From: Horse (horse@darkstar.uk.net)
Date: Mon Jun 28 2004 - 00:42:47 BST
Hi Sai
Thanks for the explanation below but I think it misses the mark with regard to the idea of
race.
Perhaps if we look at it from an MoQ perspective it will be clearer.
Race does not exist at the biological level. Neither do genes, alleles, chromosomes etc.
At the biological level there are only biological patterns of value.
Race was invented (I believe) around the middle of the 18th century at which time there
was no knowledge of genetics. It was part of a classification system based on skin
colour which attributed certain characteristics to 5 races It was a widely held view that
Whites were superior to other 'races'. This division was entirely arbitrary and supported
only by agreement that whites were superior and everyone else was inferior - some to
different degrees than others. This places race firmly in the social level - for my money
at least.
At the intellectual level race is no more that a label which points to a particular genetic
pattern but that genetic pattern exists only at the intellectual level as do genes etc.
So saying that there is a biological justiication for race (i.e. biological patterns of value)
makes little sense to me as does an intellectual/scientific justification of same. At least in
MoQ terms Race is a purely Social pattern of value.
Does that make things any clearer?
Horse
On 27 Jun 2004 at 11:18, Sai Hemanth K wrote:
> Hi,
>
> I am being doubly foolish here. I am taking the Horse's comment (
> Horse: "Perhaps someone could enlighten me regarding the issue of
> race.") literally and
> attempting to do the same.
> ( Mainly because the analogy Horse used is potentially trouble some.
> Horse : Do we talk about
> different races of dogs? Does anyone steer clear of black dogs because
> they are more
> likely to bite you on the arse? Are red dogs more savage than blond
> dogs?
>
> What if the isomorphism between races amongs humans is considered with
> the breed of the dog rather than the colour of the dogs ? Most of the
> argument falls apart right? We do talk about different 'races' of dogs!
> Do we not fear a German-Shepherd or a doberman more than say a terrier
> or shih tzu varieties?
> )
>
> Human life is some what like a multi-variable mathematical Equation or
> a 'function call' in a programming language like C++/JAVA . But only
> difference being, the function or method here returns multiple values (
> as opposed to the single return variable for a Java method or a C++
> function. )
>
> The equation is something like :
> < Hv, bhv, fv, pv, kv, lv, wsv,av, hv... > LIFE( possessions,
> Knowledge,relationships,skills... )
>
> The Left Hand Side (LHS) of the equation gives the list of the "output"
> variables.
> Hv happiness Variable (ranges from sad to happy)
> fv fame variable; (value of this variable ranges from the state of
> being ignored to being famous/notorious )
> pv pleasure variable.. (pain to pleasure)
> kv knowledge variable..( ignorance to knowledge)
> lv love variable; (being hated/ignored to being loved.. again hatin
> someone to hating someone and so on..)
> wsv work satisfaction variable..
> achievement variable (losing to winning)
> Health variable..
> Art variable... , buddhahood variable and so on...
>
> on the RHS, we have the inputs to the function.. ( they are self
> explanatory and ofcourse not exhaustive.)
>
> The equation is very complicated as it involves so many input and output
> variables.
> As any one who tried to solve an algebraic equation involving four or
> more variables would know, solving such an equation is an extremely
> tough task.
> ( By "solving life", I mean, explaining how life is or showing a way of
> getting what one wants from it. )
>
> If we remember our college mathematics, we will recollect that one way
> of dealing with the complexity is making one or two variables important
> and ignoring the rest. So that one can easily manipulate the inputs of
> the function and get the 'best' possible value for those one or two
> variables.
>
> For eg, I may make achievementVariable as the most imp variable. I can
> just concentrate on winning in my chosen arena. I can manipluate my
> possessions (money,etc), knowledge, relationships etc so as to make the
> value of the achievementVariable the maximum.
> Let's call such a variable an LSV ( the Life-Simplyfying Variable)
>
> There are many known LSVs.. : money.. achievement.. knowledge..health..
> workSatisfaction..fame.
> A drunkard/drug addict might have pleasure as the LSV.
>
> I believe , Every religion/philosophy/whatever tries to offer one or two
> LSVs.
>
> Ayn Rand suggests selfishness/sustainingOne'sLife as the LSV. ( This is
> an approximate statement, giving only a very broad picture.)
> A religion I know ( which got imported into India ) offers
> Situation-After-Life as the LSV. ( "you will go to hell if u live like
> this and go to heaven if you live like that and choice is yours.." )
> Hinduism/Buddhism offers knowledge-Of-Brahman/Buddhahood/enlightenment
> as the LSV
>
> What Victor Frankl refers to as the 'meaning of life' is something that
> automatically gives us an LSV.
>
> And I think, Cosmotheism/Whatever is offering the solution by making the
> "race" as the LSV.
> So, if there's any person whose feeling-about-his-race is an important
> output variable, well, he has his solution in something like
> cosmotheism.
>
> We have an altogether different equation if we make Pirsig's 'Quality' (
> as in ZAMM ) as an LSV.
>
> Needless to say,The LSV one chooses depends a lot one's ability to solve
> the kind of equations.
>
> Taking the mathematical example,
> consider this equation:
> x + log(Z) + sin(Y) 3i - 8j + 10k.
>
> If am NOT comfortable with logarithms and trignometry, I would try to
> 'solve' this equation by making Z 1 and Y 0 so that,
> x + log(1) + sin(0) 3i - 8j + 10k
> x + 0 + 0 3i - 8j + 10k
> or x 3i - 8j + 10k
> and now, I know if I my task is to maximize the value of my x, I will
> have to increase the values of x and k and decrease the value of j (
> and vice versa).
>
> However, I may choose to make x 0 , and Z 1 and deal with
> sin(Y) 3i - 8j + 10k which automatically gives me that the maximum
> value of my LHS is 1 and minimum value is -1.
>
>
> Sai Hemanth K
>
>
>
>
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