[Arlo previously] On a simple level, its confirmation bias, of course. Part of the "enlightened prophet" schtick is to simply reject any and all evidence that challenges your claim. I mean, its not rocket science that in order to make his "enlightened salvation of Pirsig" work he has to openly and aggressively reject Pirsig's text as authority on Pirsig's views.
[Marsha quotes Pirsig] When early Western investigators first read the Buddhist texts they too interpreted nirvana as some kind of suicide. There's a famous poem that goes: [Arlo] I have no idea what your point is, except that it confirms the need to scrutinize and understand the ideas put forth (in this case, the text of Pirsig's two books). Of course we are all vulnerable to confirmation bias, which is why its critical to consider the textual evidence (deconstructionism aside). Or, as I fear, you are supporting (along with Krimel) a sort of deconstructionist relativism, where "Pirsig says" is entirely replaced with "I interpret Pirsig to be saying", and consider them to be equally valid (or, in the case of Pirsig being a poor authority on Pirsig, maybe even to consider his words as less valid of his ideas than your 'interpretation'). The inescapable irony is that this plays out as rejecting Pirsig's authority to lay claim to Pirsig's "brand". [Marsha's continued Pirsig quote] While living, Be a dead man. Be completely dead, And then do as you please. And all will be well. "It sounds like something from a Hollywood horror-film but it's about nirvana. The Metaphysics of Quality translates it: While sustaining biological and social patterns Kill all intellectual patterns. Kill them completely And then follow Dynamic Quality And morality will be served. [Arlo] By the way, I disagree with Pirsig on this. Instead, I'd translate it as: While sustaining biological patterns, Quiet all social and intellectual patterns. Quiet them entirely. And then artfully rebuild the social and intellectual patterns around you, And morality will be served. But I don't make the mistake of thinking, or demanding, that this is an 'interpretation' of what he meant if only he weren't so stupid or timid. 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
