Krimel said:
... It is a gross distortion to say that all life is at odds with the force of
gravity for example. Life as we know it depends on the force of gravity. The
fact that we stand upright and move around does not put us at odds with
gravity. The fact that birds can fly puts them in harmony with the air not at
adds with gravity.
dmb says:
Well, yea, it would be a gross distortion to construe all life as opposed to
gravity. But that's not what Pirsig is saying. What he's saying is obvious and
you're trying to make the obvious sound weird. Consider this little bit of
common sense, which is part of my computer's definition of "animal".
"Animals are generally distinguished from plants by being unable to synthesize
organic molecules from inorganic ones, so that they have to feed on plants or
on other animals. They are typically able to move about, although this ability
is sometimes restricted to a particular stage in the life cycle."
Similarly, "animate" means "to put in motion" and it means "bring to life".
This is what separates rocks from living things. Rocks can only move when acted
upon by gravity, wind, rain or some other physical force. Life forms, by
contrast, always involve some kind of motion or movement, even if that just
means an internal process like photosynthesis. Sometimes life forms are more
conspicuously animated, like when they run, slither, jump, swim, fly, crawl,
hop or skitter but the sunflower moves it's "face" to follow the sun and even
single-celled organisms will retreat from a hostile environment. Rocks just
don't do that kind of thing.
That's the sense in which the organic level overcomes gravity. Growth is
obviously different from entropy and flight is conspicuously distinguishable
from falling. Life overcomes the limits of inorganic forces in this way. Life
adds a new, less law-like set of processes to the world. It's really that
simple. There is nothing weird about such obvious claims.
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