[MD] Ah-ha Qua Ah-ha

[Matt Kundert]

Hi Marsha,

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

Matt:
You might find a potted understanding of what I mean here:
http://pirsigaffliction.blogspot.com/2007/12/philosophical-antiauthoritarianism.html
The summary begins at the 5th paragraph (and only goes for about 4).  
It is a summary of ideas I've been trying to understand since writing 
"Philosophologology" and "Pirsig Institutionalized," both in the moq.org 
Essay Forum.  I find that what you mean by "relativism" is basically all 
I mean by "philosophical antiauthoritarianism," so I tried shoving both 
marbles in at once.  I have a mouth a lot more flexible than most, I've 
gathered over the years.

Marsha said:
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."?

Matt:
Just an observation about a shift in tone that invariably occurs in all 
of our conversations.  What typically happens is that you comment 
nicely about something I've said, I open my mouth, and you become 
progressively more and more defensive and tonally resentful (housed 
variously in irony, sarcasm, and imperious questions).  That's just my 
first-hand experience, at least.

Marsha said:
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.

Matt:
I know.  And I was trying to put my finger on what I sense as a conflict 
in your perceived balance between intellectualizing and an appreciation 
of its limitations.  Because, for those of us who don't constantly 
acknowledge that intellectualizing isn't the whole ball of wax in life, we 
get pounced upon by those who think we don't, thereby, acknowledge 
it at all.  I think this conflict is an extension of how one conceives of 
intellectualizing and the language/experience distinction.

Glad you're enjoying Lear.

Matt