Hi Paul Nestadt and LS:
Welcome to the LS, Paul. You asked a very significant question, one that
asked myself early on:
"Why can't Quality just be subjective? Why isn't it just a fancy name for
whatever you like?”
A couple of Pirsig concepts helped me come up with an answer.
First, Quality = Reality = Morality = My Experience. In the MoQ these
words all mean the same thing. They're interchangeable.
Second, Quality comes in four levels: inorganic, biological, social and
intellectual. That means Reality, Morality and I as My Experience have
these levels, too. As Leonardo da Vinci believed, you and I and every
human being is a microcosm of the universe. Pirsig agrees and also
believes that the universe is not simply patterns of mass/energy, but
patterns of morality.
Your inorganic moral pattern is not whatever you wish. Nor is your
biological pattern. Your stuck with both. Your social pattern is somewhat
more susceptible to your whims, but not as much as you might think.
You're bound by your nation, community, family, language, etc. Your
intellectual pattern has the most flexibility, but if you want to make sense
and persuade others, you'll follow the standards of logic and evidence.
So in the Pirsigian worldview, Quality is a far cry from just anything you
like. The static levels of inorganic, biological, social and intellectual
Quality all have you in their grip. As has been said many times on the LS
in answer to the question, Does Lila have Quality? “No, Quality has Lila.”
Indeed, patterns of Quality are what you are.
Your unique ability, however, is that you and only you as an individual
can respond to Dynamic Quality. When it hits you, you'll know it. It will
usually come as a surprise, and your reaction will be along the lines of
"Wow." Or, you'll be speechless. It may or not be just something you like.
On the contrary, it may be the most frightening experience you've ever
had. But there will be no mistaking it for just the ordinary "I like peas and
I don't like broccoli." It will stand out as one of your life's most memorable
experiences.
To put an answer to your question in a nutshell: Quality is reality, and as
we all know, reality is NOT whatever we wish.
Platt
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