[MD] Ah-ha Qua Ah-ha

[MarshaV]

Hello Matt,

On Nov 22, 2010, at 2:24 PM, Matt Kundert wrote:

> 
> Matt said:
> You wish to isolate the "ah-ha moment" _as_ ah-ha moment 
> (ah-ha qua ah-ha, as it were).
> 
> Marsha said:
> It will be a false isolation, but yes, I am addressing what I see as an 
> experience of realization. (Btw, that isolating to theorize is an 
> example of reification and typical of intellectualizing, imho.)
> 
> Matt:
> This exchange occurred a day or two ago, and my first response was 
> to say that this was an important qualification with "many implications" 
> (I gestured vaguely).  As I've been thinking about the oddity of talking 
> to Marsha, for whom the notion of "assertion" is itself authoritarian 
> and anathema, I thought I might put the point by saying that, while 
> Marsha is right that the notion of assertion is by its very nature 
> authoritarian and arrogant, to vacate the space of assertion in 
> philosophical conversation is to turn a _dialogue_ into an _exchange 
> of monologues_.  The proper behavioral consequence that Marsha 
> has been looking for in excavating the notion of "relativism," I think, is 
> just this, but I hesitate to say it out loud except in a near-by room 
> with the door closed for fear of violating the new norm.
> 
> If this seems funny, it is at the same time true of the consequences 
> of the antiauthoritarian relativism Marsha has been pursuing, and lies 
> at the heart of what I called a conflict between Marsha's desires--one 
> to sit in silence, the other to actually talk to other people.  I think
> Marsha genuinely wants to dialogue with other people, but the mere 
> hint of authority or assertional dominance pisses her off.  I find 
> Marsha's dialogic style emblematic of the general pattern of 
> discourse of Pirsigians.


Hi Matt,

What exactly do you mean by 'antiauthoritarian relativism.'  Without 
explanation those two words seem a mouthful of marbles.  

I very rarely get pissed off, so I might ask how you've jumped to the 
conclusion that "assertional dominance" (Whatever that is?) "pisses her 
off."?   

The last thing is to tell you I like to intellectualize or I wouldn't be 
participating in this forum.  While I appreciate the limitation of 
intellectualizing, I enjoy its many benefits.  

For now I'll let other respond to the rest of your post.  


Marsha