[MD] Language and Tigers

[John Carl]

Matt,

You touched upon two issues near and dear to my heart.  The first issue is
encapsulated by the aphorism, "metaphysics ain't for sissies"

It takes a cool hand and a brave heart to face one's fundaments, to trot
them out for universal criticism and disaprobation.

So good on you, for dealing so openly and honestly with this clearly and
well, describing what we do here, and what is at stake.

The second issue, is related to the first and is illuminated by another of
my (ahem) famous sayings, "Quality can only be defined in Experience"



> What's the best way to write about Pirsig?
>
>
What I mean by "defined in Experience" is the comparison of my experience
with yours and others - the Intersubjective realization of Quality process.
 When Quality in your life is especially noticed, and you do your best at
communicating that experience, and I read your communication with empathy, I
KNOW what you mean, even though we can't completely define the Quality that
you experience.

Thus our process is an infinite one and I really like what  Steve said about
it, and your response:

Steve said:

[Quality] is undefined because it is inexhaustably

describable.


Matt:

This is awesome because it never occurred to me to gloss

Quality's undefinition this way.


That seems exactly right to me.  That our project is not a negative process
(jumping all over people who define Quality wrongly, or proving to them the
impossibility of their endeavors) but a positive one - constantly defining
and reifying Quality, always getting closer, but never exhausting the
possibilities of what can be said.

Smilin' John