Marco
You were "shocked by the answers to the Roger questions: I thought only
"yes, created". After reading why it's more understandable. In part it's the
old "trapped in our language" problem and people like you and Bo have it
doubly hard in that English is not your principle language. I'm in awe that
you guys understand as well as you do. If we were doing this in Italian, or
god forbid Norwegian, the American subscriber rate would be in minus numbers.
For example your interpretation of "created" was "mind creates patterns" mine
on the other hand was "God creates", "Big Bang creates", or "Quality creates"
(depending on your transcendental position) then "mind discovers patterns".
Both outcomes are reasonable interpretations of the MoQ if the starting
premise is known. However given Bo's aversion to the term "mind", as in
"mind/body", had you substituted "intellect creates patterns" you would have
had less objections.
You wrote:
> I've [been] attacked for my comparison between RMP and other philosophers... I just
> meant that RMP wrote a metaphysics book. Obviously he is different from the
> other[s]!
Leads me to suggest (yet again) that heresy is the best policy. This is based
on the following premises.
1) The magic of Pirsig's work is that it's dynamic, yet approachable,
presentation leads people (especially those with little or no philosophical
background) to intuitively grasp what are in fact very deep and difficult
concepts.
2.) The MoQ, while a boldly original theory, is neither complete, error free,
nor more importantly applicable in its current form. It is a metaphysics, one
small, but important, part of a workable philosophic system. Pirsig has
refused to extend it. Thus if it is to be "workable" others will have to do that.
3) The MoQ did not emerge whole cloth from the field of unknown Quality. It
was built by critical evaluation of thousand of years of philosophic musings
written by many other brilliant people. And as such is in part derivative of
that work.
4) The MoQ can be reduced to one brilliant insight: Quality is reality. Once
one moves off this point many of the details can be directly traced to prior
thoughts by others which have been molded by Pirsig to corresponded with and
amplify that insight.
Intrigued, but skeptical, I set out about five years ago to see whether 1)
other people were also intrigued [Yes-LS-MoQ-org] 2) if others were skeptical
[Yes, by and large all of main stream philosophy]. Reason says that after I
discovered (2) I should have bailed out, but intuitively there was and is some
"rightness" in his premise. So I continued on lightly retracing his positive
sources and keeping an eye out for similar patterns until now I believe that
there are a number of patterns emerging at the fringes that are very similar
to his proposal. And out of all these it is entirely possible that a truly
revolutionary new philosophy will emerge to dominate world thought. That
possibility is truly exciting, as is being aware of it, and even possibly
being able to contribute to it.
But who knows what futures lurk in the heart of man? [with applogies to "The Shadow"]
DLT
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