From: Arlo J. Bensinger (ajb102@psu.edu)
Date: Thu Sep 22 2005 - 04:42:18 BST
[Case]
As you point out there are no collectives that aren't composed of individuals.
But the reverse is also true there are no individuals without collectives to
support them.
[Platt]
I would say there are no individuals without other individuals to trade
goods and services with, except on a desert island.
[Arlo]
Which is like saying there are no red blood cells without other red blood cells
to interact with. All well and good, and true. But it completely misses that
which emerges out of the collective of red blood cells, which is of greater
evolutionary value than a single or group of red blood cells.
You might say, but there is nothing greater than Man! Man is the Zenith! And you
might even go to great pains to convince yourself and others that this Ultimate
Being comes into existence through His Own Accord, by virtue of Noble Brain
Chemistry He exists in Great and Glorious Isolation.
You may. But this is not the MOQ perspective, which places this Man as a
social-level emergent (arising out of collective activity of the
biological-level) whose activity as a collective gives rise to the
Intellectual-level emergent (chaos theory, MOQ, reason, gravity).
Of Individuals and Collectives there is no doubt the MOQ values them both, in a
beautiful and elegant evolutionary, emergent paradigm. Individuals support the
level, collectives allow the emergence of something Greater.
Red blood cells to human bodies. Human bodies to social beings. Social beings to
Intellectual constructs.
Biological patterns emerge from collective activity at the inorganic level.
Social patterns emerge from collective activity at the biological level.
Intellectual patterns emerge from collective activity at the social level.
Is that the end? To firly state "yes" is like Pirsig posits, two red blood cells
sitting around and talking about whether there is anything greater than
themselves. Whatever emerges out of the collective Intellect level will be to
us, as "we" are to our red blood cells. Impossible to imagine.
Arlo
PS: A final thought...
[Platt]
It's human nature to be more concerned with one's own than with strangers,
especially when the strangers want to kill you.
[Arlo]
Everytime I hear this I am reminded of Chevy Chase's SNL Update back in the 70s
where he said "A plane crashed in Uganda today killing 350 people. There were
no Americans on board. In other news..."
Is xenophobia human nature? Likely. Does that mean it is "okay". No. Does that
mean it should be cultivated as a Political Platform? Absolutely not. Is it?
Absolutely right.... (pun intended).
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