Hi all!
I seriously doubt anyone remembers me. I used to be a member of this list
about... 2 years ago. I see many names here that I remember.
Since then, I've changed my major to Philosophy of Science and Technology
(actually, I helped create the major. Before me, there was just a minor)
and founded the Philosophical Society at Georgia Tech. I've actually taken
a class where ZAMM was the main topic. And a class in Traditional Asian
Philosophy. And recently, my interests and my studies have brought be full
circle, back to an interest in the MoQ.
I must say, from my reading the past couple of days, the posting here seems
to be at a whole different level than I remember it. I look forward to
keeping up with the discussion and getting into the new thoughts that are
going around this list.
A thought for Erin: I've always thought there was an element of
revolutionism in Pirsig's work, similar to Marx or Daniel Quinn. That is,
he's talking to an audience that is presumably stuck in a particular pattern
of thought, attempting to push them into another one. Once the new pattern
(whatever that might be) is in place, it will be ingrained enough in society
where it doesn't have to be explicated very much. For instance, we don't
explicitly teach subject-object thinking to children, as it is inherent in
our language and daily routine to the point where they pick it implicitly.
As a weaker example, we don't have to do much convincing to make most
American children believe in the virtues of representative democracy and
capitalism, because they are so surrounded by the belief in their everyday
lives.
Also, the "aim" of Zen practice is towards a state of beginner's mind, or
child-like mind[1]. So perhaps children just have it right from the get go.
They, of course, wouldn't appreciate the difference between MoQ and SOM, but
there might (hopefully?) be a point in which SOM only has historical
interest, and MoQ is the dominant mode (though, of course, when articulated,
it would be articulated differently from Pirsig, who is often contrasting it
with SOM).
Glad to be back!
Yours,
Matt
-- Matt Brown (hangdman@cc.gatech.edu) cs1321 Head TA Ga Tech PST Undergrad Philosophy Society Chairman http://thm.askee.net Society of Physics Students Member -= "Every day is a good day" - Zen Proverb =-[1] And yes, I realize that I butchered Zen, like anyone talking about it. But I think the flavor of this statement is right, if you loosen the sense of the word "aim."
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