Squad,
I am reading a book, "In the Beginning", by John Gribbin (not finished
yet) in which he advances the idea that prebiotic life formed in
interstellar space in the form of complex carbon molecules which were then
dispersed to seed the universe with the precursors to life. If this view is
correct then the entire universe has been seeded with a coating of
prebiotic material and we might expect that similar prebiotic processes are
going on everywhere in the universe. If this makes sense to you then we
might expect that the basis for Quality lies in the purely physical forces
operating in the universe. We can make a case that all else follows from
the basic Quality premise. The universe is a Quality generating process
arising from the first causes which can be manipulated to produce the
universe (and the biosphere) as we experience them now.
I have had a problem with Pirsig's explanation of Quality (and Morality)
since first reading his books because he switches back and forth between
Quality as it applies to humanity and the biosphere and Quality (and
morality) as it applies to the purely physical universe. In my opinion the
basic Quality is the universal Quality and sentient (human) quality is
subordinate to the universal Quality and must be compatible with the
universal Quality.
I think that Pirsig, and the Squad, have turned this around and are
trying to make Quality from a human perspective take precedence over
universal Quality. It will take more knowledge and insight than we now have
to make this work.
I support Mary"s condemnation of Pirsig for his treatment of the idea of
womanhood in Lila. Ken Clark
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