Platt Holden (pholden@worldnet.att.net)
Thu, 27 Nov 1997 07:00:41 +0100
Greetings LS:
With deep bows to Diana, Bo, Doug, Maggie, Hugo, Magnus and others who have
contributed to the FAQ and my enlightenment, I would like to offer for
consideration a radically simplified version, vulnerable I fear to the
charge of being simplistic. I've tossed in some additional questions that
have come up in conversations I've had with non-MoQites. I do not intend
this to be in any way a substitute for Diana's brilliant work but rather as
a catalyst for possible further refinement of what she and others have
already done. Perhaps there is an idea or two here of value to the end
result.
PRIMER ON THE METAPHYSICS OF QUALITY
What is Metaphysics?
A theory of reality.
What is the Metaphysics of Quality?
The theory that reality is awareness, the ultimate good.
Why does Pirsig say reality is awareness?
Because without awareness reality wouldn't exist.
Why does Pirsig say reality is the ultimate good?
Because we can conceive of nothing better than awareness.
What is the Quality Event?
The event that creates our level of reality from awareness.
What is Dynamic Quality?
Pure awareness, uncontaminated by thought.
Is Dynamic Quality another word for God?
If you mean by God the ultimate good, yes.
Then the Bible is right when it says God created Heaven and Earth?
Yes, as long as you think of God not as a captive of any one religion, but
as the principle of good.
Is the Metaphysics of Quality a religion?
No. Religion is a static pattern of Social Quality. (See below.)
How does morality fit into the Metaphysics of Quality?
Morality is another name for Quality.
Does that mean that reality is moral?
Yes.
Isn't morality about how people behave?
Yes, but also about how everything in the universe behaves.
What is Static Quality?
The evolution of awareness in the universe, stabilized into patterns.
What are the levels of Static Quality?
Inorganic, Biological, Social and Intellectual.
What is Inorganic Quality?
Patterns of physical matter.
What is Biological Quality?
Patterns of life.
What is Social Quality?
Patterns of culture.
What is Intellectual Quality?
Patterns of thought.
Are you saying that patterns of matter are aware?
Yes.
How can anyone believe that?
If humans are aware, and humans are composed of particles, it follows that
particles are aware too.
What is the evidence?
Quantum physics sees particles as events requiring the presence of
awareness.
What exactly are values?
Whatever is good.
Who determines what is good?
Each level determines its own good.
What is the highest good?
Freedom from all static patterns.
How do you know that?
Freedom is the driving force of evolution.
How can anyone believe that?
Each evolutionary level contains more freedom of action and greater
awareness than the level below it.
How do the different levels relate to each other?
They fight each other for dominance.
Why?
Each level considers itself better than other levels.
Are higher levels better than those below it?
Yes.
So it's moral for a higher level to dominate a lower level?
Yes, but in doing so it has to be careful not to weaken or destroy the
lower level.
Why?
Because a higher level depends on the lower for its existence.
How come different people have different ideas about what is good?
Each person has a different pattern of life history.
Why did Pirsig say Lila had Quality?
He didn't say she had Quality He said Quality had her. Each of us is
possessed by the patterns of Quality. Your collection of patterns is the
unique set that defines you.
How is Dynamic Quality expressed in each level?
In the Inorganic level, it's expressed as light, in the Biological level as
birth, in the Social level as play, in the Intellectual level as art.
Platt
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