Hi Jonathan and LS:
Jonathan wrote:
>DQ is potential. Everything that happens is REALisation of that potential.
>That's what makes our world, our reality.
DQ is potential? Nowhere in Pirsig’s writings do I find any evidence of
your assertion that DQ is mere possibility. I do find several references to
DQ as “the force of value” and “the free force of life” e.g. a creative
energy that can makes things happen, “the source of all.” I previously
mentioned that Pirsig said “Natural selection is Dynamic Quality at work,”
where “work” implies energy. He also calls DQ “the cutting edge of
experience.” An edge doesn’t cut by itself. No, DQ doesn’t just lie around
waiting for something to happen as “potential” implies. I see it as an
active force of creation, striving to make the world better, i.e., more
beautiful, more elegant, more harmonious, more aware, more fun, more
free.
>>"The explanation of life as 'migration of static patterns towards
>>Dynamic Quality' not only fitted the known facts of evolution, it allowed
>>new ways of interpreting them."
>What can Pirsig mean by "towards" DQ? DQ as potential gets used up,
>spent. It can never be reused. Life is a talent-spotting activity, seeking
>out NEW potential to exploit. Purpose determines how that potential is
>realised - which of the various possible paths is chosen. But once the
>choice is made, the original alternatives no longer have any possibility.
Pirsig suggests what he means by “towards” DQ when he says that DQ’s
“only perceived good is freedom.” It follows that life can be described as
“migration of static patterns towards” more freedom. DQ is the “talent-
spotter” (to use your phrase) in its quest for freedom from stifling static
patterns.
To assert that DQ is potential sounds to me more like what a quantum
physicist might say than what Pirsig actually says. I wonder if maybe
you’re trying to squeeze the MOQ into a scientific paradigm. If so, I
would argue that to call DQ an energy fits the scientific paradigm just as
well as calling it potential since both remain unsolved mysteries in that
realm.
Best,
Platt
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