[MD] Towards a better world

[plattholden at gmail.com]

Hi All:

Pirsig wrote in ZAMM:

"My personal feeling is this is how any further improvement of the world will 
be done: by individuals making Quality decisions and that's all."

But, what are "Quality decisions?" 

Many of us have agreed that Quality decisions involve the deliberate pursuit 
of an aesthetic response, both in the act of doing and in the end result. A 
similar answer is proposed in a book entitled, "The Mind at Work," reviewed 
in today's Wall St. Journal:

"You might consider getting a job waiting tables after reading Mike Rose's 
'The Mind at Work.' Rose emphatically does not romanticize the workers he 
describes, who include electricians, welders and waitresses. Rather he 
shows how mentally absorbing work can be for those who cultivate a 
particular skill, however narrow that skill might seem. A restaurant is both 
structured and chaotic. The busier it gets, the more 'on' an experienced 
waitress tends to become, at once calmed and energized by an awareness 
of her own skillful performance. She moves in a circuit of heightened 
efficiency that gets smoother with each added demand. She does this while 
keeping the cook happy and the cranky customer docile, and playing you like 
a fiddle to get a bigger tip. She is sort of an entrepreneur. In this deeply 
humane book, Rose helps us see the human excellence  all around us, in 
jobs that often go unnoticed."  

Another title of the book might be, "Zen and the Art of Working Beautifully 
to Create a Better World."

Regards,
Platt