[MD] Arlo

[John Carl]

Ian and Arlo


On Mon, Jun 2, 2014 at 10:10 AM, ARLO JAMES BENSINGER JR <ajb102 at psu.edu>
wrote:

> [Ian]
> Clearly short-hand naming of groups can be misused...
>
> [Arlo]
> Clearly.
>
>
Jc:  Well clearly I was being ironic.  I don't think that differentiaion is
bad.  Au contraire - differentiation is intellectualism and I'm not
anti-intellectualism either.  Not in the sense of philosophizing, logic and
metaphysics.


> [Ian]
> ... different people have different propensities to mental styles that use
> the different halves.
>
> [Arlo]
> No. The research says exactly otherwise. The research says specifically
> that 'mental styles' ARE NOT lateralized. I understand this will take some
> time before pop-psychologists and self-help gurus are able to accept the
> research, but its embarrassing to see this repeated here over and over.
>
> What IS lateralized, Ian, are things like 'language' which tends... FOR
> EVERYONE... to be left-lateralized.
>
> Do people have varying aptitudes, skills, abilities, interests,
> proficiencies, goals, talents...? Gee, of course they do. Are people
> brought up in a culture where science and art are not only divorced but
> antagonistic? Of course. Has 'art' been devolved in our schools by capital
> interests to a zero-value commodity? Of course. This was the problem space
> of ZMM.
>
> Rather than normalize or naturalize 'classical' versus 'romantic' modes of
> thinking, and rather than then trying to invoke faulty pop-psychology to
> imprint this distinction onto the biological level, maybe you and John
> should join every one else here in the solution space, where Pirsig's goal
> was to problematize this artificial distinction- as derivative of SOM
> thinking- and unite/fuse these two at the basic level.
>
>

Just to be clear, Arlo, are you saying the concept "art" ought to be
eliminated?  You think that would make everybody more artistic in their
academic and and economic production?  You really think it would help us if
we just eliminated all art classed, and then remove the name so we won't
miss it?  Is that the solution space?  Since sculpture is the same as
rotisserie assembly and motorcycle maintenance, then we don't need separate
terms so lets just call it all what it is.  Mechanical reproductions in a
digital world.  You're describing dystopia and calling it solution-space,
if you are saying that.

 John

Ps:  Please be informed (and inform our other academic) that my statement
above is NOT a straw man argument because it is offered conditionally and
questioningly.