[MD] Intellect Worship

[John Carl]

"He was really on top of the world now, he supposed ... at the opposite end
of some kind of incredible social spectrum from where he'd been twenty years
ago, bouncing through South Chicago in that hard-sprung police truck on the
way to the insane asylum.
Was it any better now?

He honestly didn't know.

... in one world, he was at the rock bottom of the whole human heap and in
the other world he was at the absolute top."

Lila


Steve]

Sometimes I get the impression that the MOQ is about becoming more
> intellectual. Intellect, as the highest static level, is too revered.
>


John]


You and I are on the same page here, Steve.  Always mistrust any
metaphysical entity which puts itSelf on the top of the heap.

Steve]



> I have news for some of you: Phaedrus is not a hero. Phaedrus is
> Pirsig's embodiment of intellectual values as Rigel is for social
> values, Lila is for biological values, and perhaps the boat is for
> inorganic values. However, none of these characters represent the
> ideal of what we should aspire to be.



John]

Nice.  Although, in my discourse with Bo I postulated putting rocks on top
of the heap, but now that you mention it, I'd rather be a boat.

Also, I think the passage I  quoted shows Phaedrus as the hero, not because
of his intellectual attainments, but because he triumphs (in the end) over
the forces of low social quality - which takes more than intellectual
analysis - it takes social achievement and  then social choice based upon
intellectual analysis.  Which makes him a big hero in my book.

Instead I think the MOQ is about
> integrating the biological, social, intellectual, and dynamic aspects
> of ourselves rather than being dominated by intellectual patterns.
> Consider Pirsig's description of Phasedrus in ZAMM:
>
>
I do.  I consider ZAMM somewhat along the lines of W. James' "philosophy"
and the Eastern ways of liberation - not so much a well-thought-out system
of metaphysics as psychotherapy for intellectualism.




>
> Phaedrus is not the Zen Master of the story, he is Mr Spock. He is an
> aspect of Pirsig's personality and not, I assume, what Pirsig aspires
> to be. Nor should we. Nor should we be so caught up in the top dog
> status of intellect. This mistake has contributed to making who were
> once the MOQs two top priests into heretics.
>
>
Well I'm not even sure who you are talking about there, but I like your line
of thinking Steve.

John