[MD] Necessary complications

[david buchanan]

Krimel said:
Pirsig does a pretty good job with this in ZMM. I will never understand why he messes it up so in Lila.


Ian replied:
It's blindingly obvious why the approach changes in Lila - you call it messing up, I call it introducing some probably unnecessary complications. Hey, that's life. He wanted to address his rhetorical arguments in ZMM to a more formal philosophy audience in Lila. 


dmb says:

The only thing that Lila "messes up" is a bad reading of Zen and the Art. The latter gives us, as Pirsig put it, a metaphysical system that consists of just one word: Quality. Lila is a refinement. Unless you've misread the first book, the second book is only helpful and clarifying. If you've misread the first book, the second book will seem quite unsettling to you because it'll expose the inadequacy of your understanding.

Bo would be exhibit "A" in this case. 

Blaming Pirsig for your own shortcomings as a reader and a thinker is preposterous, which is latin for bass-ackwards.