Hi Arlo, [Arlo] This is the problem, I think, with a lot of "top-down" analysis, that assume the foundation operates with regard or deliberation for the higher floors. It does not.
The "reason" the inorganic patterns acted as they did is wholly that doing so was better, inorganically, than not do so. Anything "above" those inorganic patterns were wholly immaterial and non-existent to them. [Mary] Agree entirely. When viewed from the top down, the levels are aware of their predecessors, and as Pirsig points out, far from loving them, hold them in a kind of smug disdain. A necessary evil if the level is wise enough, or an evil to be eradicated if not. As you say, though, when viewed from the bottom up, the levels are oblivious to the existence of any higher. No opinions in this direction, only ignorance. [Mary before] Would entities on another planet value William James? I doubt it. [Arlo] Would they value Pirsig? Or anything you value? Or even "us" at all? Maybe to these extra-earth entities, you are a "germ" worthy only of eradication. Or maybe they would look at us like livestock or pack animals. How would you argue otherwise? [Arlo] Why would Pirsig think that extra-terrestials entities would find no value (let's assume they are capable of interpreting the language) in James? [Mary] I'm exposing the idea that Pirsig's MoQ offers a metaphysics with much greater explanatory power than James'. James' ideas are provincial. If you were not human, you would find his theories quaint and limited. The MoQ, on the other hand, proposes a static evolutionary system that would be true no matter what the starting point of a universe. Let's say time and mass were not the initial SPOVs in some alternate universe. I am suggesting that the SQ evolutionary logic Pirsig has employed would hold equally well under any conditions while James' would not have relevance. Best, Mary 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/md/archives.html
