[MD] Trance state

[Platt Holden]

Hi Marsha,

> >[Marsha]
> > > I agree with you, but what would the Science Inquisitor say?
> >
> >My guess is that she would say what Pirsig believed she would say,
> namely:
> >
> >"The first are the philosophers of science, most particularly the group
> >known as logical positivists, who say that only the natural sciences
> can
> >legitimately investigate the nature of reality, and that metaphysics is
> >simply a collection of unprovable assertions that are unnecessary to
> the
> >scientific observation of reality. For a true understanding of reality,
> >metaphysics is too 'mystical.'"
> 
> Greetings Platt,
> 
> Dogma by any other name.  The Science Inquisitor defends dogma as did 
> Heinrich Kramer persecute in the name of  religious doctrine.  "It's 
> Science, therefore it must be closer to Truth".  Baloney!   And there 
> are some here who seem to yield too quickly.

No doubt about it. Dogma is an apt word to describe the intellectual trance 
Pirsig identified as SOM. Further, there's a cultural immune system that 
protects dogma from "deviants" -- like anyone who dares question scientific 
Truth. 

Platt