[MD] Pantheism as Seen by the MOQ

[John Carl]

Greetings Arlo,

You are both absolutely right and absolutely wrong in your reaction to
Platt's post.  You are right when you point out that Platt's Pirsig quote
actually supports, nurtures and reinforces the "Worshippers of Mother Nature
in the church of environmentalism".  You are wrong though in your analysis
of his reason for doing so.

You really, really have  issues with this guy, I know.  But it blinds you
somewhat to what he actually says.

Heck, you've got such blinder on concerning Platt, you even only see me in
relation to him!:

"With John, I don't know, he admits to being ignorant about theories
of emergence, but this does not seemingly stop him from (at the very
least) supporting Platt's sophomoric mischaracterization."

See?  What I say doesn't matter nearly as much as whether it support's
Platt's position.

Isn't that a bit dogmatic?

But hey, don't take it as criticism.  Knock yourself out if that's what you
enjoy.  Personally, I hate shadowboxing and losing.

John


On Wed, Jan 13, 2010 at 6:45 AM, Arlo Bensinger <ajb102 at psu.edu> wrote:

> [Platt]
>
> Worshippers of Mother Nature in the church of environmentalism would do
> well to ponder the following passage from Pirsig's MOQ:
>
> [Arlo]
> Sometimes you are so blinded by your zeal to post your pet quotes, you miss
> the irony that they actually support the very thing you think you are
> attacking. Aside from the moronic conflation here, and the always insipid
> attempt to paint environmentalism broadly as a "theism", your quote serves
> the notion that the lack of connectedness in modern society is a result of
> "theism" (separating "man" not only from his environment but denying
> interconnectedness in toto), as opposed to "pantheistic" thinking. The
> "scientific intellectual culture" of "millions of isolated people" stems
> from the S/O bent of Western Culture, a view that "man" is somehow forever
> "outside", an observer, a dis-connected isolated thing- the opposite view
> from those your deceptive rhetoric tries to attack. If you are going to use
> your pet quotes, at least take the time to make sure you understand them.
>
> "I know what it is! We've arrived at the West Coast! We're all strangers
> again! Folks, I just forgot the biggest gumption trap of all. The funeral
> procession! The one everybody's in, this hyped-up, fuck-you, supermodern,
> ego style of life that thinks it owns this country. We've been out of it for
> so long I'd forgotten all about it." (ZMM)
>
>
>
>
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