> [DJH] > Both of those activities are mystically degenerate to the extent that they're > intellectual. The more intellectual they are - the more mystically > degenerate. > > Generally speaking (with obvious exceptions) painting is less intellectual an > activity than motorcycle repair and so motorcycle repair is more mystically > degenerate. > > [Arlo] > To clarify, you're saying that the only activity that is mystically > 'degenerate' is intellectual activity? Eating/sex (biological activity), > playing baseball/the legal system (social activity), painting (to the extent > it is non-intellectual) are all non-degenerate? But motorcycle repair (to the > extent that it is intellectual) IS a degenerate activity.
[djh] As per the correction -- all static quality is (mystically) degenerate. > [Arlo] > Two follow-ups (risking hitting my quota quickly): (1) how would you > distinguish the painting the painting of, say, a landscape from the crafting > of a metaphysics? [djh] By their quality regardless of whether they're mystically degenerate. All things are mystically degenerate; so it's a matter of being as good as you can be (by living in line with the ultimately undefined nature of the universe) thus avoiding as much mystic degeneracy as possible.. > [Arlo] > what is the specific point(s) of degeneracy in one that is absent in the > other? [djh] This is where we need to be careful for if you want to look at *specifically* what is and is not (mystic / mystic degeneracy) then you really get into a discussion about what is and is not DQ. But Dynamic Quality isn't anything - all we can say is that it's that vague sense we get of betterness we cannot put our finger on.. So rather than spend all our time in this non-intellectual mystic perspective (which isn't even really possible) it's better to look at what's statically good. This is where we can happily talk specifics.. Along these lines - if the landscape painting truly is just a static representation of inorganic patterns then a metaphysics (which best intellectually represent all patterns and DQ) is higher quality than the painting. > [Arlo] > (2) if motorcycle repair is a mystically 'degenerate' activity, what does > that mean in terms of how motorcycle repair should be approached? [djh] It means you should do it as good as possible to avoid ruining the ultimately undefined nature of reality as much as possible. Especially if you 'become' the motorcycle while repairing it - thus experiencing DQ and being very much in line with the ultimately undefined nature of reality. > [DJH corrects himself] > Actually, they're mystically degenerate to the extent that they're static. > Not just 'intellectual'. The Code of Art isn't Intellectual vs DQ but DQ vs > all levels.. > > [Arlo] > In this correction, wouldn't eating (or even, say, 'the body'), playing > baseball and producing paintings to hang on walls all be as equally > mystically degenerate as writing a metaphysics? This seems to say that > everything apart from DQ is mystically degenerate? [djh] All things are mystically degenerate but not all things are equally mystically degenerate. The more in line that thing is with the ultimately undefined nature of reality - the better. Saying what that is however - is tricky. You know it when you see it but you can't really say what it is. > [Arlo] > Also, "to the extent that they're static" confuses me? Are you suggesting > that a metaphysical treatise is more static than a painting? Or in active > terms, that crafting a metaphysical treatise is more static than painting a > landscape? How so? [djh] All 'things' by their name are static. Some things can be more 'static' and less in line with the ultimately undefined nature of reality than others.. To repeat my quote corrected.. "Both of those activities are mystically degenerate to the extent that they're [static]. The more [static] they are - the more mystically degenerate. " Everything I write here is in line with the following quote from Lila: "No matter how smart you are you're never going to play a game that is 'right' for all people at all times, everywhere. Answers to ten questions led to a hundred more and answers to those led to a thousand more. Not only would he never get it right; the longer he worked on it the wronger it would probably get." The key to this conundrum is an awareness of DQ - to avoid this getting bogged down in static patterns ... "..As the baby grows up its static intellectual patterns grow more complex and dominating, and its Dynamic awareness tends to become weaker, unless corrected by some special effort, such as Zen training." - LC So it really depends on how much 'in line' the metaphysics and the particular painting is with the undefined nature of reality as to how mystically degenerate they are... Saying what that is though - is pretty much impossible… A static solution to this intellectual problem is the MOQ.. The MOQ as its first static division puts aside this undefined DQ and indulges straight into the intellectual task of determining what is and isn't statically good. Thanks for the questions Arlo. 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
