[MD] Distinguishing Levels

[Platt Holden]

[Case]
> I have in the past responded with horror to his chapter on evolution. I
> standby that. My horror stems from the fact that there is a way of
> reading it that seems to imply betterness in the sense of superiority
> and teleology, which is the sense I am assuming you mean. Yet even in my
> state of horror I do not take Pirsig's use of the terms, "better",
> "prefer" or "value" to be jumping of points for chauvinism and jingoism.
> But if you really mean "better" in the sense of "more balanced", "more
> harmonious" then we are on the same page... maybe. 
 
Better to me in terms of evolution means a more comprehensive 
consciousness, able to see and appreciate more of existence than lesser 
beings. A fish doesn't know it lives in an ocean. I consider myself 
better than a fish. That's why I have no moral compunctions about 
eating them.

Platt