[MD] ZMM (V. or &) LILA?

[Arlo Bensinger]

[Platt]
You can "embed" them all you want to, but Pirsig didn't. As for a 
philosopher changing his mind, you think that's some sort of a 
negative? I don't. I think it reflects the wisdom of maintaining an open mind.

[Arlo]
My point was twofold. First, the quote you offer does not contradict 
the one I gave, and as such is evidence of no change. Second, if 
Pirsig "changed his mind" I doubt he would continue to call his first 
book "the path to enlightenment". More likely, he'd say "skip it and 
read LILA".

"The Quality which creates the world emerges as a relationship 
between man and his experience." (ZMM)

"Although Dynamic Quality, the Quality of freedom, creates this world 
in which we live, these patterns of static quality, the quality of 
order, preserve our world. Neither static nor Dynamic Quality can 
survive without the other." (LILA)

These quotes do no deny each other. LILA does not contradict nor 
imply in any way ZMM is "wrong". He didn't say, for example, that the 
R/C spit was "wrong", or that Quality is no longer the best way to 
resolve it, he simply said that although Quality healed the R/C 
split, the R/C divide is not the best way to divide Quality. It is 
not a denial of the former, it is an extension.

Maybe Pirsig felt he didn't need to repeat everything he said, and as 
such isn't worried that if LILA does not contain an exact phrase from 
ZMM it will mean people think I've changed my mind. Maybe he gives us 
credit for being able to read and understand two whole books. Maybe 
he gives us credit for being able to take both the "path to 
enlightenment" and "the path back".

But that's just a guess.