[MD] Windmills and Intellectual Pots

[skutvik at online.no]

Matt

On 18 Dec. you asked  Mati,

> I haven't been following very closely Paul's conversation with Bo. 
> Part of it is because I never could really put my finger on what the
> SOL thesis was supposed to be.  After my own long conversation with Bo
> I was left at the end not really knowing what it was he was arguing
> for or against, at least in specificity.  Through the conversation I
> was led from one extreme, SOL is a radical departure from Pirsig and
> Lila, to the other, SOL is a minor deviation (if that) from Pirsig,
> and back again.  I could never figure out how seriously I should be
> taking it.

Mati may have left for his "Yuletide" holidays so let me step in.
Funny, I found you the one who understood - if not being 
persuaded. You are right about it shifting between a minor 
deviation and some radical departure. This depends on what 
Pirsig one choses to listen to. I claim, as you know that the SOL 
is the original Quality idea.

> So I have one question.  Is this the SOL thesis?

> SOL thesis:
> The intellectual level of the Metaphysics of Quality developed in Lila
> is (should be) the distinction between mind and matter.

Yes, it is. The mind/matter however is a rather late stage of the 
subject/object distinction, heck, even the S/O is late, the general 
idea is as ZMM describes it: A huge upheaval from the 
mythological reality to one that regarded the old age as 
superstition. After the Dark Age's lapse back to the myths, 
modernity resumed its march and the rest is history. About 
modernity becoming the intellectual level and myths the social 
you know by now.  

> I don't think that thesis is a good idea, but at least knowing that
> that is what's being argued for would give some good perspective on
> what I should be thinking about.

Keep thinking

Bo