[MD] Betternes - 4 levels of!

[david buchanan]

Mark said to dmb:
...And the quote you provided supports my contention.  Yes, static representations destroy Theism.  I have stated this before.  The paragraph is towards religion, I have said that as well.  The cat and dog metaphor is exactly what is going on here, and this is supposed to be philosophy not priesthood.  Are you disturbed by my presence here, unpredictable and uncontrollable?  Are you a bishop of some kind?  You are subscribing to static interpretations of MOQ, not me.  I wonder why you used that quote.



dmb says:

And I wonder why you always delete that quote from your responses to it. If you're disputing it and asking questions about it, why remove it? Are we trying to determine what Pirsig thinks or not? So why do Pirsig's comments disappear from your posts? That is no way to conduct an open and honest conversation about the MOQ. This is not dogmatism. It's just common sense and good manners. 

And no, static representations do not DESTROY religion. Religion IS a static representation. Rituals are nothing if not static. Institutions are nothing if they're not static. How can there be any kind of ism without static patterns? The philosophical picture known as the MOQ can't exist except as a set of static patterns. That's what metaphysics must be or there isn't any metaphysics. But the term "Dynamic Quality" refers to experience itself, not a thing or an idea or a set of gestures or symbols that refer to it. I think what happens is that the mystic, because he knows this experience directly, sees THROUGH the rituals and symbols and metaphors. The static patterns of religion become transparent like glass and, as everyone know, window are for looking through and not for looking at. Instead of seeing the light that comes through the window, theists worship the glass. It's like trying to drink the faucet instead of the water. It's like eating the menu.