LS Explain the Static Dynamic Split


clark (clark@netsites.net)
Sun, 14 Jun 1998 04:27:10 +0100


Bodvar and LS,
  Sorry I stirred up the squad in my attempts to satisfy myself with an
explanation of the MOQ. I see different understandings of the SQ split
among the squad members most of which do not seem to jive with my
circular understanding of the interaction of the SPoVs, Static Quality,
and Dynamic Quality. However, that is probably just the workings of
Dynamic Quality. No Problem. Just trying to satisfy myself, not convince
others.
  And that brings me to the problem I am having with Cool Quality. (to
digress for a moment, I see the problems that the use of sentient and
non-sentient has caused and I have searched for a single word that would
make clear what I was talking about. I tried Talkience and Senguage, and
various other things, none of which worked. Someone suggested awareness
but that is further off the mark than sentience. I eventually settled on
Cool. As it is currently used it embodies all of the properties that
sentience, and awareness, and all of the other suggestions contain but
can only refer to humanity. And not even all of humanity at that. I
would say that it applies to all, or most of the LIla Squad. In no sense
could we refer to dogs or cats or amoeba or plants as cool. It can only
apply to COOL humans.
So that has been definitively settled.
  
To trigress further for a moment, Diana, you wrote:

But doesn't P imply that all Quality is sentient?

There's static sentience and dynamic sentience and the sentience of an
atom is very different from the sentience of a Texan, but they are all
types of experience and consequently value

Diana

I agree that all Quality is sentient in the sense that it is the driving
force that has guided the development of the universe with the aid of
Static Quality and the inorganic SPoV. This has been true for most of
the history of the universe. I also agree with you and Pirsig that the
correct way to look at the matter of evolution and Value is that B
values precondition A. Pirsig said that when one adopts this viewpoint
nothing changes in the actual process except that the whole process
becomes clear and the platypi fall away. Just a better and clearer way
to interpret reality. Again, I refer you to the thought experiment of
Lovelock's Daisy World as a good example of this level of sentience in
which I consider the driving force to have been purely physical. There
was no conscious input to the process, only the physical and ambient
forces operating at the time. I think that you chose a bad example when
you referred to the sentience of a Texan. Every Oklahoman could have
told you that the only examples of
sentience (Cool) in Texas came in across the Rio Grande :>).
  Bodvar, I agree with you that raising the question of "mind" muddies
the waters badly but I don't see how we can avoid doing that and still
do justice to the MOQ. Pirsig said that this whole century
(paraphrasing) has been a struggle between society and intellect. In my
mind the operation of the MOQ changed qualitatively with the appearance
of Cool. Even though the MOQ still operates the same as ever, the
introduction of Cool injected a factor into the equation that was not
there during the non-Cool period. We now have Cool people and societies
that can make a difference in the physical operation of Quality that was
not possible in the non-Cool period.
The MOQ functions exactly as it always did except that we now have
influences heretofore unknown. In other words, we now have MIND as a
factor to contend with. I think that this is why Pirsig would rather not
have dealt with it. It is a knotty problem. I don't remember where the
Many Truths idea came from but if this is so then there is a desperate
need for understanding and guidance that did not exist before Cool. If
each individual is operating at his/her individual level of Quality then
the force for Good that is Quality can be radically impeded or
re-directed. "Mind" can make the earth untenable for Cool whereas under
the operation of the un-Cool MOQ the question was irrelevant.
  At the moment I can't remember all of the blizzard of objections I got
but I do remember Fintan's example of Pubic Hair and Head Hair. It is
obvious that he has never been subjected to the use of communal showers.
If he had been he would have known that there are many levels of HairOQ
which he has not considered. Among them are armpit hair and back hair
which could be braided. I am also curious as to where toe hair would fit
into his scheme. Chest hair is also prominent in the HairOQ. Some
people are veritable Earthquake McGoons. Perhaps as a symbol of the MOQ
we could have a wooden cross festooned with body hair in appropriate
places. If bald is a sign of wisdom we could leave bare the top of the
cross or simply have a circle of hair with a hole in the middle. I would
be happy to bequeath my example for the use of the squad after I enter
DOQ.

Magnus, you wrote:

Exactly! Donny said the same thing today and that's the point. Nothing
is completely static, not even Moby Dick if you ask me. DQ is involved
in every single quality event. Not just inorganic ones, but in all
levels. That's another reason why sentient, non determinism and free
will are all obsolete words because they are direct consequences of the
quality event. In a MoQ reality, they are tautologies.

  Its true that if we lay back and bathe in the pure waters of the MOQ
we do not need to speak of anything but Value and Quality. All, or at
least most of us realize the truth of what you are saying but I find it
impossible to discuss the MOQ while lying in a pure soporific value
bath. Carried far enough everything is a tautology except value.

Magnus and Donny,
  One of the questions that I would like to have an answer to is
whether Dynamic Quality began in time or preceded time. If it preceded
time then it is the originator of the universe and could be considered
God.
  If it came after the Big Bang then it is within time. Time is one of
the dimensions of the universe.
  I think I have mentioned this before but if one adds up all of the
energy in the universe, including gravity, then the energy content of
the universe must be zero or very nearly. If this is so then a single
event, such as Dynamic Quality, could have been the trigger that caused
it all. A good thought to stop on. Ken

 



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