[MD] Essentials for target practice

[Mary]

Hi Ham,

In the past you and I have disagreed and I don't agree with everything you
say below, but you have made some very interesting points.  Some of the
freshest stuff I've read on here in a long time.  I only have a minute right
now, but I wanted you to know that.  

Mary

- The most important thing you will ever make is a realization.


> -----Original Message-----
> From: moq_discuss-bounces at lists.moqtalk.org [mailto:moq_discuss-
> bounces at lists.moqtalk.org] On Behalf Of Ham Priday
> Sent: Tuesday, June 29, 2010 2:20 AM
> To: moq_discuss at moqtalk.org
> Subject: Re: [MD] Essentials for target practice
> 
> Dear Marsha --
> 
> 
> > Ham
> >
> > I want you to always have a home on the MD.  Your
> > contributions are very important to me.  I wish I could
> > easily translate your 12-point manifesto into MoQ language.
> 
> Thanks for the encouraging sentiment.  It's very sweet of you, Marsha.
> Although I appreciate the thought, I didn't expect my fundamentals to
> be
> translatable into MoQ language.  Since they represent an alternative
> view, I
> wanted them to be considered on their own merit, and was curious to
> learn
> who would accept them on that basis.
> 
> But the longer I dwell in Qualityland, the more I realize that
> philosophers -- especially those who are revered as cultural icons --
> are
> prone to having their work 'dogmatized' by their acolytes.  I've
> suggested
> before (and I don't mean it to be disparaging) that the MoQ evolved as
> a
> cultist movement appealing mostly to elitists and liberal arts majors
> seeking a New Age replacement for religion and scientific objectivism.
> I
> think Pirsig envisioned himself as a latter-day Pied Piper who would
> lead
> the Flower Children out of authoritarian enslavement into a romantic
> era of
> aesthetic appreciation.
> 
> The novels alone seduce the reader with analogies and metaphors that
> preach
> collectivism with Quality as its credo.  The philosophy fits right into
> the
> the egalitarian and "greening" movements of recent decades, while
> slighting
> individualism and free-market capitalism as either "egoistic" or
> outworn,
> greed-based ideologies dominated by the "social level".  Now there's
> nothing
> wrong in having a liberal persuasion; indeed, it's the prevailing view
> of
> authors and journalists in our time.  It becomes problematic, however,
> when
> a philosopher weaves his thesis so as to promote his brand of "social
> reform".  Is the resulting product then a philosophy or a social
> polemic?
> And, if it's the latter, why does he call it a "metaphysics"?
> 
> The Lila passage you've recently quoted is an example of what I'm
> talking
> about:
> 
> "While sustaining biological and social patterns
> Kill all intellectual patterns.
> Kill them completely
> And then follow Dynamic Quality
> And morality will be served."
> 
> This startling declaration comes at the end of Phaedrus's journey when
> he
> loses Lila to Rigel, and it paraphrases a Buddhist poem that likens
> nirvana
> to being "completely dead."  He blames his lover's obstinate behavior
> on
> "the static patterns that were really going to kill her if she didn't
> let
> go."  But if biological and social patterns represented Lila's
> depressed
> life style, why kill the very patterns that might save her?  Without
> intellect, Phaedrus himself would never have arrived at the philosophy
> he's
> espousing.  It's a dramatic flourish that sounds profound in a romance
> novel, but it undermines the highest quality "static patterns" in
> Pirsig's
> hierarchy.
> 
> Yet, passages like the above are doggedly sought out and requoted as
> gems of
> wisdom for the practicing MoQist -- if only they can comprehend the
> meaning
> of it.  That's why novels and poetry are not well suited to
> articulating
> philosophy.  It's also why, after five years, the game of "Pirsig says"
> has
> lost its appeal to me.
> 
> Kindest regards,
> Ham
> 
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