From: johnny moral (johnnymoral@hotmail.com)
Date: Fri Mar 07 2003 - 19:43:37 GMT
Hi Platt,
>Well, I'd call the statement "We can be certain that we will never be
>certain about anything but that" another Ultimate Truth.
Yes, and that too, so maybe there's an infinite number of ultimate truths,
all based on the truth that there is always more to know.
>I need further enlightenment because I see Will as a dynamic force and
>both Expectation and Uncertainty as static states of consciousness.
I see Expectation as both static and dynamic, which is reflected in the dual
meaning of the word as it is commonly used. It is certainly a description
of a static state, a probability of what we think Will be, based on
experience, but it is also - simultaneously - a moral exhortation, a
stirring to action to do what is expected. When you are expected to do
something, it is implied that you had better do it, or else. Or else what?
Well, we'll find out then, but we don't want to find that out, we want
expectation to be realized. I see it as more of a cause than Will, which
doesn't seem to me to have a connection to morality.
Schopenhauer I think arrived at the Will by looking inward and saw his own
Will, and he suggested the simple idea that what drives us also drives
everything else. But when I look inward, I am not sure I know what my own
will is. Maybe Schopenhauer was more strong willed and smarter, but I seem
to always find out what my will WAS, and up until then, I only have
Expectation of what it will be. Because of the absolute truth that there
will always be questions. (Hmm, there's that word "will" again. Maybe
that's the will he was talking about?)
>How a dynamic force times a static state = a static state isn't clear.
>It's clear that doubt--a state of uncertainty--stirs Will to action. We
>cannot survive in a constant state of doubt.
We clearly do survive in a state of constant doubt, I thought we
acknowledged that as the ultimate truth: that there will always be constant
doubt. We survive by having faith in our expectations, true belief in what
we believe to be true.
One thought I had yesterday: there are only two things we do - we think, and
we act - and those words are interesting. They describe a sort of shell
around the certain core of doubt. Actors on stage aren't REALLY doing what
they seem to be, and when we say "I think" something, we are admitting to
our fallibility. But in spite of that, we think and we act. That's all we
can do.
>It's also clear that static patterns formed by past solutions to doubt
>create expectations. But I'm not clear how expectations can create an
>uncertain future.
They are expected to come true, and that is the only reason they do. They
minimize the uncertainty of the future, and maximize the stability of the
present, making it possible to see more than one random bit of sensory
information at a time and thereby creating a lasting and continuing reality.
What reaction do people here have to "REALITY = MORALITY"? Do people here
feel their hairs on the back of their neck stand up, imagining Jerry Falwell
standing triumphant somewhere? If anyone is interested, please start a
thread about how you feel about this Morality thing which Pirsig says is all
there is. Is it the same as the morals of our Culture? How is it related
to them?
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