[MD] What is the oppostite of Quality?

[Dan Glover]

chaos

A new branch of science that deals with systems whose evolution
depends very sensitively upon the initial conditions. Turbulent flows
of fluids (such as white water in a river) and the prediction of the
weather are two areas where chaos theory has been applied with some
success. (www.dictionary.com)

I think it is pretty clear that this is not what Robert Pirsig means
by Dynamic Quality. I recall that I once asked him about whether it
was wise to say Dynamic Quality is always positive. He said (and I
paraphrase) perhaps not, that it might be better to say it's not this,
not that. It is in LILA'S CHILD toward the end.


On Wed, Jan 6, 2010 at 8:58 AM, Krimel <Krimel at krimel.com> wrote:
>> [Krimel]
>> What a depressing quote. Chaos is not always a destructive force in fact
>> it is the creative power of the universe. Order is a subset of chaos. If
>> this was a fairly new idea when Pirsig wrote Lila is was not 10 years
>> later. He really should know better.
>
> [Steve]
> If you are calling chaos the creative power of the universe and order
> a subject of chaos, it sounds like what you are calling chaos Pirsig
> calls Quality.
>
> [Krimel]
> Yes, and I have been doing so consistently for years now.
>
> Just look at the quote Andre provided:
>
> 'Dynamic Quality and chaos are both patternless, and so it would seem they
> have a lot in common, particularly the fact that you can't say anything
> about them without getting into static patterns."
>
> [Krimel]
> Yes, yes, you are almost there Bob. It is like the passage in Lila where you
> say that the MoQ could almost be thought of as a Metaphysics of Randomness.
>
> [Unfortunately the quote continues...]
> "But if you do, you can say that Dynamic Quality is good and precedes static
> improvement. It is the source of experience. Chaos, by contrast is the
> condition of total destruction. You can't call it either good or bad.
> It is not the source of anything'."
>
> [Krimel]
> This just reduces DQ to anything that is "good" not all DQ is good and DQ
> does not always precede static improvement. Conversely chaos does not always
> produce destruction. Selection of lottery tickets is a chaotic process and
> it often produces enormous good for someone. Chaos only looks destructive
> because disordered states are much more likely than ordered states.
>
> Chaos is a creative force in the universe because it means that nothing is
> ever rigid and fixed and lawful. Everything is changing chaotically and
> there is always room of "oops" and "aha". The world is not a Newtonian
> billiard table, an idealized plane and hypothetical spheres. The world is a
> pool hall with erratic lighting, free flowing alcohol and sexual tension.
> What determines whether or not the eight ball lands in the side pocket is,
> more often than not, the whims of Bacchus and Eros not the Laws of geometry
> and physics.
>
>
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