[MD] Platt's Individual Level

[Platt Holden]

Hi Steve,

> Pirsig considers
> the individual to be a collection of static patterns of all four types
> with the ability to respond to DQ, so you can see that Platt is talking
> about something completely different when he equates the individual with
> just the fourth level that should not be confused with the moq.

Correction. I do NOT "equate the individual with just the fourth 
level."  I agree the individual exists at all four levels plus the 
ability to respond to DQ. But the individual DOMINATES the fourth level 
which is in constant conflict with the CONFORMITY demanded by the 
social level.

Commenting on the era of the 20's and the rise to dominance of the 
intellectual level, Pirsig wrote: "Literature emphasized the struggle 
of the noble, free-thinking individual against the crushing oppression 
of evil social conformity. The Victorians were damned for their narrow-
mindedness, their social pretentiousness. The test of what was good, of 
what had Quality, was no longer 'Does it meet society's approval?' but 
'Does it meet the approval of our intellect?' It was this issue of 
intellect versus society that made the Scopes trial of 1925 such a 
journalistic sensation." 

Occupying the intellectual level are "free thinking individuals" 
arrayed against the "crushing oppression of evil social conformity."

Hope this clarifies my view of the individual level.

Regards,
Platt