MF Science or Emotivism ?
Dear MoQ'ers,
This months topic addresses the validity of Pirsig's 4 Q-levels
and therefore is fundamental to the whole of MoQ . Although one can
get to the essence of MoQ without resort to the Q-levels, but that
can only be of personal benefit to someone. The real essence of MoQ
and thereby its potential lies in the ability of Moqers to be able
to COMMUNICATE this essence to others , and for that purpose the
Q-levels are vital and valid.
I had said in my earlier post (as a rhetorical statement) that the
goal of intellect is to understand & explain EVERYTHING in the
perception of man. Clearly that is impossible, and the underlying
meaning of that statement is that instead of trying to do so
(which is where western intellect is stuck in ) , intellect
must focus on purpose. Knowledge without appropriate
applicability has a negative value and knowledge just for
its own sake is without meaning and devoid of values.
The central question seems to be : How can we distinguish one level
from another ? that is -what makes one level higher than the other?
Evolution ? Evolution of what ? Of Intellegence or of Morals ?
Clearly intellegence has evolved over the millions of years,
and the 4 Q-levels are definitely representative of higher and
higher levels of intellegence, but can we say higher and higher
morals ???
For intellectual level to be valid and higher than the social
level it needs to show the highest moral, not just intellegence.
Let me make an absurd assumption :
"The MOST IMMORAL act is to kill another living being just for
pleasure "
As a rule animals almost never kill for pleasure -only for food
or as a threat perception. ( A known absurd fact )
Some human beings are known to kill just for pleasure.
( A known - not so absurd fact )
Conclusion : Some humans are more Immoral than animals.
( An absurd conclusion from absurd premises and equally absurd
facts)
Thats the problem with Morals - thay are so absurd -just
can't seem to pin them down with logic or reason . If
they could be, Einstein would have put it all down in
some grand mathematical equation and everybody would
have agreed and morals would then become another object
to be worshiped in the church of reason.
And yet there is an ABSOLUTE MORAL that cuts across all
levels, everywhere in time and space, one that can
CLEARLY IDENTIFY one Q-level from another
- but its not reasonable !
Its like a joker in a pack of cards called
life that will always have the last laugh.
Do you know what it is ? Do you WANT to know what it is ?
Do you CARE to know what it is ?
Without that joker , you can add any number of Q-levels
to the 4 of Pirsigs and jump up and down the monkey
ladder for infinity without getting anywhere. No
amount of intellectual gymnastics will impress this
joker.
This joker will show its face only when you
are really desperate and alone in the night
when you stare at the stars and ask the questions:
Who am I ? What am I doing here ?
What is the purpose of my existence ?
But you will say - everything is fine in my life.I'm
sitting pretty at the highest level -THE INTELLECTUAL
LEVEL and all ready to make the jump to the next one.
I dont think anybody seems to be taking David B 's
warnings seriously about the Intellectual level being
devoured by the social level - which is inevitable
unless all so called intellectuals get their acts
together - focused on a purpose.
I have said in my last months post that intellegence
is a sum of two faculties :
Reason - the tool of Analysis -the survival tool.
Counterpart of reason - the tool of Synthesis-
the creative tool .
Both of these are powerful tools in the hands of
man - with moral force these tools can create anything
without the moral force these will destroy everything.
Reason - the tool of Analysis clarifies so much but at
the same time blinds us to so much that at times we
fail to see the road ahead with its pitfalls.
The counterpart of reason - the tool of Synthesis
prefers to lurk in the shadows - it is sensitive and shy
but when it becomes fully operational it is like a flash
of lightening that can illuminate all around -and sometimes
that flash of a second can be enough to put all the pieces
together.
A writer once wrote on the death of another writer :
"Any manifestation of the universe, any way in which it behaves
toward us, isn't merely about us, isn't merely psychological,
but is a movement of the universe, and as such what happens
to us, no matter what it is, connects us to everything, and in
that connection what can be felt but awe? "A live world," he wrote,
"is in constant flux. It moves; it changes; it reverses itself."
We try to defend ourselves against that, but we cannot.
The only freeing response is awe (and wonder).
His presence was an admission that every truth is fragile,
that every knowledge must be learned over and over again,
every night, that we grow not in a straight line but in ascending
and descending and tilting circles, and that what gives us power
one year robs us of power the next, for nothing is settled, ever,
for anyone.
Now I would add: What makes this bearable is awe. "
Dillon
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