From: Mark Steven Heyman (markheyman@infoproconsulting.com)
Date: Fri Jul 29 2005 - 20:28:56 BST
someone said:
The story of the brujo is all about one, single solitary soul being
responsible for an evolutionary step forward in the Zuni society. To
make clear the vital importance of the individual, Pirsig wrote: "A
tribe can change its values only person by person and someone has to
be first." (Leibniz was first.)
msh 7-29-05:
But , of course, Leibniz wasn't the first, and simply asserting that
he was doesn't make it so. Moreover, reducing the Zuni indian story
to the single sentence quoted above is a tremendous
oversimplification of the eight pages of analysis provided by
Benedict, Hoebel, and RMP.
Benedict's point is that character traits regarded by the Zuni
priests as "scornful and aloof" would have served him well among the
Plains Indians, "where every institution favored the traits that were
native to him." Notice, she is not saying that the turbulent,
scornful, independent indian who eventually became the governor of
Zuni was some kind of universally unique individual, only that he
stood out in relation to others in his small tribe.
Now Phaedrus goes along with this, but thinks that more can be said.
For him, the story is a battle between good and evil, though it is
not immediately clear which is which. In the end, Phaedrus thinks
that the troublesome indian (now called the brujo) considered himself
good and the priests evil, reversing the notions of his society. But
his society was ready for the reversal because the brujo had
discovered value in the ideas of a different culture, in fact the one
culture that could wipe out the Pueblo indians of Zuni any time it
felt like it. As Phaedrus says, "It wasn't just a sweet singing
voice that made him governor of Zuni. He had real political clout."
The society was ready for a dynamic step forward and the brujo
brought the DQ key that made it possible. But he wasn't the only
human with this key; his "unique individualism" was limited to the
parochial views of a small tribe.
So, with this in mind, let's look at some of the sentences leading up
to the "someone has to be the first" idea:
The brujo's values were in conflict with the tribe at least partly
because he learned to value some of the ways of the neighbors and
they had not. He was a precursor of deep cultural change. A tribe
can change its values only person by person and someone has to be the
first. Whosoever is first obviously is going to be in conflict with
everybody else. (LILA, Bantam HB, first edition, page 114)
I think to say some one individual HAS to be first is demonstrably
false, as shown by the Newton-Liebniz, Darwin-Wallace examples I
mentioned before. I also believe that RMP is smart enough to
understand this. Now, I suppose, in a very parochial sense, you
could limit your universe to a single family or small tribe and
reasonably conclude that one person was "first," in coming up with a
bright idea, but this is like asking a question of a school of 3,000
students, then poking your head into a single classroom to find the
"lone genius" who raised her hand. If I limit my universe to me,
then I'm going to be a non-ceasing font of original ideas.
someone said:
Moreover, Pirsig says that only a individual can respond to DQ. And,
his basic question, "Does Lila have Quality" focuses entirely on one
individual.
msh 7-29-05:
Yep. But he never says that one individual MUST be the one and only
first, except in a limited interpretation of the quote above. The
fact is, in both cultural and biological evolution it is nonsense to
speak of firsts at all. The wish for a "Stand-Alone Genius" stems
from a psychological need to believe that such people exist, (and
that the believer is probably one of them), and therefore that SA-
Geniuses are entitled to some special treatment by society.
It's very simple. Really. Psychology 101. :-)
"A hundred times every day I remind myself that my inner and outer
life depend on the labors of other men, living and dead, and that I
must exert myself in order to give in the same measure as I have
received and am still receiving."
--Albert Einstein
Mark Steven Heyman (msh)
-- InfoPro Consulting - The Professional Information Processors Custom Software Solutions for Windows, PDAs, and the Web Since 1983 Web Site: http://www.infoproconsulting.com "A man's ethical behavior should be based effectually on sympathy, education, and social ties and needs; no religious basis is necessary. Man would indeed be in a poor way if he had to be restrained by fear of punishment and hope of reward after death." -- more Albert Einstein MOQ.ORG - http://www.moq.org Mail Archives: Aug '98 - Oct '02 - http://alt.venus.co.uk/hypermail/moq_discuss/ Nov '02 Onward - http://www.venus.co.uk/hypermail/moq_discuss/summary.html MD Queries - horse@darkstar.uk.net To unsubscribe from moq_discuss follow the instructions at: http://www.moq.org/md/subscribe.html
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