Thanks for accepting me into the discussion.I have only recently discovered
Pirsig's books and read both with great pleasure I must say. It made me wonder
about why he didn't continue publishing. I did some search for his bio and I
think I understand why, but nevertheless it leaves you wanting more of it, like
a selfish want for more of his thoughts, more of his mind. Like I said,
selfish...From the numerous ideas that stroke me as brilliant and clarifying I
wish to discuss the one about the Four levels or historical evolutionary
steps.The analogy with computer hardware vs software is quite useful when
trying to describe the never-ending question about the relationship of
mind-world in the subject-object perspective of things. Also his allusion to
Carbon and how it is a kind of bridge that is in the biological (aka carbon
based organisms) and the inorganic was a strike of brilliance. But the point I
am trying to discuss is that of time, more specifically rate of change. F
or significant 'evolutionary' changes to occur we need an inclusion into the
Dynamic Quality, it is the vehicle of that change. At the inorganic level this
change and the Dynamic Quality processes that it needs, take billions of years.
Billions of years and unimaginable amounts of energy I have to add.
Comparatively to this, the Biological level takes millions, not billions of
years for Dynamic quality to produce significant evolution. Like when
single-cell organisms gathered into more complex ones, and when some of them
decided to grow teeth and have start biting each other. The next level up, at
the Societal level we need perhaps thousands of years, maybe even hundreds to
get evolutionary changes.This brings me to the top level, and the main item of
my discussion, at the Intellectual level the rate, of change. I am daring to
suggest, is infinite, and it requires far less energy than the first, or any of
the other levels. The Intellect changes constantly, immediately,
only to propose another change right after. The Static patterns of Quality
and the Dynamic patterns have turned the other way. Let me elaborate. At the
inorganic level the weight (for lack of a better word) of the Static patterns
of Quality is almost insurmountable, that is why it takes billions of years for
Dynamic patterns to emerge, survive and have an impact. Then as we go through
Biological, Society, Intellect; this weighting changes. At the Biological
level we still have a very heavy Static pattern, but it is easier by an
enormous factor to impress evolutionary Dynamic changes than at the inorganic
level. At the Society level the weighting is more balanced, and it takes a
little focus on either side of the scale to tip it. I think this was the
turmoil that Pirsig talks about, that un-concluded war of the 20th century
between Society and Intellect, he proposed that the jury was still out on that
one.But what if we have turned that corner already? What if (the W
estern world) is at the Intellectual rung now? The rate of change is
infinite, in our 'old' and decrepit Western world language we would call it by
the word of 'chaos' but that is not the case, it is the triumph (maybe) of the
Intellect. Take the internet of things for instance. We can have individuals
delving in pure intellect existence for part of their lives. A soliloquy of
interaction with intellectual entities of numbers, codes and signals, not with
other humans. The utmost achievement will be when the Turing test has been
passed. Artificial Intelligence independent of Society, Biology and Inorganic
patterns or Quality.I am not a futurist or anything like that. I just wanted
to share a view of our modern times and journey with the aid of Pirsig... or
with the aid of my little understanding of Pirsig I should say.Have a great
day.A
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