Category: Pirsig

Picked-up this collection of quotes from Tim O’Reilly via Sean Murphy, cross-linked because he refers to this quote from Pirsig talking about his ZMM, (and he uses a link to my Pirsig pages and bio timeline).

This book has a lot to say about Ancient Greek perspectives and their meaning but there is one perspective it misses. That is their view of time. They saw the future as something that came upon them from behind their backs with the past receding away before their eyes.

When you think about it, that’s a more accurate metaphor than our present one. Who really can face the future? All you can do is project from the past, even when the past shows that such projections are often wrong. And who really can forget the past? What else is there to know?

Ten years after the publication of Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance the Ancient Greek perspective is certainly appropriate. What sort of future is coming up from behind I don’t really know. But the past, spread out ahead, dominates everything in sight.

The past, spread out ahead, dominates everything in sight; Plus ca change; ‘Twas ever thus.

The other quote I liked is from John Andrew Holmes

“It is well to remember that the entire universe, with one trifling exception, is composed of others.”

Finished Dennett’s “Breaking the Spell” – mentioned in the previous post. Excellent.

Two promptings led me ….

… to Hume (from Alice’s comments), I really must read in the originals, so I’ve downloaded texts from Gutenberg. (Also contact from Alice reminded me I’d still not finished “Atonement”, still sitting on the bedside cabinet – just time to read before the film hits the streets.)

… to Bergson (from Gav on MoQ Discuss) … also still sitting on the bedside cabinet, only partly read is Henri Bergson’s “Creative Evolution”. I put it down because I found it heavy going – dense text, maybe something lost in translation from the Polish / Irish / French into English ? and in only four enormous chapters with little other structure. Lots of highly speculative assertions, with very little argumentation, and few direct quotes from sources. Intelligent and well-informed on evolution for 1907, and mostly convincing even if you have to suspend disbelief how much is intended metaphorically rather than literally. Will take some serious effort to review and summarise.

To complicate matters, I also have Aldous Huxley’s “Perennial Philosophy” bookmarked at the bedside – highly intellectual and informative on so many different sources, but again having trouble with overall structure and seeing the point, the message – the wood for the trees.

Also in various states of partial reading – Thoreau’s “Walden”, “Coffee With Plato” by Donald Moor with foreward by Pirsig, Whitehead’s “Adventures Of Ideas”, Dewey’s “How We Think”, oh, and McKeon’s collected works of Aristotle.

Following the mid-western road-trip to Wyoming & Montana, I’ve uploaded some photos. Lots of general scenery and wildlife in Teton and Yellowstone amongst other places, and for Pirsig fans, some relevant ZMM locations …

Hebgen Lake, Bozeman and Gardiner
The Beartooth Highway – between Gardiner and Laurel
Meeting Mark Richardson in Hill City

I was reading the Christie Hefner interview with Robert Pirsig from summer 1975, published in “Oui” magazine in November that year, and noticed that he makes what must the first published reference to his “Metaphysics of Quality”. I’ve added a link in the 1975 entry in my Pirsig Timeline (July 2007 updates) [Note the link is a 1.6Meg PDF scanned file.]

Post Note : In response to David’s question in the comments below … the reference to “metaphysics of quality” is in the middle column of page 124, where he is describing the agenda of his next book, and says …

“If you can find the causes of the differences [between the value systems of different ethnic groups] you can also find the sources of cohesiveness. I’m applying the metaphysics of quality and trying to figure out what it is causes cultures to hate one another year after year.”

Not capitalized (by the interviewer), but in 1975 the first time the expression is recorded. The nearest thing in ZMM (1974) where Quality itself is mentioned ad infinitum, was in Chapter 28 …

“He had become so caught up in his own world of Quality metaphysics he couldn’t see outside it anymore, and since no one else understood this world, he was already done for.”

I interpret this here as the general subject of metaphysics wherever he can find relevance to quality, rather than the concept of “The” Metaphysics of Quality.

I just blogged about Colin Talbot‘s “Paradoxical Primate” which despite the unlikely sounding TLA (Three Letter Acronym) “PST” (Paradoxical Systems Theory) jargon, and the negative review I initially stumbled upon, I found the subject and title headings sufficiently attractive to order a copy.

I’d just renewed contact with Bruce Charlton only a couple of days ago, someone I’d come across previously as a writer who cited the applicability of Pirsig’s work in the health-care business (as does James Willis) though the Pirsig connection is incidental to the subject matter.

