[MD] Hot Stoves and What To Do About Them

[david buchanan]

dmb quoted the dictionary:

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> > involuntary |inˈvälənˌterē|adjective1 done without conscious control : she gave an involuntary shudder.• (esp. of muscles or nerves) concerned in bodily processes that are not under the control of the will.• caused unintentionally, esp. through negligence : involuntary homicide.2 done against someone's will; compulsory : a policy of involuntary repatriation.
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> > unconscious |ˌənˈkän sh əs|adjectivenot conscious : the boy was beaten unconscious.• done or existing without one realizing : he would wipe back his hair in an unconscious gesture of annoyance.• [ predic. ] ( unconscious of) unaware of : “What is it?” he said again, unconscious of the repetition.
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> > unpremeditated |ˌənpriˈmedəˌtātid; -prē-|adjective(of an act, remark, or state) not thought out or planned beforehand : it was a totally unpremeditated attack. See note at spontaneous .
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> > spontaneous |spänˈtānēəs|adjectiveperformed or occurring as a result of a sudden inner impulse or inclination and without premeditation or external stimulus : the audience broke into spontaneous applause | a spontaneous display of affection.• (of a person) having an open, natural, and uninhibited manner.


Steve replied:
I'm not sure what your point is. Are you contending that in the hot stove example Pirsig is describing a willed act?


dmb says:

I'm saying that responding to DQ can't rightly be described as unconscious or involuntary. I'm saying there is a good reason why we can't rightly talk about motorcycle repair as an involuntary action nor do we write essays unconsciously. And I'm suggesting there are better better terms to describe what it means to respond to DQ.
Pirsig main point in using the hot stove example, I think, is to show that DQ is not a metaphysical abstraction but a concrete empirical reality. He's saying the mystics will get off the stove first because they tend to be in closer contact with that pre-conceptual flux of life. For James and Pirsig, that's reality and the concepts that follow are only good to the extent that they successfully operate in that reality, in the flux of life.