[MD] Taking Words Seriously

[Ian Glendinning]

Matt, DMB,

I didn't see the original exchange, but here you quote each about the other:

On Tue, Sep 27, 2011 at 10:46 PM, Matt Kundert <pirsigaffliction at hotmail.com
> wrote:

>
> Hi Dave,
>
> DMB said:
> Matt, you could barely stand to acknowledge the role of DQ,
> describing it as a "blank page".
>
> Matt:
> I was being sincere when I said I had thought about DQ, and its
> non-appearance, in first composing the post in question, and I was
> sincere in saying that I couldn't see how I was exposing myself to
> your critical point of view.  We disagree, clearly, but I still have to
> confess that I don't understand what your criticism was/is.  It's a
> form of "leaving out DQ," but I don't understand your criticisms of
> my attempts to include it.  (I wish I could think that it was more
> than just not saying "DQ" enough, but sometimes that's all that it
> looks like.)  I picked up the "blank page," albeit, from Dave
> Thomas, but it does seem like a perfectly fine version of the SODV
> picture (or, at least, I don't understand your attempts to criticize it).
>

I like it too. I hadn't realized the blank page idea had come from Third
Wave Dave. I like it as an expression of DQ - I have tended to refer to it
as "pure potential" - in the blank-slate / tabula-rasa sense (an old idea I
picked up from Pinker).

I think it's a magnificent role for DQ, the leading edge of pure experience
is pure potential, minimally constrained by static patterns in any level.
Ian