Matt said to dmb:
...You've just implied that you _don't_ consider me a peer. ... I didn't take
it as condescension (though now I'm not sure, given that to think I did was to
say that you didn't think of me as a peer, see what I mean?). ...I was not
asking you, personally, to explain to me what makes a good amateur. ...And, you
do know you act like a teacher about Pirsig, right? I've never quite
understood that as a general rhetorical style in the MD. There are times when
we might write exposition of Pirsig's philosophy, but none of us are novices.
...the "see?s" that imply that if I _don't_ see that I was clearly violating
them, then there's something wrong with my intelligence. .., it felt like I was
trying to do calculus and you kept saying I was getting the algebra wrong, and
trying to give me an algebra lesson, see? And I was trying to convince you
that I wasn't getting the algebra wrong. ...However, this isn't a class and
there are no teachers. ...And yes, sometimes I do just monologu
e something obliquely relevant. But I don't try and teach. (Or do I? Do
people think my rhetorical performances are infected by a persistent feel of me
trying to teach everyone? I do think about that, and wish they wouldn't have
that quality. I say things knowingly, sometimes, maybe often, but is that the
same as teaching? How does one present something they think they know while
avoiding acting like a teacher? I think it's possible, but I worry about
unsuccessfully pulling it off.) ..., if you think that I just don't understand
Pirsig on amateur philosophy, or the girl and the bricks, then our conversation
is probably over because I'm not sure what else I can do at this moment to
display my credentials. ...
dmb says:
So, basically, you just resent the idea that I could "teach" you anything. You
feel humiliated by the suggestion that somebody might understand something you
don't. Okay, but I think that's a personal problem, a matter of self-esteem,
and it has very little to do with philosophy or anyone's rhetorical style.
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