be emotion
> free or is defective if it is not. Any more than the intellect is oxygen
> free. The levels all work in conjuction with each other in extremely
> complex ways, where changes of values on one level may affects values
> on others.
>
> 3WD
>
>
> MOQ.ORG - http://www.moq.org
> Mail Archive - http://alt.venus.co.uk/hypermail/moq_discuss/
> MD Queries - horse@darkstar.uk.net
>
> To unsubscribe from moq_discuss follow the instructions at:
> http://www.moq.org/md/subscribe.html
>
MOQ.ORG - http://www.moq.org
Mail Archive - http://alt.venus.co.uk/hypermail/moq_discuss/
MD Queries - horse@darkstar.uk.net
To unsubscribe from moq_discuss follow the instructions at:
http://www.moq.org/md/subscribe.html
This archive was generated by hypermail 2b30 : Sat Aug 17 2002 - 16:02:02 BST