CHOICE IS THE AFFIRMATION OF VALUE, BUT DOES
"A" CHOOSE "B" OR "B" CHOOSE "A"?
Hi Foqs,
The MoQ agenda seems to be piling up!
1. Roger's challenge to summarize "Dynamic is better" as a one paragraph
argument - I'll try and get to this soon.
2. The "Dynamic/static Issue Development thread". I could be pedantic
and have a go at some of Dan's physics, but I think this would detract
from the main issue - that things move or evolve naturally in a
particular direction, even though we can usually find special transient
conditions where the direction is apparently defied.
The main reason for this post is to further pursue the CHOICE issue
raised by Roger.
We are not accustomed to recognizing the power of choice in inanimate
objects, only conscious entities. When it comes to defining behaviour,
the metaphysical world divides between those who believe that all is
deterministic "i.e. B is unavoidably caused by A", and non-determinists
who maintain that B is statistically the most probable response that
accompanies A, i.e. B happens by CHANCE. I'm going to dismiss the
determinism vs. non-determinism issue because even if the determinists
are right, and chance and choice are illusory, the empirical phenomena
we know as choice and chance cannot be denied.
What I want to focus on is comparing the phenomena of chance and choice:
We use the word chance for the selections made by/for inanimate objects,
choice for those made by conscious entities. Chance is assumed to be
"objective" stemming from natural forces, while Choice is "subjective"
reflecting the will of the entity doing the choosing. This is the basis
of the classic courtroom defense "It was an accident - not something I
chose to do!" If we play down this objective vs. subjective view, then
the distinction between chance and choice starts to disappear.
Thus, let me reassert my view of choice as the affirmation of value.
When Pirsig says "B values precondition A" he could equally have said "B
is the chosen response to A". What I'm not sure though is whether A or B
does the choosing, or if it even matters. What seems to fit though is
that the act or event in which a choice is made is the dynamic part of
the quality process. It even translates well into "objective"
terminology, with chance representing the dynamic "degrees of freedom" .
Jonathan
MOQ.org - http://www.moq.org
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