From: Platt Holden (pholden@sc.rr.com)
Date: Mon Oct 18 2004 - 15:51:52 BST
Hi Sam, All:
On 14. Oct. you wrote:
> But even though I agree with almost everything that Scott
> Roberts has been saying, I still can't resist the temptation to add my own
> two pennies worth. And my batteries are recharged, so hopefully I won't
> give up just from sheer exhaustion. On top of which, it seems like people
> are ganging up on Platt, and I'm sure he'd welcome another somewhat
> conservative voice in the mix (Hi Platt ;-).
Indeed I do welcome another somewhat conservative voice. As usual your
post was a model of insightful commentary. The part that struck me as
especially brilliant was the following:
> Now, the key thing about this emotional distancing (a result of the
> scientfic method) is that it is
> a) easier and b) more relevant in
> specific restricted spheres of human existence. The realms of physics and
> chemistry - straightforward. Biology - almost as straightforward. Economics
> - partly possible, partly impossible. English literature - impossible.
> Poetry - eh? Working out who you're going to marry - are you mad? Deciding
> how to raise your children - get thee behind me Satan! My point is that
> science is very good at obtaining type 1 knowledge, but we don't care very
> much about type 1 knowledge, it's ultimately trivial. Even if we discovered
> a cure for cancer, it's the fact that such an item of information is type 2
> that reveals its excitement. In other words, it is the *meaning* of the
> information that we value, not the information itself. And as soon as you
> are in the realm of discussing meaning, you have left the realm of science
> behind, because you cannot divorce your own cares and concerns from the
> process. (You are also then using religious language, however that might be
> disguised).
Superb! The distinction between means (the narrow province of science and
technology) and meanings (the broad experience of living) is too often
ignored. Consider this passage from David Gelernter:
"And when we return numb and weary from a round of shovelling the grim,
gray snow of life, beauty is the hearth, beauty's the fire, beauty's the
cup of coffee (the fragrance, the saucer's clink, the curl of cream) that
makes the whole business seem almost worthwhile. Ponder long enough as
you sip and life can turn inside out under your gaze like a trick profile,
and coffee and hearth become the reason snow exists, and beauty explains
the world."
It doesn't hurt to remind ourselves from time to time that our engagement
in philosophical polemics, while loads of fun, can obscure pure meanings.
As Pirsig put it, "Writing a metaphysics is, in the strictest mystic
sense, a degenerate activity."
Best,
Platt
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