Well, browsing Colin’s book at Amazon I browsed the citations list. Lo and behold “Paradoxical Primate” cites Bruce Charlton’s “Modernization Imperative“, and it turns out Bruce was unaware of this.

Post Note : In fact there is no citation. Amazon’s link collects up references to other books by the same publisher inside the back cover. Anyway, having read Colin Talbot’s Paradoxical Primate – I find little to add – it’s a book I could have written myself – excellent; all my own agenda points very well made. Spooky. Must post a more detailed review.)

Anyway, “Modernization Imperative” looks very interesting too, on the subject of systems of governance. I’ll blog a more detailed review later.

Interestingly Bruce Charlton also edits “Medical Hypotheses” whose editorial policy includes this:

Medical Hypotheses takes a deliberately different approach to peer review. Most contemporary practice tends to discriminate against radical ideas that conflict with current theory and practice. Medical Hypotheses will publish radical ideas, so long as they are coherent and clearly expressed. Furthermore, traditional peer review can oblige authors to distort their true views to satisfy referees, and so diminish authorial responsibility and accountability.

Worth linking to Nick Maxwell’s stuff on the neurosis of science, in presuming the only way to proceed is direct to critical review and empirical test, do not pass go. Brian Josephson would approve of the suspension of the over-skeptical response (pathological disbelief) to the radical too.

I’ve been sitting on some overdue additions to my Pirsig timeline since the Guardian interview in November 2006 had Pirsig freely discussing much new information in public. However I was alerted by Mark Richardson to a significant error – the subject of an inconsistency I had originally queried with Pirsig – concerning the dates of the moves to teaching in Bozeman (1959) and then to the University of Chicago (1961), where his breakdown became total. Perhaps not surprising that the man’s own recollections of this period were inexact. Anyway, timeline now corrected.

More interesting and important news for Pirsig fans, is that Mark Richardson has a book of his own in the pipeline, worked around his own experience of the ZMM route by motorcycle, in which he has also gathered much more new journalistically-researched biographical detail well beyond the scope of my simple timeline.

Good luck with the publication Mark.

Mark Germine posted a link on MoQ-Discuss to his paper “The Holographic Principle Theory of Mind” on the Dynamical Psychology philosophy journal site edited by Ben Goertzel. (I have Ben linked in my side-bar blogroll). Mark’s summary is

The Holographic Principle holds the information in any region of space and time exists on the surface of that region.  Layers of the holographic, universal “now” go from the inception of the universe to the present.  Universal Consciousness is the timeless source of actuality and mentality. Information is experience, and the expansion of the “now” leads to higher and higher orders of experience in the Universe, with various levels of consciousness emerging from experience.  The brain consists of a nested hierarchy of surfaces which range from the most elementary field through the neuron, neural group, and the whole brain.  Evidence from the evolution and structure of the brain shows that optimal surface areas in a variety of structures are conserved with respect to underlying surfaces.  Microgenesis, the becoming of the mental state through a process of recapitulation of development and evolution, is in full accord with the Holographic Principle. Evidence from a wide variety of contexts indicates the capacity of the mind for total recall of past life events and for access to universal information, indicating connection with the holographic surfaces of prior “nows” and with the Universal holographic boundary.  In summation, the Holographic Principle can help us explain the unity and mechanisms of perception, experience, memory, and consciousness.

KEYWORDS: Holographic Principle, consciousness, evolution, time, mind, brain, memory, microgenesis, quantum physics, conceptual synthesis.)

This is just a holding post to collect all the linkage.

The paper itself, and Mark’s post on MoQ-Discuss, link this quantum view to Whitehead’s “Process” metaphysics, and suggests the parallel with Pirsig, discussed by Sneddon (on Ant’s site).

David Morey previously pointed out the parallels between the Whitehead process metaphysics and quantum theory, as discussed by Shimon Malin’s “Nature Loves to Hide”. (Which I read and enjoyed, posted thoughts on MoQ-Discuss – but it seems I didn’t blog about Malin, or Whitehead for that matter, who I’ve also read since reading Malin ?)

The holographic principle (holochory) is a fundamental aspect of quantum information theory, being posited by the BCS Cybernetics group as a the most fundamental view of the whole of reality, including consciousness.

Mark cites Stapp, and it was Stapp and Josephson that first gave me that link between fundamental physics and eastern (Zen) philosophy, after I had passed over Talbot’s “Mysticism and the New Physics” as merely metaphorical.

