[Platt to Arlo] Pirsig's explanation of evolution in Chapter 11 is based on the premise that the forces of DQ and SQ -- not chance -- account for the rise from amoeba to man.
[Krimel] Pirsig's account in Chapter 11 is tragically flawed but even in flawed form any account of evolutionary process is about the rise and persistence of SQ in the face of DQ which is nothing more than change and chance. [Platt] Whether "pulling the pattern of life forward to greater levels of versatility and freedom" suggest an "intelligent designer" is open to interpretation. The very existence of Quality suggests a prior source of some kind, although I recognize only too well the Truth of infinite regress. As for a plan, evolution towards greater freedom and versatility suggests a purpose if not an actual plan. [Krimel] Sometimes DQ pulls sometimes it pushes. Sometimes it move one way and sometimes another. It is unpredictable and random in that respect. Quality does not exist as a thing and it is not always or necessary a move toward "greater freedom and versatility". As Case once said, "Nature always ambles the path of least resistance. Life's The Way, we shoot the bird at entropy's persistence." Even in retrospect we see not a plan but the path of least resistance viewed from above. [Platt] The MOQ a metaphysics of chance? I don't think so, based on Pirsig's own words. [Krimel] Perhaps you can explain what Pirsig meant here: "Since a metaphysics is essentially a kind of dialectical definition and since Quality is essentially outside definition, this means that a 'Metaphysics of Quality' is essentially a contradiction in terms, a logical absurdity. It would be almost like a mathematical definition of randomness. The more you try to say what randomness is the less random it becomes." Or what might this mean? "Evolution is recklessly opportunistic: it favors any variation that provides a competitive advantage over other members of an organism's own population or over individuals of different species. For billions of years this process has automatically fueled what we call evolutionary progress. No program controlled or directed this progression. It was the result of spur of the moment decisions of natural selection." 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/
