> [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.
In retrospect what I see is a pull to greater levels of versatility and freedom, from amoeba to man. > [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." Pirsig explains that any metaphysics including a Metaphysics of Quality "injures" the mystic understanding of reality. But as an intellectual activity we do it anyway. > 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." Pirsig explains what this means: "Because of his different metaphysical orientation Phaedrus saw instantly that those seemingly trivial, unimportant, "spur of the moment" decisions that Mayr was talking about, the decisions that directed the progress of evolution are, in fact. Dynamic Quality itself. Dynamic Quality, the source of all things, the pre- intellectual cutting edge of reality, always appears as "spur of the moment" Where else could it. appear?" (Lila, 11) 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/
