hi Lithien and everone
Lithien wrote
now, i will pose a problem...i have watched a lizard in my yard get wet when
i've been watering the lawn. and i have thought: does the lizard know this
"rain" is artificially induced? can he tell the difference between real
rain and my watering? by extension, how do we know if there is free will or
determinism...maybe there is a bit of both. maybe sometimes someone is
watering the lawn and is getting one wet whereas, other times there is a
natural rain.
hey! i know im taking a risk here by talking about wet lizards but is it
any stranger than talking about squirrels circling a tree?
Lithien, i am so happy you are here with the lila squad! i dont know about
you, but i am still trying to figure out if that man did go around the
squirrel or not! as for animal consciousness, i am unconvinced that only
'higher' forms of life are self-aware. i would imagine that your lizard
could sense the chlorine in city water (if you have city water that is) and
'know' it was not real rainwater, and then make a determination whether the
water still suited his purpose. i am guessing that even 'lowly' bacteria can
do that.
i would prefer to look at life forms as Pirsig does, patterns of value.
awareness is that value too. to me, the metaphysics of quality doesnt say we
as humans are superior because we happen to be human, rather it shifts the
objective label of being human to an undefinable Dynamic Quality/ definable
static quality concept. since humans have been 'given' this ability to
perceive the intellect level of the metaphysics of quality it is only
natural that we also perceive ourselves as superior life forms as well.
however, i cannot help but feel there is something of value that we are
missing if we just make that assumption and move on. when i go camping, for
instance, there are millions of bugs...little bugs and big bugs, bugs that
crawl and bugs that fly. when one happens to come close, i watch them and
they watch me back. there is no doubt of their awareness of me as they hover
over me and around me, looking at me and accessing my presence. i am aware
of them, and i judge myself to be self-aware. they are aware of me but i
have no way of judging whether they are self-aware as well. i get a very
distinct feeling in my stomach that they are, however.
does this throw a monkeywrench into the metaphysics of quality? i really
dont think so, because i think alot of people mistake awareness for
intelligence and that is not what the intellect layer of the metaphysics of
quality is, if i am interpreting it correctly. the intellect is Quality's
way of creating high value situations for all species, from viruses to human
beings.
this passage from Lila says alot to me about what our awareness really
consists of:
"Lila is a judge. Thats who lay here beside him tonight: a judge of hundreds
of millions of years standing..." (Pg. 231)
we humans do not have a monopoly on the type of awareness Pirsig is speaking
of here. this is a Dynamic awareness that prevades time and space, which
would seem to manifest itself in humans as 'self'-awareness if a high value
situation arises. in other species it may manifest as say, a flu-virus
mutating into something different to by-pass the anti-body immune system in
humans, or a cockle-bur growing barbs which stick to passing animals fur and
are transported free-of-charge over wide areas or a mother-cat taking her
kittens out of a burning building at the risk of her own life.
we humans call it good or 'arete' or Quality. perhaps the real problem is
when we begin to define awareness and label the awareness that the average
human feels 'self-aware', meaning we are aware of our own mortality, so to
speak. we then come to a quandary when we attempt to determine if a species
we cannot communicate with through language also feels a sense of mortality.
from my own observations (there is so much more to communication than
language) the answer is obviously yes! this seems to be part of the force
that drives all life forms.
best wishes to all
glove
http://members.tripod.com/~Glove_r/index-2.html
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