[MD] Doing Some Good

[Dan Glover]

Hello everyone

Here, it's a rainy day. The irises are in bloom and birds are singing in treetops like troops of banana-besotted baboons. I got up late this morning, sensed the gloom of the day, and decided to stay home and drink coffee rather than go to the office. When a person is self-employed you find you can do things like that and there is no one to bitch at you for it but yourself.

I've been reading through the moq.discuss posts. I find there is value here, even if it is hard to see, sometimes, although I have to say, I do enjoy pie. Sometimes, it seems as if everyone is talking at once and no one is saying anything. It is one of those days when I begin to wonder why I bother at all. As my mind gradually awakens and begins its own chatter, I put my gloomy thoughts off to the weather and let my fingers tinkle the keyboard unbidden.

I'd like to spend a few of our precious moments together exploring the relationship between doing what is right in contradistinction to doing what is Good. I think this might pertain to gav's plea for less acrimony and more enlightenment. But I will leave that for you all to decide for yourself.

Andre reminds us of what Robert Pirsig says in the On The Road dvd (and I paraphrase): Doing what's right is static quality. Doing what's Good is Dynamic Quality. Static quality is continually evolving towards the freedom of Dynamic Quality, or in other words, towards extinction. I think that answers Platt's question quite well... why survive? Nothing survives. It is a short-sighted viewpoint of reality to believe otherwise. The old survives just long enough to give rise to the new and then fades away.

I think when we post here, we post with the conviction that we're right. When two opposing views intersect, arguments invariably result: Chattering monkeys each intent on dominating and informing other monkeys of that domination. We are right, by gum, and we're going to make sure all the world knows we're right. We tend to forget there's no right and no wrong when it comes to static quality patterns of value. There is only value.

Doing what's Good entails stepping back from the tumult of being right. It begins by acknowledging that we could be wrong. It progresses into seeing that there are many different viewpoints to seeing the world as it really is... as many different viewpoints as there are those doing the viewing. When we begin to see how much alike we all are we begin to develop a sense of empathy for others.

We're trapped between eternities. We are born from a darkness most profound, kicking and screaming into a world we'll never understand, and we pass away back into that darkness most profound. Along the way we make up stories to pacify ourselves... stories of heaven and hell and redemption and reincarnation. Allah loves us yet He won't take the time to save us, the Bastard. The wheel of life goes round and round as some of us jump on and some fall off.

The Buddha said (and again, I paraphrase): It's Good to open our eyes and see the world for it is: a pathway of suffering leading through a hell dotted with the rotting carcasses of our dreams. The world is built on foundations of sorrow stronger than concrete.

We are all here sowing confusion in the midst of our futile pursuit for truth. We're taught to respect authority even though there's no one who really knows. Others reject authority and in their righteousness call others derogatory names as if they just don't know any better. But no one need tell us what's Good and what's not...

As I said, it's a gloomy day. I ask myself: In a world destined to collapse by the weight of its very existence, how does a single solitary person do some Good? It seems a fair question to ask. Robert Pirsig says we can do some Good by striving to become better people. But what does that mean? Better than what?

I've noticed that some people are what might be called "toxic". It's hard to be around people like that. They tend to bring others down. They cling to their own sense of right and wrong like they're clinging to life itself. We all know people like this. I've learned over the years that it's best to avoid them when possible.

A few people though are always attempting to bring the best out in others. They're not necessarily trying to help others, but rather they attempt to help others help themselves. I remember when I was working on LILA'S CHILD... I told a family member what I was up to and how Robert Pirsig was adding his annotations to the book. The family member asked me: how much money does he want for that?

The question stopped me in my tracks. It'd never occurred to me that he would want any money. But the question nagged at me. Finally, I thought it best to write Mr. Pirsig a letter and ask him if he indeed wanted any payment. He was so gracious... of course he didn't want any money. He was doing it for the same reason I was: for the Goodness of it.

I thought about this a lot. Most people I know do not do things just for the Good of it. They go to work every day in order to earn a living. They make money. They pay their bills. They believe in doing what's right. Civilization depends on people doing what's right. There's nothing wrong with that.

A few people feel compelled to go beyond the every day righteousness, however. The artist cannot help but paint, or sculpt, or write, just like the drunkard cannot help but drink. The money doesn't matter. Being right doesn't matter. All paths though they may diverge in the forest come back to intersect at the end of the journey. It seems Good though to recognize some compulsions are better than others.

Here's where we may be able to do some Good: The MOQ gives us a moral tool for analyzing our compulsions. Viewing reality as an evolutionary heirarchy allows us to intellectually see how biological and social forces by and large determine our lives.

Well, you know I sure like drinking Coke (after being sold socially my whole life on how much I'm sure I like drinking Coke and it bites just right at the back of my throat, too) but biologically, it's undermining my health. Maybe I'll drink tea instead. And I've been sitting here in this chair for way too long... maybe I'll get off my lazy ass and take a long walk. That's Quality for sure.

Let's explore some weightier issues: Well, you know Mom would rather stay with us than go into the nursing home, but no one is going to blame us for doing what's right and making sure she gets the best biological care possible. It is a great nursing home. And besides, if she moved in with us it would only socially disrupt the household and make everybody miserable.

On the other hand, Mom has been Good to us her whole life and now she needs us. We don't care if it does disrupt the household. We're a family. We do Good by each other. We step up. Both choices are right but only one is Good. We all know that, right?

Well, here it is nearly evening and still gloomy and overcast. Enough musing for the day. Thanks for reading.

Dan
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