hey gav
you're welcome, and thank you too.
dan
----------------------------------------
> Date: Wed, 27 May 2009 23:30:32 -0700
> From: [email protected]
> To: [email protected]
> Subject: Re: [MD] Doing Some Good
>
>
> thanks dan
> what's right vs what's good
> simple and clear
> people can tell you what's right,
> but only you can know what's good.
>
> --- On Thu, 28/5/09, Dan Glover wrote:
>
>> From: Dan Glover
>> Subject: [MD] Doing Some Good
>> To: [email protected]
>> Received: Thursday, 28 May, 2009, 10:55 AM
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> Hello everyone
>>
>> Here, it's a rainy day. The irises are in bloom and birds
>> are singing in treetops like troops of banana-besotted
>> baboons. I got up late this morning, sensed the gloom of the
>> day, and decided to stay home and drink coffee rather than
>> go to the office. When a person is self-employed you find
>> you can do things like that and there is no one to bitch at
>> you for it but yourself.
>>
>> I've been reading through the moq.discuss posts. I find
>> there is value here, even if it is hard to see, sometimes,
>> although I have to say, I do enjoy pie. Sometimes, it seems
>> as if everyone is talking at once and no one is saying
>> anything. It is one of those days when I begin to wonder why
>> I bother at all. As my mind gradually awakens and begins its
>> own chatter, I put my gloomy thoughts off to the weather and
>> let my fingers tinkle the keyboard unbidden.
>>
>> I'd like to spend a few of our precious moments together
>> exploring the relationship between doing what is right in
>> contradistinction to doing what is Good. I think this might
>> pertain to gav's plea for less acrimony and more
>> enlightenment. But I will leave that for you all to decide
>> for yourself.
>>
>> Andre reminds us of what Robert Pirsig says in the On The
>> Road dvd (and I paraphrase): Doing what's right is static
>> quality. Doing what's Good is Dynamic Quality. Static
>> quality is continually evolving towards the freedom of
>> Dynamic Quality, or in other words, towards extinction. I
>> think that answers Platt's question quite well... why
>> survive? Nothing survives. It is a short-sighted viewpoint
>> of reality to believe otherwise. The old survives just long
>> enough to give rise to the new and then fades away.
>>
>> I think when we post here, we post with the conviction that
>> we're right. When two opposing views intersect, arguments
>> invariably result: Chattering monkeys each intent on
>> dominating and informing other monkeys of that domination.
>> We are right, by gum, and we're going to make sure all the
>> world knows we're right. We tend to forget there's no right
>> and no wrong when it comes to static quality patterns of
>> value. There is only value.
>>
>> Doing what's Good entails stepping back from the tumult of
>> being right. It begins by acknowledging that we could be
>> wrong. It progresses into seeing that there are many
>> different viewpoints to seeing the world as it really is...
>> as many different viewpoints as there are those doing the
>> viewing. When we begin to see how much alike we all are we
>> begin to develop a sense of empathy for others.
>>
>> We're trapped between eternities. We are born from a
>> darkness most profound, kicking and screaming into a world
>> we'll never understand, and we pass away back into that
>> darkness most profound. Along the way we make up stories to
>> pacify ourselves... stories of heaven and hell and
>> redemption and reincarnation. Allah loves us yet He won't
>> take the time to save us, the Bastard. The wheel of life
>> goes round and round as some of us jump on and some fall
>> off.
>>
>> The Buddha said (and again, I paraphrase): It's Good to
>> open our eyes and see the world for it is: a pathway of
>> suffering leading through a hell dotted with the rotting
>> carcasses of our dreams. The world is built on foundations
>> of sorrow stronger than concrete.
>>
>> We are all here sowing confusion in the midst of our futile
>> pursuit for truth. We're taught to respect authority even
>> though there's no one who really knows. Others reject
>> authority and in their righteousness call others derogatory
>> names as if they just don't know any better. But no one need
>> tell us what's Good and what's not...
>>
>> As I said, it's a gloomy day. I ask myself: In a world
>> destined to collapse by the weight of its very existence,
>> how does a single solitary person do some Good? It seems a
>> fair question to ask. Robert Pirsig says we can do some Good
>> by striving to become better people. But what does that
>> mean? Better than what?
>>
>> I've noticed that some people are what might be called
>> "toxic". It's hard to be around people like that. They tend
>> to bring others down. They cling to their own sense of right
>> and wrong like they're clinging to life itself. We all know
>> people like this. I've learned over the years that it's best
>> to avoid them when possible.
>>
>> A few people though are always attempting to bring the best
>> out in others. They're not necessarily trying to help
>> others, but rather they attempt to help others help
>> themselves. I remember when I was working on LILA'S CHILD...
>> I told a family member what I was up to and how Robert
>> Pirsig was adding his annotations to the book. The family
>> member asked me: how much money does he want for that?
>>
>> The question stopped me in my tracks. It'd never occurred
>> to me that he would want any money. But the question nagged
>> at me. Finally, I thought it best to write Mr. Pirsig a
>> letter and ask him if he indeed wanted any payment. He was
>> so gracious... of course he didn't want any money. He was
>> doing it for the same reason I was: for the Goodness of it.
>>
>> I thought about this a lot. Most people I know do not do
>> things just for the Good of it. They go to work every day in
>> order to earn a living. They make money. They pay their
>> bills. They believe in doing what's right. Civilization
>> depends on people doing what's right. There's nothing wrong
>> with that.
>>
>> A few people feel compelled to go beyond the every day
>> righteousness, however. The artist cannot help but paint, or
>> sculpt, or write, just like the drunkard cannot help but
>> drink. The money doesn't matter. Being right doesn't matter.
>> All paths though they may diverge in the forest come back to
>> intersect at the end of the journey. It seems Good though to
>> recognize some compulsions are better than others.
>>
>> Here's where we may be able to do some Good: The MOQ gives
>> us a moral tool for analyzing our compulsions. Viewing
>> reality as an evolutionary heirarchy allows us to
>> intellectually see how biological and social forces by and
>> large determine our lives.
>>
>> Well, you know I sure like drinking Coke (after being sold
>> socially my whole life on how much I'm sure I like drinking
>> Coke and it bites just right at the back of my throat, too)
>> but biologically, it's undermining my health. Maybe I'll
>> drink tea instead. And I've been sitting here in this chair
>> for way too long... maybe I'll get off my lazy ass and take
>> a long walk. That's Quality for sure.
>>
>> Let's explore some weightier issues: Well, you know Mom
>> would rather stay with us than go into the nursing home, but
>> no one is going to blame us for doing what's right and
>> making sure she gets the best biological care possible. It
>> is a great nursing home. And besides, if she moved in with
>> us it would only socially disrupt the household and make
>> everybody miserable.
>>
>> On the other hand, Mom has been Good to us her whole life
>> and now she needs us. We don't care if it does disrupt the
>> household. We're a family. We do Good by each other. We step
>> up. Both choices are right but only one is Good. We all know
>> that, right?
>>
>> Well, here it is nearly evening and still gloomy and
>> overcast. Enough musing for the day. Thanks for reading.
>>
>> Dan
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