John said to dmb:
... For instance, you yourself have many times offered as an argument, "Because
Pirsig says I'm his favorite" and you seem to think that sort of social
conferring of authority carries intellectual weight.
dmb says:
I think you have it backwards. Pirsig didn't says Ant and I "are the two
foremost philosophers today on the MOQ and it's implications" for social
reasons and he's not talking about my social qualities. My argument has never
been that I'm his favorite or that being so favored would make me right. That's
just silly. But he wrote the books and he thinks Ant and I understand them as
well as anyone. I've also been studying around it full time in grad school for
years and my grades couldn't be higher. If that doesn't count as evidence of
some intellectual credibility, what in the world would count as evidence?
Pirsig's opinion and my grade point average are not based on the fact that I
give good back-rubs and it doesn't come from schmoozing either. It's based on
what I write. And that's all we have to go on here.
And that was the main point in posting the quote from Pirsig. He sees the very
same thing you see; my writings on the MOQ. And yet your conclusions couldn't
be further from his. It couldn't be further from the people who grade my papers
either. Wouldn't a reasonable person ask himself why fails to see what they
see? I'm not expert on humility, obviously, but how can you imagine that you
are in a better position to judge than they are? That's not just a lack of
humility, that's downright delusional. Speaking of which....
John said:
... I've posted a perfectly legitimate intellectual challenge to the validity
of "a brief history of time" and it's underlying metaphysical assumptions and
have I received a single answer or refutation of my arguments? Nope. All we
get is, "well, he's more famous and brilliant than you, so shut up." Is that
what you consider an intellectual argument dave?
dmb says:
Do you really not understand how crazy that sounds?
I hate to break it to you but (In a whisper) you're not even a physicist, dude.
You simply haven't done the work to be in that club and if you think you can
rival Hawking before getting the credentials or working a single day in the
field, then you really are delusional. And of course none of this has anything
to do with his fame or even your intelligence. Even if you were the greatest
genius who ever lived, you still haven't done the work to be in that club.
Intellectual skills are acquired not granted as a favor or magically conferred.
Practice and hard work. What makes you think you get to skip all that and still
be at the same level as Hawking. That's just nuts.
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