Glove, Roger and All:
Do you really think it's reasonable to ask me to read the posts from the
past? I don't. Digging through prior conversations smells like a big
gumption sucker. Sounds like drudgery and I'm not gonna do it.
Participating in the conversation is whole point of this forum isn't it?
Besides, posting an idea doesn't make it true. Although I'm finding lots
of polished MOQ stuff, like BODVAR's autobiographical essay.
Soon it will be a new year, a new month, a new topic and a new
conversation.
I'll look forward to that instead of backtracking.
Glove and I probably do agree that the snail debate isn't really very
important, so I'll drop the subject, except to say that I believe the
snail has awareness akin to the pre-intellectual awareness. It senses
Quality at its own level, but doesn't form concepts or mental pictures
of that sensory data. But who knows?
This will probably seem defensive, since I was recently scolded, but I'd
like to tell you about myself. Its Christmas, after all. Nothing too
personal, just the info that might help here at moq.org. Glove told me
to be more prepared next time. That's the story I'll tell, of my
preparedness.
Let me confess at the top that I only read Lila once and it was a few
years ago. I read ZAAMM three times. I was 19 the first time and felt
there was something to it, really enjoyed it as a novel, but didn't
quite get his philosophy. The second encounter came in a photography
class. I was studying history, philosophy and english, and have long
since graduated, but took some art classes along the way.
ZAAMM was required reading for the photo/art class. Pretty cool, huh?
The teacher was an artist and a mystic, and thought all the other
professors were stuffy and clueless. The technology vs. art discussion
in ZAAMM was perfect for the class. We were using precision optics to
make art. It was a very rich experience. He told us the answer to
plato's riddle of the golden mean and other ancient secrets.
The third time I read it was for a book discussion group and I'd invited
Ron DiSanto, who co-authored the "Guidbook to ZAAMM". (Which Pirsig
approved prior to publication.) We'd met at a book-store discussion
group and shared a cigarette outside during a break. The first event ,
was disappointing because no Pirsig fans were there, and ZAAMM was mixed
in with other "travel books". But when Dr. DiSanto came to my
discussion group he was appreciated by a dozen people who read ZAAMM as
philosophy and were eager to talk about it. A very rich experience.
You could say I read it once and studied it twice after that. The same
discussion group also read and examined Lila. It's still going after
nearly six years. Like the other here at moq.org, I read lots of other
stuff too. Alot of it is related to our common interest.
Prepared as I'll ever be,
David B.
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