Hi All, Well so much for Lurkerville. While (not so) busy painting our school walls during summer break, ideas surface like latex off a roller- it might be the fumes... Imagine if you would the following scenario: A mouse has been dwelling in a metal cage for a day. Her cage contains only food, water, and bedding. On the next day a mouse's wheel is placed in the cage. The mouse instantly connects in some way with this dynamic appearance. So what does she do? She makes gradual ratchet-like moves away from the security of her bedding toward the wheel, inching forward a little, then back along the same path back toward her bedding. Then again inching still further forward along the same path toward the wheel. After several minutes of this coupling of (dynamic stretching) forward steps and (static latching) backward steps, the mouse is now on the wheel, and already has discovered (by chance) the wheel's function. The mouse now has a means of exercise- of releasing her energy (in the absence of an open field). In this scenario, the dynamic (checking out the wheel) was more moral than the static (ignoring the wheel), because the wheel has improved the mouse's prior existence- has built upon existing static patterns (and the mouse seems to feel better for it). It was morally right for the mouse to pursue the wheel- in this sense I think DQ is better than sq. Given the choice between retreating into her bedding and advancing toward the undefined Dynamic Quality (the wheel), the advancement is better because by not responding when opportunity knocks the mouse would have missed out on the r/evolving wheel toward betterness. But let's modify our wheel slightly with the addition of an electrical field. The environment is set up so that the closer the mouse gets to the wheel, an electric shock, imperceptible at first, increases with intensity. The mouse's ratchet-like advancements ensure that she doesn't frazzle. To say then that DQ is better than sq is IMO not quite right. rather, it's better to advance toward potential Dynamic Quality than to retreat into existing static patterns, because without advancement there's no advancement, no evolution. Dynamic Quality is Reality. Morality is its pursuit. The morality of Quality Intellect is the pursuit of reality by breaking out of subject-object thinking, out of the mind. This for me is where Bo's SOLAQI comes into focus: http://members.tripod.com/~Glove_r/SOLAQI.htm By understanding that intellect is not reality, but a subject-object logic, we are on the Quality track. This understanding is what Pirsig refers to as "that highest quality intellectual pattern". The paint thickens, Mark __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Kick off your party with Yahoo! Invites. MOQ.org - http://www.moq.org
