[MD] regarding American Indian culture

[Ron Kulp]

Hi Ron:

[Ron]
> All,
> 
> To lump all the nations of American Indian into one conception is a
> fallacy.
> 
> Every nation and tribe within it has varying language and social
morals
> and customs.

Platt:
Excellent point. In fact, many fallacies stem from lumping individuals
into 
groups. 

> As I know of, Robert Pirsig only spent ONE evening at a sacred ritual
> usually reserved for
> social members only. Pirsigs assumptions are loosely based about a
> culture he new little about
> in a personal experience kind of way.
> 
> I would not accredit him as any kind of an authority on native
culture.
> But his insights about
> this fact are on the money, which is the point of Lila.
> 
> He' doesn't know diddly about women either but he wrote about Lila,
> which illustrated his point
> that we really do not know anything about anyone but ourselves. What
we
> THINK we know
> is predicated on preconception.
Platt:
I don't see any difference between what we know and what we think we
know. 
What am I missing?

Ron;
That was a direct statement, you are not missing anything per my
statement above.

> So unless you are native and live on the res, and are immersed in the
> culture  then there is'nt ahell of a lot
> for you to say accurately ..is there?

Platt:
Well, we do accept truth from authorities. If my wife tells me she's 
pregnant, I believe her even if I can't directly experience being
pregnant. 
But, your point is well taken. If you live with and are immersed in a 
particular group, you are more likely to accurately describe the group's

values than an outsider.

Ron:
That was my whole point, I greatly appreciated your response to the
post.

Thanks Platt