I'm really enjoying all the great posts. Been thinking and re-reading Lila too. Almost accidentally, the mix has produced a little thesis: Phaedrus is the CONTRARIAN and represents the push of Dynamic Quality all through our history. I'm not sure if I can say exactly why, but I think this notion is relevant to several issues discussed here lately. I hope it sheds some light on the struggle between social and intellecual values too. We know that name is associated with the Sophists of ancient Greece, but Phaedrus is also associated with yesterday's contrarians. On page 306 of the hardback Pirsig writes, "Phaedrus remembered parties in the fifties and sixties full of liberal intellectuals like himself who actually admired the criminal types that sometimes showed up". I think its interesting that he describes Phaedrus as a liberal intellectual, and its even more interesting that he nearly confesses his admiration for criminal types. Of course that was a long time ago. Pirsig's MOQ aims to distinguish between the Galileos and the common criminals and admiration is reserved for the former. But the main idea here is that Phaedrus is a character who can be located in 500 B.C. Greece and at a party in the sixties. Somehow this character retains the same voice, the same views and attitudes. He is always the contrarian. He is DQ, as it is exhibited in people. Later (pp.358-9) he explains that he and Lila are both "contrarians". Other contrarians mentioned include the brujo the Bohemians of the Victorian Era and the Hippies and then says... ANYWAY IT SEEMED TO HIM THAT WHEN YOU ADD A CONCEPT OF DQ TO A RATIONAL UNDERSTANDING OF THE WORLD, YOU CAN ADD A LOT TO AN UNDERSTANDING OF CONTRARIANS. SOME OF THEM AREN'T JUST BEING NEGATIVE TOWARD STATIC MORAL PATTERNS, THEY ARE ACTIVELY PURSUING A DYNAMIC GOAL. ... SOMETIMES IT DYNAMIC, WHERE YOUR WHOLE BEING SENSES THAT THE STATIC SITUATION IS AN ENEMY OF LIFE ITSELF. THAT'S WHAT DRIVES THE REALLY CREATIVE PEOPLE - THE ARTISTS, COMPOSERS, REVOLUTIONARIES AND THE LIKE - THE FEELING THAT IF THEY DON'T BREAK OUT OF THIS JAILHOUSE SOMEBODY HAS BUILT AROUND THEM, THEY'RE GOING TO DIE. ... THE DYNAMIC FREEDOM THEY'RE FIGHTING FOR IS A KIND OF MORALITY TOO. AND ITS A HIGHLY IMPORTANT PART OF THE OVERALL MORAL PROCESS. ITS OFTEN CONFUSED WITH deGENERACY, BUT IT IS ACTUALLY A FORM OF MORAL RE-GENERATION. Maybe this is already obvious to you? It seems to me that these contrarians are the romantics and classically minded folks tend to be more static, more conservative and obedient. Contrarians are kinda swirly and often crooked, burt their enemies are straight, upright and square. You know what I mean? Contrarians are more likely to see the dharmakaya light, eh? There is a dark heaviness on the side of the squares. Contrarians are much more likely to be wrong because they're much more willing to risk it. Contrarians would wreck everything if it weren't for the squares. What kind of shape are you in? MOQ Online Homepage - http://www.moq.org Mail Archive - http://alt.venus.co.uk/hypermail/moq_discuss/ Unsubscribe - http://www.moq.org/md/index.html MD Queries - [EMAIL PROTECTED]
