[MD] Intellectual and Social

[Ian Glendinning]

Well yeah Matt, OK I agree on the utility too, of attributing ideas,
but that para you snipped was just linking the two points ... leading
to the non-hierarchical "way of thinking" point about the social /
intellectual relationship in ideas.

ie we may (and do) attribute the ideas to people and quality to the
ideas, but as we agree there is this process of social & intellectual
interaction, and the originator of framing the idea in a strict
intellectual content sense, is not necessarily more important in the
grand scheme of things (even within one particular school) than say
someone involved in how it is spread rhetorically and socially.

Sorry for the yawn. I guess I was using the metaphilosophical point to
illustrate the very philosophical point (unnecessarily in your case).
Ian

>
> Ian said:
> Firstly the fact that social and intellectual are NOT simply
> distinct and hierarchical is not any one person's idea (all
> ideas evolve - Pirsig).
>
>
> Matt:
> I'm sorry, Ian, but I'm really yawning at this comment.
> .... Because
> I'm pretty sure Steve and I, at the least, are well aware
> of the theoretical point about process and the sociality of
> thinking.
>
> And I, for one, still find utility in the notion of "invention."[.... ]
> I still
> feel the need to use a notion like "genius" to refer to
> people who left a bigger impression on ideas than the
> other people.
>
> Matt