Platt; There's a grain of truth in Arlo's view of the individual vs. society --
maybe two grains. But completely and sadly overlooked (or ignored) is the role of the significant individual who changes society, whether he be Washington, Lincoln, Reagan or the brujo. Without such singular movers and shakers societies would stagnate (as some have to this day) and we would still be nomadic wanderers dressed in buffalo skins and hunting with spears. The essential role of the individual in the evolution towards social betterness finds expression in Lila with Pirsig's story of the brujo. In the following passage take special note of the fundamental cause of societal evolution: "A tribe can change its values only person by person and someone has to be first." Some PERSON that is, not an amorphous intellectual abstraction such as "collective consciousness." Ron: Hello Platt, I tink what Arlo was getting at was that society is a collection of individuals. Individuals who speak the same language share similar ideas follow similar rules each individual having the power to influence the way the other individuals think and act. Jumping to the conclusion that he'selling a collective hive Mind is kinda over-reacting. Especially when its this area In which focus needs to be placed in order to grasp a more Potent understanding of what intellect means and how it may be Used with more precision in our discussions. Society provides the Frame and some of the pieces to develop our individual intellectual selves. Intellect does not reside in society, it resides in the individual But society supplies those things necessary to develop it Into individual intellectual awareness which are necessary For an individual to function within it. A society is ever a collection of individuals how the society Values the individuals in every way mirrors how the individuals Value society. Success is measured from this. Moq_Discuss mailing list Listinfo, Unsubscribing etc. http://lists.moqtalk.org/listinfo.cgi/moq_discuss-moqtalk.org Archives: http://lists.moqtalk.org/pipermail/moq_discuss-moqtalk.org/ http://moq.org.uk/pipermail/moq_discuss_archive/
