Simon,
IN chapter 13 Pirsig says that intellect is not an extension of society, but
a separate entity that seeks to dominate society, and the same goes for
society. If both of them had their way, they would destroy the other.
I dont think that every single idea is a higher pattern of evolution than
every human being or every societal pattern. Not every idea is high Quality,
it's up to us, as human beings, the only source of true DQ, to judge whether
ideas are in fact high Quality enough to pursue, and whehter or not it's
worth losing human lives to pursue. Personally, i think that an idea can
only morally destroy a society if that society is somehow preventing the
evolution of that idea. Also, society has to be ready for the evolution to
take place. The beatniks fought against society simply by refusing to
conform to the standard conventions of the 50s, like living a pristine, Leave
it to Beaver-like lifestyle. 'We are a legend, invisible but legendary, as
prophesied,' says the late poet Allen Ginsberg. YOu could equate that with
the hippies of the 60s and jazz music of the 20s; all of this helped society
break out of its static molds. I know the Oklahoma City bomber (dont say his
name) had an idea to destroy big government, but that idea was not moral
because society was not ready for this change, certainly not enough to lose
so many innocents. and how the hell did he even damage big government
anyway? he didnt, he just killed people.
What i said about DQ getting closer to us, i think i phrased that wrong.
Maybe i should have said we are getting closer to the highest pattern of
evolution. YOu remember Pirsig's analogy of DQ and sq being the lateral and
forward movements of the boat, right? Well, think of the highest level of
human evolution as the place where everything is in perfect balance and there
is no need for more forward (Dynamic) movement. Of course, that's not even
close to being acheivable in this lifetime, but regardless, it's what we all
strive to do. It's not just about DQ, without sq, we would have no way to
preserve the changes arising from DQ.
'Perhaps I shouldn't say this, but I don't think that just because Pirsig
writes something we should automatically take it as the word of God
[Quality]. If your deleted paragraph said the same as the quotation, then it
was probably right to delete it. If it said something different, then surely
it is in the interests of quality that it gets said.'
Now you were right about that, i think that i, and maybe many others in this
group, tend to read something and accept it regardless of personal thoughts.
But i just figured that if i did write my paragraph (which wasnt all that
good to begin with) someone else would attack me with the Lila paragraph i
quoted. and i dont think i could have defended without resorting to childish
name calling. To tell you the truth, im very confused about the relationship
of morality to Quality now that you've broached that topic, and i could use a
little clarification as to what Pirsig means in Lila.
rasheed
ps You guys have lectures on sheep-shagging? im not in college yet, but i
dont think we get into that. And, oh yes, there are plenty of redneck jokes
made here. I live in Illinois, which is a redneck breeding ground--- rifles
at Walmart, pickup trucks with four kids in the bed missing all their
permanent teeth, bowling pin fences on houses... i'll bet you can imagine.
Aside to Marco: The 'you broke my heart' thing was from The Godfather.
Arent you guys all over that in Italy? but im stereotyping now.
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