[MD] The Tao of Quality - Verse 1

[Krimel]

Dan:
I have no preconception of Dynamic Quality. I think that is the point.
As I said, it seemed as if you were equating irrationality with Dynamic
Quality. Now my hunch is confirmed. Thank you. I don't think that is an
altogether good move but perhaps you have other insights to offer that might
alleviate my concerns. I am open to discussing them if you are.

How is irrationality the same as pre-intellectual awareness? Isn't
irrationality cognition without rationality? Are you using the term as more
of an intuitive way of thinking?

[Krimel]
Irrational: 
This mean not rational. It comes to mean a process for arriving at answers
that does not employ  reason. 
The irrational is the continuous flux of sense, emotion, memory, and habit.
It is expressed in our habits, our biases, our default expectations. It is
in the judgments we act on driven by dim apprehensions of we know not what.
It is manifest in what we feel and what we do. It is the primary mode of the
romantic, the artist, the poet, the mystic and the madman.

That's how I put a thread or two over. On reflection I wouldn't make too
much of the word judgment which does seem out of place. But basically
something like that. In fact I could use some assistance in working that
part out. Perhaps habits or drives would be better.

[Krimel]
> Have you defined
> DQ  so rigidly that you are certain what is and what is not the proper 
> way to speak of it?

Dan:
I feel I have been consistent over the years with not defining Dynamic
Quality in any way. We can say what it is not, but as soon as we say what it
is, we have effectively encapsulated it into static patterns.

[Krimel]
Perhaps, but I am not sure how saying what something is not escapes being a
definition. It is about like saying what something is, it just takes longer.
But think of it this way, when Pirsig say that DQ IS the pre-intellectual
cutting edge of reality I don't think he means this as exhaustive account of
what the "pre-intellectual" is. So while I understand your reservations with
identifying DQ with the irrational, I think see fewer problems with claiming
that the pre-intellectual is irrational.