[MD] Distinguishing Levels (Individual level)

[david buchanan]

Steve, Platt and all:

Steve aked Platt:
Can you cite any examples where Pirsig calls someone "a social level person" 
versus "a biological level person"? I really wish you could forget all your 
Wilbur and start over with Pirsig. They are really not saying the same 
thing. It's funny that you and DMB think so when you disagree about 
everyting else.

dmb says:
Obviously, I'm gonna disagree with you here, Steve. In several ways. As an 
example of Pirsig painting people in terms of the level of values that 
dominate them I'd offer LILA. And I don't just mean that particular 
character. I mean the whole book. As Pirsig said to Baggett,...

“In ZMM the narrative tends to dominate the intellectual part of the book - 
the metaphysics - but in LILA the metaphysics clearly dominates the 
narrative. The three main characters are metaphysical chess-pieces. Lila 
embodies biological values, Richard Rigel embodies social values, and 
Phaedrus embodies intellectual values. The reason none of them get along is 
because their values are mismatched.”

Or, as he puts it near the end of LILA's chapter 30,...

"Phaedrus saw nothing wrong with this ritualistic religion as long as the 
rituals are seen as merely a static portrayal of DQ, a sign-post which 
allows socially pattern-dominated people to see DQ. The problem has always 
been that the rituals, the static patterns, are mistaken for what they 
merely represent and are allowed to destroy the DQ they were originally 
intended to preserve."

And I'm not very interested in defending the similarities between Wilber and 
Pirsig, but I would like to say that I've not yet seen a case where Platt 
has correctly read Wilber. I mean, every time he invokes the name or quotes 
him, Platt misreads Wilber. His utter incorribibility kept me from saying 
much about it, but thought I'd mention it to you, Steve.

Oh, and if you're going to attact my postion in one of your posts, I think 
its only decent to address me at the time. Its also sort of uncool to assign 
positions to me out of thin air, without any reference to anything 
specifically asserted or even based on something I may have said many moons 
ago. I would certainly welcome any challange you care to issue. I'm just 
asking you to be a little less sleazy about it.

Thanks in advance,
dmb

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