On Tue, 20 Oct 1998 Richard Budd wrote:
> For Bodvar (or anyone Qualified to answer)-
> I understand the equating of Interaction with inorganic/chem. and
> Sensation with biological and Reason with intellectual. However, I was
> wondering how "Emotional" fits the Social level. I'm sure that this has
> been explained previously (before I found this forum) but I wondering if
> you would mind running it down again.
> I was also wondering if this system comes from Pirsig. I don't
> remember seeing it LILA (of course this could just be a problem with my memory).
> Thanks.
> R. Budd
Richard B
Nice to meet you and welcome to the discussion. No, the
INTERACTION-SENSATION-EMOTION-REASON thing is purely of
my own making (with a little help from Magnus Berg on the
"Interaction" part if I remember correctly).
It came about after Maggie Hettinger had forwarded her "mediation"
idea (hope I haven't misinterpretated it Maggie) and Hugo Alroe
Fjelsted "representation" from the Autopoietics of Varela and
Maturana (same to you Hugo); a kind of metaphysics that says that
there is no object reality only (subjective) representation.
Autopoietics sounds like subjectivism, and as the MOQ starts by
rejecting both objects and subjects the Quality is not identical to
it and my list is not to be taken as an "inner" experience in
contrast to an "outer", but out of a need to compress the various
levels' value into one expression through which they mediate
their value.
Over to your question how 'emotion' can be seen as the
Social level's expression? What is the social cement if not
emotions? Next to Biology's 'sensation' of pain and pleasure it is
the strongest urge there is. Sorrow and joy ; tears, laughter,
are immensely persuasive and "sharing" (contagious).
The Quality evolution can be regarded this way: The Inorganic
level's INTERACTION is the base on which the Organic level's
neural signals of pleasure and pain build. Biology's immediate
SENSATION developed into "abstract sensations" (feeling of joy and
sorrow, and a million in-between shades) that can be socially shared
(empathy) - which IS another name for EMOTION. In turn the "social
feeling" abstrahized further by language into REASON; the capacity of
feeling good or bad by merely "thinking". Feeling good over a
beautiful idea, or bad over ugly one.
This is merely another way of describing the Quality experience
with "feeling" as the denominator and no challenge to Pirsig's
original idea. Behind it all is VALUE which determines why the
physical constants have their value, why pain hurts, why crying is
sad and why an idea is beautiful?
Hope this answers your question Richard.
Bodvar
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