[MD] Platt's Individual Level

[pholden at davtv.com]

Quoting Ham Priday <hampday1 at verizon.net>:


> But the "force of life", if that's how you and Pirsig want to refer to
> biological evolution, is not free.  It is subject to the laws and principles
> of natural selection, genetic mutation, cell morphogenesis, acclimatization,
> molecular chemistry, physiological metabolism, and a host of ecological and
> nutritional factors.  This is why animals depend on instinctual mechanisms
> for their survival.  Only man is free to choose options beyond these fixed
> behavior patterns, based on his individual values.

Quite right. The free force of life is now working through individual human beings.
 
> Your ingenuous use of the phrase "tap into DQ" to describe human creativity
> still bothers me.  I realize that you believe genetic or instinctive
> behavior is really cells and organisms seeking higher value, despite the
> fact that they are not conscious of value. 

I would say the body's immune system is value oriented.

>But that's only an
> anthropomorphic interpretation of behavior.  Surely plants and animals don't
> change their life-styles or behavior patterns by appreciating values or
> applying individual creativity; such changes occur over many centuries as a
> result of biological mutations, climatic conditions, or evolutionary factors
> peculiar to their species.  In a sense, unlike man, the organic world of
> plants and animals does function as a "collective".  Man is unique among the
> species in that he is the measure of all values and the decision-maker of
> his world.  I find that concept, which is most significant for me,
> conspicuous by its absence in Pirsig's writings.

I agree that for all intents and purposes, evolution currently at the biological
level has little significance if indeed it is occuring at all. The free force of 
life now operates through individaul human beings responding to it. The last 500
years has seen more evolutionary progress than in all the millions of years before,
thanks to Galileo, Newton, Faraday, Ampere, Helmholtz, Curie, Plank, Einstein and
other individual giants in the arts and sciences.

Regards,
Platt
 




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