[MD] Junk Stuff

[david buchanan]

Dave said:
A few days ago I indicated that I was done with trying to understand Pirsig's Metaphysics of Quality because of the "kludges" he's used to fix errors in his thinking. ... IMHO Pirsig's attempt to separate the word "intellect" from "intellectual" by claiming "intellect is thought about anything" is both 'not so smart' and 'pretty ridiculous'.  ... I will admit that part of my problem with Pirsig on this issue is ego based. I've spent the majority of my life as a designer and believe that designing is, in part, an intellectual activity.  Under the MoQ, design is either not an intellectual activity or it only emerged as one after the Classic Greek period. I believe that both premises are wrong.



dmb says:

You know, Dave, I don't see anything like an argument in your complaints. It just looks like a frustrated guy throwing insults around. Criticism is a really productive and wonderful thing if you do it right. Like a home-improvement project, it always entails an implicit admission that things aren't quite as good as they could be. But your criticisms seem to be aimed knocking the MOQ whenever it makes you feel uncomfortable about your own personal morals and values and attitudes. Your admission that your problem with the MOQ is ego based strikes me a the truest thing you've ever said here. 

Let's face it, the MOQ does not flatter your sensibilities. There is a very wide streak of anti-intellectualism in our culture and those attitudes are not exactly painted as a good thing in the MOQ. And so we see lots of resistance to the intellect in various ways around here, most of which are far more egregious than your's by the way. But still. I think it's fairly ridiculous to accuse Pirsig of errors in thinking in such a flippant and unfounded way. It can be done, of course. Nobody is above critical scrutiny. But you're all attitude here. There is no actual critical analysis, at least as far as I can tell.
Your "argument" seems to be based on nothing but naked declarations of error and wrongness. It's just an expression of disapproval but it is so lacking in any real substance that it's hard to even respond. It's like trying to block a punch that was never thrown. 

Anyway, I don't mean to pull you back in just when you were trying to move on. 

Happy trails.