Ho Arlo, An old dialogue I find, still in need of a reply.
[John] > > Because we start from the plain understanding of "quality" that everybody > knows. > > [Arlo] > Which is based in a western s/o worldview that a MOQ argues against. > > John: Hmmm... what means this "argues against" though. It's obviously a springboard and a sound support as far as it goes. A necessity for climbing higher, so we don't want to just obviate the s/o worldview, but to transcend it. Move beyond it, not eliminate it. You gotta have the rest of the mountain, to support the top. > [John] > > "Are you teaching Quality?" wasn't a mystic or esoteric question for > Phaedrus at the start of his journey. > > [Arlo] > No it wasn't, it was a plain english question that problematized Pirsig's > "common sense" view of Quality. It was this question that caused him to > abandon that "common sense" view and articulate an answer that was radically > different from the "common sense" meaning everyone else was using. > > John: So you agree with me, that the insight into a deeper MoQ reality, begins with the plain sense of what the word "quality" means to common understanding. > [John] > > Well in football, as well as in life, it's possible to gain a great deal of > ground without actually getting anywhere. > > [Arlo] > So you are saying that the phrase "backward progress" would be acceptable > to you? John: Sure! It's a little clunky, but it works. Its different than standing still, it's different than progressing. It's a description of negative progress. That's a real phenomena. Arlo: Would you then say there is such a think as "forward regress"? The problem > here is that the "common sense" view is that "progress" simply means > movement, when in fact it means "movement, as towards a goal", or "forward > movement". > John: People use redumbdancies and double negatives all the time Arlo, and while they may suck rhetorically, they do qualify logically. Arlo: > > Richard Lederer tells a great story about a sign on his campus that reads > "No Trespassing Without Permission". When he tried to explain that "by > definition the act of trespassing is committed without permission", he was > met only with "polite smiles". "Now more than twenty-five years later, the > signs still stand and so do their messages. Unauthorized visitors are still > required to obtain permission before they trespass on our grounds." (The > Miracle of Language) Where would we be without a little picayune pedantry? Take care, John 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
