Hi Peter:
Thanks for your comments on NonZero and The Hot Stove Encounter. All
your points are valuable and well taken. From our everyday human viewpoint,
the space-time continuum used in physics is neither apparent nor relevant,
so it�s not surprising that Barbour�s finding that time doesn�t exist is beyond
our ken, being primarily a mathematical non-necessity. The N.Y. Times
review went on to say that Barbour subscribes to the �many worlds�
interpretation of quantum weirdness, a view that seems to be gaining in
popularity among those who know what it means--which I don�t.
You wrote:
�I think we�re all in agreement that the subject/object definition-tool is too
simple and too heavy handed for some of the tasks we wish to undertake,
but that�s not the same as saying that it�s wholly wrong, either.�
Count me in as one who agrees. Lest there be anyone who doesn�t, perhaps
the following quote from Chapter 8 of �Lila� will be convincing:
�Or, using another analogy, saying that a Metaphysics of Quality is false and
a subject-object metaphysics is true is like saying that rectangular
coordinates are true and polar coordinates are false. A map with the North
Pole at the center is confusing at first, but it's every bit as correct as a
Mercator map. In the Arctic it's the only map to have. Both are simply
intellectual patterns for interpreting reality and one can only say that in some
circumstances rectangular coordinates provide a better, simpler
interpretation.�
You wrote:
�So whilst I agree with Pirsig that the S/O viewer is often hiding much from
us, I don�t necessarily agree that we should simply throw it away, we just
need to know when to put it down. � Thus, simply ignoring subject/object
distinctions is tantamount to turning our back on potentially valuable
information.�
Agree. But do we really need to worry about losing our S/O viewer? Our
�inherent propensity� towards this type of classification seems so ubiquitous
as to pose no danger. Rather I think it�s the MOQ viewer that needs to be
advanced by further explanation and application. To most, the idea that the
world is primarily moral values is as strange as the notion that time and
space are illusions.
Platt
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