From: David Buchanan (DBuchanan@ClassicalRadio.org)
Date: Sat Sep 20 2003 - 20:29:17 BST
Andy, Platt and all:
Pirsig wrote:
"What the Metaphysics of Quality concludes is that the old
Puritan and Victorian social codes should not be followed blindly, but
should not be attacked blindly either. They should be dusted off and re-
examined, fairly and impartially, to see what they were trying to
accomplish and what they actually did accomplish toward building a
stronger society."
Platt said:
"Don't let your kids suffer. Wack the unruly ones. If your school won't
let you enforce discipline, find a school that will."
Andy objected:
Well, you got half of the first sentence right. Sounds like you would like
to return to the good ol' victorian days, though by Following their social
codes blindly. ...In ZMM, when Chris was acting up, I remember Pirsig being
loving but forceful in correcting his behavior, but I never remember him
"Wacking" him. Nor did he ever "wack" Lila. Sighing with a heavy heart,...
dmb adds:
Let me begin by saying that I think Platt is a cave man. I think its pretty
clear that Pirsig is NOT saying we ought to beat our children. There are
many forms of discipline, including physical retraint, that are effective
but do not resort to violence. The fact is that the kind of parenting styles
that includes violence and harsh rules has exactly the opposite effect. It
creates violent and harsh people. (The psychological data that supports this
claim is included in the psychology paper I wrote about last month.
Interested parties can find it under the title, "Political Conservatism as
Motivated Social Cognition". It was published not too long ago in the
American Psychology Association's "Psychological Bulletin", which is an
academic journal.) It might seem that making a cause and effect relationship
between parenting styles and the rise of fascism would be too much of a
stretch, but the evidence is fairly overwhelming. So go ahead. If you
believe that there are too few fascists and not enough violence in the
world, go ahead. Beat your children.
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