From: Arlo J. Bensinger (ajb102@psu.edu)
Date: Mon Oct 10 2005 - 02:33:10 BST
There are those among us who have long contended that enriching the self, either
with symbolic (power) or financial capital, is the groundstuff of the human
condition, the unquestionable market force that drives Quality.
Platt provided again, in another post, the Pirsig quotion of man's cooperative
nature being a "devastating fiction". This got me thinking...
What was it that drove the publication of ZMM, and got the whole MOQ process
underway?
In the afterwards to ZMM, Pirsig had stated "Writing it seemed to have higher
quality than not writing it, that was all." But what was the nature of that
Quality that writing it met?
If it self-enrichment in one's understanding of the world, a fine and valuable
self-full goal, then Pirsig could have stopped with his own personal
understanding, and not proceeded with the effort to print and publish. In
short, his enrichment was met, why continue with authorship and publication?
Was it to seek profit? If the "conservatives" are correct, that this is the High
Noble Goal That Drives All Man's Actions, then perhaps this was it? But Pirsig
also states in the afterwards, "Back then, after 121 others had turned this
book down, one lone editor offered a standard $3,000 advance. He said the book
forced him to decide what he was in publishing for, and added that although
this was almost certainly the last payment, I shouldn’t be discouraged. Money
wasn’t the point with a book like this. That was true."
"That was true." This seems to indicate that had Pirsig never received another
dime in royalties, he would still see the publication and authorship as High
Quality.
So, if Pirsig's Quality in writing and publishing was not financial capital, was
it celebrity? Fame? And the symbolic capital (power) that comes with it? Pirsig
talked a lot about celebrity in Lila, and it comes across strongly that even
then he was shying from celebrity, and now he lives in somewhat seclusion when
his celebrity would afford such riches. No, I don't think he wrote it to attain
celebrity for himself.
Was it for posterity-fame? Was it to go down in the history books as "this" or
"that"? If this were the case, I'd think he'd be more involved in the ongoing
development of the theory.
But if he went though all that trouble of writing, and then all the effort of
attemtping to publish, and he was not motivated by money or celebrity, and he
had already achieved the self-full goal of personal enrichment that comes with
knowledge.... what then?
So what Quality did writing and publishing fulfill? What was "the point of a
book like this"?
I offer-- to contribute to the betterment of others. That's the only reason that
seems to make sense to me. Although we've rewarded him (financially) for his
authorship and ideas, this financial reward seemed to play *no part* in guiding
Pirsig's decision to author/publish. Indeed, he seemed to indicate he would
have done so even he was told upfront he would receive no financial rewards.
Although we've made him into a reluctant celebrity, he shuns this role, and
from what I know has never "cashed in" the symbolic capital that this celebrity
brought. Likely, if he was assured upfront that he would have lived out his
life in obscurity, he would still have chosen to author/publish.
The Quality that Pirsig's writing met was that he brought new understanding and
insight into the social/intellectuals domains, so as to improve, or contribute
to, intellectual evolution. This is, to me, the foundation for an argument that
places social and intellectual evolution on social cooperation and the
self-less (in the financial/symbolic capital sense) activity guided by a
Quality higher than personal financial wealth, namely the enrichment of the
social/intellectual levels for all.
In short, if people were really "just in it for themselves", why do we have ZMM?
What Quality did writing it serve? Pirsig has proved, through his actions, that
there are Greater Goods than personal wealth and fame, and that it is to
contribute to the betterment/advacement/enrichment/evolution of culture is what
guides High Quality lives.
Arlo
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