[MD] Mystics, Brains -- Matt has a question

[Squonkriff at aol.com]

Hey Mark,

Matt said:
The sum total of our mind _is_ metaphors,  "analogues upon analogues upon 
analogues."

Mark asked:
How may the  moq avoid Idealism if this is so?

Matt:
This is the question the early  pragmatists struggled with.
 
The rough and 
ready, quick and dirty answer is that if we eliminate the  notion of 
representation, then we eliminate the possibility of idealism and  realism.

The sequence is something like this:  Realists say that the  world is 
represented by images in our mind.  Idealists point out that  if this is so, 
then the only connection we have with the world is in our  mind, thus cutting 
out the world.  Pragmatists shortcircuit the whole  thing by saying that our 
connection to the world is not one of  representation.  We are pushed around 
by the world, and what we call  our "minds" is simply a tool by which we make 
our way around the world, not  our means of connection.

In Pirsigian language, the answer would be  something like: since Quality is 
reality, and our connection with the world  would be one of evaluation, who 
would ever get it into their heads that  there was a problem with getting 
outside of them?  Value begins at the  bottom, not in the "mind."  What we 
call the "mind" is just a set of  patterns of value aimed at controlling 
other evolved patterns of value  (social-->biological, 
intellectual-->social), which is to say, a tool  by which we make our way 
around the world, not our means of  connection.

Matt
 
Mark 24-01-07: Thanks Matt.
It occurs to me all values may exist in a divine mind, and as such the moq  
may be regarded as a form of idealism.
Love,
Mark