Craig, Excellent points as always!
You said, "But his new metaphysics does have repercussions on one's view of cosmology." I suppose it should change one's view but does it? Seems more like the kind of effect Arlo showed us with experiments suggesting that our nervous systems get really stoked when ideas resonate with our existing structures of thought. Seems to me we are all pretty gifted at creating this kind of resonance whether it is justified or not. The classic example of this would be Christians interpreting the Big Bang as being described in Genesis. Certainly Pirsig invites a different way to see the world but is it really different or do we each find in him a new justification for thinking what we already thought? A minor correction in your statement about the quote you offer. Pirsig does get a bit full of himself at times but he has little to do with upending classical physics. That was accomplished within the field during the first half of the last century. In fact much of the anti-scientific talk that gets bandied about seems more appropriate to classical views than to current ideas in the area. "Cause" is a prime example. In the classical game there was this quest for certainty. If you could isolate cause and effect, you could really say something. Over the last century there arose more probabilistic views of causality. So that if "this" then probably "that" or maybe "that" or who knows. This is just my opinion, but it seems to me that saying that this "causes" that IS a statement of probability. It says that if "this" happens "that" follows with 100% probability. For us materialists this means that matter is not what we thought it was (corpuscles clinging together in lumps) and that a pretty good guess is often as good as it gets. I think Pirsig's language in the quote below and elsewhere lends itself to misunderstanding. "Prefer" has the same kind of connotations to it that "experience" does. This has been hammered to death in recent discussions where the chief revelation turned out to be that it is in fact possible for Arlo and me to disagree. However with the word "prefer" does not replace the word "cause" in quantum physics. In quantum physics the word "cause" had already been replaced by the word "probably". Skipping that step lends a bit more importance to the term "prefer" than it deserves. Seeing the world in terms of probability, chance, and uncertainty is very disturbing. Physicists were revolted by it. Einstein, Bohr and Feynman all have oft cited quotes reflecting their horror at the prospect. I tend to think that with sufficient stretching, terms like preference and experience can be applied to inorganic events. But I think it is misleading to do so. To say that a photon "prefers" to be a particle for now, turns it into an autonomous agent with feelings and desires of its own. But that is my own "preference". Pirsig clearly wants a purposeful world full of inherent Values. I am just not sure that is what he gives us. Case --------------------------------------- [Case] > Nowhere in Lila does Pirsig claim he is writing a work on cosmology. But his new metaphysics does have repercussions on one's view of cosmology. [Case] > Nor does he claim to be upending the law of physics. But he does claim to be upending classical science: "The only difference between causation and value is that the word cause implies absolute certainty whereas the implied meaning of value is one of preference. In classical science it was supposed that the world always works in terms of absolute certainty [READ: DETERMINISM] and that cause is the more appropriate word to describe it. But in modern quantum physics all that is changed. Particles prefer to do what they do. An individual particle is not absolutely committed to one predictable behavior. What appears to be an absolute cause is just a very consistent pattern of preferences. Therefore when you strike cause from the language and substitute value you are not only replac-ing an empirically meaningless term with a meaningful one; you are using a term that is more appropriate to actual observation." (RMP, Lila, Chap. 8) 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.uk/pipermail/moq_discuss_archive/
