[MD] Drug User or Genius?

[Akshay Peshwe]

I'm not Victorian in any sense, let alone morality (by the way I'm Indian).
But I'm opposed to the use of drugs and sex. It is really very immoral and
inferior for a person who values intellectualism.

This is the only issue that I have come in disagreement with Pirsig in Lila.
Phaedrus, whom I so much admired (yeah, you could say it's the teenage idol
syndrome) suddenly turned out to be a sexed up man who goes around bars
drinking and smoking, no matter of what intellectual stature he be. And if
you let that be fiction, Pirsig's also married *twice*.

Any comments on this?


Akshay


On 4/2/07, Akshay Peshwe <akshay.infosys at gmail.com> wrote:
>
>
> Although it could be pointed out that there were many persons having
> achieved a level of excellency in their chosen profession, it certainly can
> not be attributed to their endeavours marked by negative addiction. What
> then can be said about the strict celebataires like Sir Isaac Newton, whose
> romance life ended at age 17 before which he "entertained a mere passion for
> Miss Anne Storer", who stayed in his lodgings (read wikipedia for more)?
>
> In fact, I'd argue that since biological quality is way lower than
> intellectual quality, there are going to be certain biological patterns that
> are going to be harmful to a pure intellectual life, and that Picasso could
> definitely have been better off without those pleasures in the long term.
>
> I've also disagreed with Napoleon Hill over this point. Sure, his
> techniques of "sex transmutation" may be very useful, but the claim he makes
> that geniuses are so sexed up is very strange to me. I suppose intellectuals
> should try to stay away from unnecessary biological and social activities.
> I'm with Sidis on this one.
>
> Akshay
>
>  On 3/30/07, pholden at davtv.com < pholden at davtv.com> wrote:
> >
> > Quoting david buchanan < dmbuchanan at hotmail.com>:
> >
> > > Platt asked Arlo:
> > > Are you suggesting those who rob to feed their drug habit are better
> > than
> > > Einstein or Picasso?
> > >
> > > dmb says:
> > > I recently learned that Picasso stole food and booze from his
> > neighbors. He
> > > and his pals were abusing all sorts of substances and (gasp) rarely
> > had
> > > proper jobs. He spent his money on prostitutes and intentionally left
> > his
> > > door open when he painted in the nude with the hope of getting some
> > hot
> > > passer-by action from the neighbor ladies. He had a pan that he used
> > for
> > > both cooking and pissing. Even Einstein was a bit of a bohemian type
> > back in
> > > those days. And yet almost everybody thinks these guys were among the
> > > greastest artists ever. I think this only makes sense. There is
> > something
> > > about creativity that just doesn't mix well with a life of obedience
> > and
> > > conformity to social norms. I don't know if rebelliousness is a
> > necessary
> > > ingredient, exactly, but its something like that. Pirsig's term
> > "contrarian"
> > > really works on a bunch of levels, I think.
> >
> > Good point. I understand geniuses are likely to be sex machines. That
> > lets me
> > out.
> >
> >
> >
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