lenchom@uwwvax.uww.edu
Sun, 18 Jan 1998 09:07:12 +0100
Hi, LS.
I am new to the group and have just picked up on the attempt
to hash out and organizing statement of Pirsig's view of Quality
and related issues. I have had some fun teaching Pirsig for
the past several years, and I am thinking that you might enjoy
the following classroom formulation of the static/dynamic
distinction that I've worked out with the help of my students:
Static Quality:
Pirsig says . . .
"static good [is] derived from fixed laws and the traditions and
values that underlie them." It's "the essential structure of the
culture itself and defines it." It is "old and complex" and
"contains a component of memory;" that is, it's " what you normally
expect." It is conformity to an established patern of fixed values
and value objects." It is "quality of order" which we rely on to
"preserve our world." Through it, we can stave off chaos.
Extrapolating, we might say that . . .
Static quality is the great store of common sense identified with
and derived by experience, and it points the way to how we're
supposed to act and think, both in a constitutive and normative
sense. It's goodness gets codified into rules and regulations,
and it lies behind the conventions by which we live. It is the
force of stability and intelligibility. It makes sense; it is
settling. It is conservative, mature and associated with age.
Static quality is the avoidance of badness. It is the voice of
reason and custom; it is responsible. It's what permits us to
get to sleep at night.
Dynamic Quality
Pirsig says. . .
"Dynamic good. . .is outside of any culture," and "cannot be
contained by any system of precepts [laws]." He calls it "the
pre-intellectual cutting edge of reality, the source of all things,
completely simple and always new." It comes "as sort of a surprise."
It is the "Quality of freedom, [and it] creates the world in which
we live."
Extrapolating, we might say that. . .
Dynamic Quality is prior to experience and can only be felt in the
associations it leaves behind. It has to do with what we like
as opposed to what we are supposed to do. It does not follow rules
and regulations, but is evidenced in the instinct of independence.
It is the force of change. It compells attention; it is stimulating
and intriguing. It is reformist, active, and stereotypically
associated with youth. Dynamic Quality finds its effect in the
disobedient pursuit of excellence. It is the voice of intuition
and discovery; it is revolutionary. It is what gets us up in the
morning.
And only through the mutually supporting synergy of these two
antagonistic forces (Catch 25?) do we get evolution.
Mark.
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