From: Michael Hamilton (thethemichael@gmail.com)
Date: Mon Jun 13 2005 - 12:59:14 BST
Hi everyone, particularly those of you involved in the SOL debate,
A while ago, responding to Ham, I unwisely promised a comprehensive piece on
the dynamic/static divide of the MOQ. After that I went on holiday, and when
I came back I didn't have much clue what form it would take, and moreover I
detected a certain low quality in the discussion at that point. However,
I've continued reading the MD avidly, and over the last few days it seems
some progress has been made. Recent posts between the two sides of the SOL
debate have made for particularly interesting reading. After a good deal of
thinking about the static/dynamic interaction, I think I have something to
say about the enigma presented by the intellectual level.
I recently expienced an insight about Pirsig's concept of static latching:
evolutionary revolutions (i.e. the emergence of what in hindsight we can
label as a "new static level") only occur in conditions where there exist
VERY well-defined static patterns. For example, the emergence of language,
probably the most significant cultural pattern, requires almost totally
uniformity on the biological level, i.e. a total harmony of our faculties of
making and detecting sounds. If human DNA gave significant variations
between our larynxes and between our ranges of hearing, aural communication
would be totally impossible.
Similarly, the kind of _intellectual_ communication we're engaging in here
is only made possible by near-uniformity on the social level. Our agreement
on the use of a static set of 26 letters gives an enormous range of
possibilities to dynamically arrange these static letters according to Need
(the dynamic motivator) - in this case our desire to clarify the
intellectual level and general structure of the MOQ. Further static
agreement is required regarding the meanings of these arrangements of
letters, and where there is discrepancy in our understanding of words (for
example "mind" - more on this later, I hope), intellectual quality breaks
down, because there is a lack of static support on the social level. So,
very high degrees of static-ness are necessary for opening up wide vistas of
dynamic potential - these static latches might be termed "parameters" of the
new emergent level.
What has this got to do with the problem of defining the intellectual level?
The apparent lack of a level above intellect suggests, in the light of what
I've just written, that intellect remains a very chaotic realm. It is the
most difficult to isolate of all the levels, because the other levels have
evolved sufficient uniformity/harmony to support the existence of higher
levels. Not so for intellect - it's still in considerable conflict with
social value and is a long way from evolving sufficiently harmonious static
"parameters" of its own.
DMB's recent comments about explaining the MOQ to people from different
cultures provoked other thoughts about this problem. Can the intellectual
level in its entirity be understood without extensive experience of the
thought of other cultures, where thought has been built on a different
consensus/uniformity of social patterns? What I am suggesting is that SOL
may be true from our Western perspective, but that there may possibly be
more to discover. The infiltration of Western culture into all areas of the
world in which there exist suffient social developments to support
alternative intellectual patterns will make such a project extremely
difficult, and this for me highlights the evil represented by this
destruction of social and intellectual variety.
Basically, I'm saying that, given our lack of static "parameters" in
intellect at this point in its evolution, and given our limited cultural
perspectives, it may be extremely difficult to define the intellectual
level. But I'm not saying that we shouldn't try! I'll continue to read with
great interest.
Regards,
Mike
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