[MD] Straw Men and the Primacy of Trust

[Matt Kundert]

Michael said:
Dear Folks -

Why is there so much acrimony?

Love,
MRB

Matt:

"The first thing to realize about the 
				MD is that it is not an 
Oprah-style book discussion group. It may look like 
				it from the 
outside, but rarely does it function that way. We do not tend to 
				
gather ‘round and discuss our favorite passages once a month and 
how they 
				make us feel. That happens, but not very often. It isn’t bad 
when it happens, 
				nor is it discouraged, but people generally gather 
for something else. Instead, 
				the MD functions as a community of 
professional Pirsigian interpreters whose 
				aim is to excavate the 
(micro and macro) meanings of Pirsig’s written 
				corpus. By 
“professional” I certainly do not mean that we get paid 
				for it. Rather, 
I want to distinguish a lax conversation about such and 
				such a topic 
(what one might find in a book-of-the-month club) with an inquiry 
				
into such and such a topic. The difference is roughly that we don’t 
				
simply offer our opinions about a topic (though there is an awful lot 
of that, 
				too), we offer arguments on behalf of our opinions in the 
hopes of establishing 
				some sort of consensus of opinion. In this 
case, we hope to establish a consensus 
				on the best interpretation 
(micro and macro) of Pirsig’s philosophy, though, 
				given the nature 
of the beast, this is linked inexorably with the best kind 
				of 
philosophy in general.
			
			
			

				"Realizing that the MD functions as a 
				quasi-professional interpretive 
community will help explain the unmistakable 
				odor of gunpowder 
and blood one will smell after listening in on the discussions 
				for a 
week. This is because, like all interpretive communities, it is highly 

				competitive and arguments are wielded like weapons to assert 
the dominance of 
				the interpretations they are in the service of. 
Some people, when happening 
				upon the MD, our disgusted by the 
foul stench of strife that rips through the 
				MD most of the time. They 
deplore the antagonistic fervor with which people 
				attack, parry, 
and riposte. If you are sympathetic with this inclination, then 
				the 
MD may not be the place for you. As I said, it is simply the nature 
of the 
				beast." 
			 
----- from "Open Letter to New Participants of the Discussion Groups"

Matt