Fri, 9 Oct 1998 Donald H Crawford Jr wrote:
> I've been following the discussion group for the past 10 days or so and
> have decided to give a post a whirl. I studied ZMM about 15-20 years ago,
> reading it eventually about 3 times. The Romantic/Classic dichotomy seemed
> a stretch to me, although I was fascinated by the motorcycle travelogue
> and the identity crisis of Phaedrus. I was bothered by what I perceived
> as low quality responses by Phaedrus to his son and his traveling
> partners. Fast forward 17 years and we have from Pirsig the incredible
> book Lila. ...........snip
Don, Lithien, Pat and group.
First a warm welcome to DONALD H CRAWFORD. (Don 3 we'll have to call
you :-)). I agree with what you write about Phaedrus of ZMM's
relationship with his son and with Lithien's comments to that,
and also about Phædrus of LILA's social inabilities, but doesn't all
this confirm the Quality idea? Intellect's "natural born enemy" is
the Social values in the same way as Biology is that of Society
and so on. A "pure" intellect will always be a social cripple.
Also a warm welcome to PAT TULLY who brings another very relevant
observation about the various Phaedrus personalities which is correct
(particularly about P of LILA). None of the variants are social
successes, but it is the Chris part that is really disturbing, and
yet the happy end contains great promises. So it did to me when
reading ZMM for the first time.
Great ideas have never been conceived by harmonious persons. What we
usually call happiness is social well-adjustedment, and it so to say
precludes new ideas. Now, psychology will probably say that the
new-idea thing is just compensation, i.e: the social outcasts' attempt
to make it in spite of their helplessness. In psy-lingo there's
nothing except gratification of base impulses.
It takes an outsider to change an era's concepts, but it simply takes
a "madman" to shake the ground upon which the concepts rest because
it is necessary to step off that ground. Phaedrus of ZMM did just
that and the story reveals how this "outsight" came to occupy more
and more of his attention until it took over completely and cut all
social bonds.
In the said (SOM-)psychological-insanity-context this looks like
utter failure, and the old (SOM-)religious view of a reward "beyond"
for the meek is also much weakened, but again does the
arch-arch-religious part of the Quality idea surface: The result of
P's sufferings is that a goodness outside both society and intellect
has been "detected". I guess this was what attracted me so greatly to
Pirsig's ideas at first - and has grown ever since - and what
makes the laments over his (novel's characters) awkwardness
insignificant.
Bodvar
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