From: Platt Holden (pholden@sc.rr.com)
Date: Fri May 07 2004 - 17:16:58 BST
Hi Steve Peterson, DMB, All.
Your review of what patterns mean in the context of the MOQ was excellent.
I agree with you and DMB that change in and of itself doesn't always mean
that DQ is involved, a point I've repeated several times in other posts.
So when you say, "When Pirsig uses the phrase 'static pattern' I don't
think that he means to exclude change or to associate change with Dynamic
Quality," I say, "Right on."
But earlier you said:
> Platt didn't like the idea of thinking of a person as a pattern . . ."
I don't mean to bring up our old argument again which we've agreed to let
go. But, to be clear, I've no objection to the idea of thinking of a
person as a pattern. I do see the Intellectual Level as being dominated by
patterned persons who think independently of social patterns and thus
suggested calling it the Individual Level.
Be that as it may, you made one observation I find hard to swallow, namely
that "a patterns view does not require a metaphysical grounding." As a
general proposition I think it's fair to say that all views have a
metaphysical grounding whether recognized or not. But more particularly,
the following quote from sociologist Eviatar Zerubovet set me to wondering
about the metaphysical basis for the existence of patterns at all:
"It is our basic need for order and deep fear of chaos that makes us draw
lines. A world with no lines is a chaotic world, which is why we have
symbolically set aside the first three days of Creation just for making
distinctions . . . By providing closure, boundaries make us feel more
secure . . . Boundaries also protect us from the endless anguish generated
by open-endedness . . . By closing our libidinal and possessional
horizons, moral limits also help protect us from our own passions and
ambitions, which are inherently insatiable. A world with no limits is a
world of perceptual misery."
So the question is, "Are value patterns creations of our own necessities
and thus a man-made net laid over our experience or, as Pirsig asserts,
are they integral and inherent in reality?"
What do you think?
Best, Platt
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