From: Karen Whiteside (karen.whiteside@bbc.co.uk)
Date: Wed Aug 24 2005 - 17:39:33 BST
Also interesting...
-----Original Message-----
From: owner-moq_discuss@venus.co.uk
[mailto:owner-moq_discuss@venus.co.uk] On Behalf Of Sam Norton
Sent: 24 August 2005 13:35
To: moq_discuss@moq.org
Subject: Re: MD The MOQ conference hoax
Hi Ian,
> But for the record, I don't see MoQ as anything like a cult or a
> religion - if I did I'd be off like a shot. Struan's use of the word
> "salvation" is ironic.
Well, Struan's irony is drawing on something - I don't think he would
use
that particular form of language unless he had that perception as well.
Perhaps my perspective is biassed on two grounds, 1. I'm religious - so
I
know what religion looks like, in particular, I know (I believe!) that
there
is a difference between good and bad religion, and that bad religion
(fundamentalism) functions in certain very specific ways - ways which,
it
seems to me, are reproduced on this forum; 2. I'm more of a 'dissenter'
in
this forum than you are, so I have doubtless experienced aspects of the
group dynamics here that you have (so far) been spared. I know Matt has
had
similar experiences.
What I'm talking about is the way in which disagreements consistently
tend
to be interpreted (by some) as 'you haven't understood it yet'. The MoQ
is
'inspired', therefore it cannot be wrong, therefore if you disagree with
it
there must be something wrong with you - ie, you haven't grasped it yet,
you
must still be in the grip of SOM etc. Once you have understood it, then
you're free of the clutches of SOM and it all makes sense. To be
specific,
it's a form of gnosticism. There is esoteric knowledge, associated with
particular (pure) experiences - called DQ here - and once you have
gained
that knowledge, absorbed that insight, then you are on the inside. You
share
in the mysteries.
The thing that really strikes me - and first made me muse on all of this
quite a long time ago - is the emotional fervour tied up in people's
positions with regard to the MoQ, and the grandiose claims made on
Pirsig's
behalf. I can understand that fervour where serious questions in real
life
are at stake (like how to raise your children). But on an internet
discussion group?
Thing is, our culture suffers from a crisis of certainty, from Descartes
onwards (see Cosmopolis by Steven Toulmin for one account of why). The
MoQ
offers an answer to that intellectual angst. And if the identity of a
person
is built up around the MoQ being true, and the MoQ is then
threatened -which, in turn, threatens a return to uncertainty - then the
source of the threat will be attacked. Which has been precisely my
*experience* :o)
And those who ritually genuflect to the cosmic significance of the MoQ -
like Loggins - are accepted into the inner sanctum.
Metaphysics does function as a religion - it is a kind of magic, as
Wittgenstein puts it. I've just posted something on my blog about this:
http://elizaphanian.blogspot.com/2005/08/religion-of-metaphysics.html
Not
the clearest thing I've written, but it'll do for now.
~~~
What we most need to do is to integrate the MoQ with other academic
insights, and not leave it stewing in its own juice. We need to open up
the
windows and let some fresh air in. And when those insights are
presented,
and when they (inevitably) conflict with some of what Pirsig says, we
need
to at least concede the possibility that the wider academic community
isn't
wrong or irredeemably embedded in SOM. That's just delusional - part of
my
point, of course.
Cheers
Sam
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