[MD] Patterns

[Platt Holden]

Hi Chris:

[Arlo]
>Rail against repressive social patterns that
> immorally suppress intellectual patterns, but do not mistake the MOQ for a
> metaphysics that sees sociality as repressive, far from it, it considers it
> to be the foundational from which intellect emerges.

That the MOQ sees society as repressive of intellect is obvious, as witness 
the following quote:

"Intellect has its own patterns and goals that are as independent of 
society as society is independent of biology. A value metaphysics makes it 
possible to .see that there's a conflict between intellect and society 
that's just as fierce as the conflict between society and biology or the 
conflict between biology and death. Biology beat death billions of years 
ago. Society beat biology thousands of years ago. But intellect and society 
are still fighting it out, and that is the key to an understanding of both 
the Victorians and the twentieth century." (Lila, 21) 

That is why I find the whole idea that you and I are chained to social 
patterns and cannot ever be thought of independent selves and free agents 
to be utter nonsense. Pirsig himself demonstrates how an individual 
intellect can overcome dominant social patterns and be free-thinking  
"loner." 

Platt