[MD] Intellectual activity

[Ham Priday]

Hi Platt -- 

 > If the world was created in "man's image," what of existence of the
> world before man came upon the scene? Your description sounds
> suspiciously like Idealism. As for "differentiated pieces" as being the
> ONLY thing we can sense as having value, I refer to Ant's lengthy post
> to Scott dated  6 May in which he describes the value we directly
> experience of the "aesthetic continuum" whereby the figure and ground
> are known simultaneously without differentiation. (Gestalt Theory).

I'm always amused when people "accuse" me of being an idealist, as if this
was something I was trying to hide.  Your use of the word "suspiciously"
makes the accusation sound even more sinister.  Yes, Platt, I consider
myself an idealist, but not quite in the sense that Plato was, if that
explains your cap "I".

The world's existence before man is a moot point from several perspectives.
Firstly, if experience creates the universe (as Mr. Pirsig suggests), there
is no world prior to man.  Secondly, if time (and space) are constructs of
man's intellect (also an MoQ inference), then man's world and reality are
"co-eternally" absolute.  I'm of the opinion that space/time is the mode of
human awareness, and that its dual nature reflects the self/other dichotomy
which makes being-aware possible.  Change (or evolution) in what we
experience as "being" is a primary factor in the realization of value, but
it does not occur in the essential Source which is immutable.  Which is one
reason I don't discuss metaphysics from an evolutionary viewpoint.

I've tried reading the Ant-Scott dialogue, which you've recently praised,
but got lost in the Undifferentiated Aesthetic Continuum.  To me that's an
oxymoron.  Can you conceive of an aesthetic phenomenon that isn't
differentiated?  The very basis of art, music, and the color or sonic
spectrum that applies to them is relative and differential.  Morality is
another example: Could you have good and evil without difference?  Would you
know excellence from mediocrity in an undifferentiated continuum?  Existence
is a highly differentiated, multiplistic experience, and the greatest
difference is between awareness and beingness.

> Beauty is a sensibility that overcomes estrangement and finitude IMO.

If by Beauty you mean essential Value, we're in agreement.  Value is the
transcendent factor in human experience.  It is man's true "essence" because
it represents his connection to the Absolute Source.  However, I doubt very
much that we are capable of sensing this value in its undifferentiated
purity.  Since our realization of values is psycho-somatic, it is
necessarily restricted by the sensory limitations of our biological
organism.  Although the mystical experience of Nirvana is alleged to
"overcome" these limitations, I don't see how this is possible for a normal
human being.  This is not to knock meditative "states" of contemplation,
which can remove distractions and lead to introspective insight.  But as for
realizing the undifferentiated value of Essence, I tend to look at such
claims (to use your word) "suspiciously".

I'm pleased to hear that you consider Beauty far beyond its
"bio-propagational" aspects. However, you may have misinterpreted my mention
of "dissonance" in connection with the development of a musical composition.

> Yes, the ugly (dissonance) is sometimes deliberately fostered by
> artists to make the resolution all the more beautiful by contrast.

This was not what I had in mind.  I was referring to dissonant intervals and
unresolved chordal progressions in the music of Beethoven, Rachmaninoff,
etc.  Music is an art form that spans time.  Great music, like a good novel
or an adventurous life, works its themes through a series of conflicts and
struggles to reach a synthesis that inspires us.  That's the essence of
values like beauty.  To achieve joy we must endure some pain.  Next time you
get to hear Beethoven's 9th, listen for that single dissonant chord that
introduces the Choral movement and presages the joy to come.

Have a beautiful day,
Ham