Ben Goertzel also runs the “Artificial General Intelligence” research institute wiki, and is a member of the organising committee for the AGI-08 conference, where Cliff Joslyn and Doug Lenat are also on the programme committee. Ben is the editor of “Dynamical Psychology”, Mark Germine is an associate editor, and Fred (Bluberry Brain) Abraham is on the editorial board.

After some stressful hectic weeks – company annual conference, and a “learning experience” in US temporary-resident house-buying – Sylvia and I decided we’d have a quiet holiday weekend after work on Saturday. After checking the boys were surviving OK with end of year exam progress – just one of them has one to go – we went to Barnes & Noble and sought out a few books to read quietly, at some of our favourite local locations.

I picked-up my first Kurt Vonnegut (see previous post) and my first Daniel Quinn – the first of the “Ishmael” trilogy originally written in 1977 – and Naslund’s “Ahab’s Wife” – both the latter on my reading list for quite some time, since blogging references some years ago.

Anyway, having read Cat’s Cradle right though, practically in one sitting pausing only to sleep, I started Ishmael this morning, and I’m now through that too.

Very interesting. All bar one scene so far, there are just the two characters in conversation, Ishmael (the 1000 pound gorilla in the room) and the author – in a philosophical journey similar to Sophie and her tutor / correspondent, though like Pirsig’s ZMM and Lila, it is infinitely better than Sophie’s World because it contains it’s own philosophical speculations, rather than just a potted history of the accepted philosophy of our culture.

I was expecting something pretty new-agey and cultish – there is after all a www.ishmael.com and a “Friends of Ishmael” out there – but I’m pleasantly surprised and impressed. The writer, as opposed to the unavoidable dryness of Ishmael himself, is the professional journalistic writer in his own story, with plenty of opportunity for wit.

Like Pirsig the point is that our “western” culture – the “Mother Culture” in Quinn – has become wedded to a misunderstanding – the correct view of life the universe and everything having an evolutionary explanation, but a failure to appreciate that what passes for correct “intellectually” is simply mythology and not some god-given absolute truth or reason.

Ishmael’s metaphor is the Takers and Leavers. The “Takers” being those tillers of the land – with the mark of Cain – who believe right supports their might to dominate the “Leavers”, the hunter-gatherers and nomadic herders of Abel. Our metaphors – the fall of Adam eating from the tree of (true) knowledge – are according to Quinn really the myths of the Leavers created to explain why the Takers thought they might be right. The real message is “diversity is key” to successful long term evolution. No one culture can assume it is right in a any absolute sense over others. There need to be many cultures, with boundaries and interdependencies, just as there needs to be bio-diversity in the gene pool.

Memetic diversity. Like Pirsig, there is a tendency to progress through layers of evolution, we just happen to be the most evolved intellects we know about so far, but we may not necessarily be the ancestors of the most evolved intelligencies in future – let those dolphins through. The only thing special about humans is that we may be the first to learn this fact and ensure we don’t get in the way of progress, and pass this message on to future cultures, rather than mistakenly assume we can take over as managers of the cosmos, whilst leading it to our certain extinction along with the terrestrial corner of the cosmos we feel we have control over. Influence yes, control no.

Also like Pirsig, much is made of the anthropology of plains Indian culture and of the (then recent) failure of hippies to make a go of alternative culture – a reminder that this is nothing to do with a nostalgia for noble savagery – simply that the “leaver” culture naturally accepts that it is one of many interacting cultures doing what works best for them, rather than “the” culture with the best riposte to all other cultures. Freedom and competition yes, but with pragmatic limits. This knowledge Quinn calls “wisdom”.

Probably worth reading “Providence” as well as the others in the Ishmael trilogy – “The Story of B” and “My Ishmael”

When Kurt Vonnegut died a few weeks ago, there was some traffic about his work on various discussion boards … I realized I knew of him, and a little about his works, but had not actually read any. On MoQ-Discuss several people gave recommendations for favourites and for new readers. I started with the obvious – 1963 “Cat’s Cradle” – with no prior knowledge, I was pleasantly suprised. A witty, satyrical, apocalyptic allegory. The deepest message seems to be in the title – connections are all there is  – a tangle of string – there is nothing else to the world – no cradle – and nothing else in it – no cat. Nothing is what it seems, it’s all sleight of hand.

Put me in mind of Einstein on communication – “except there is no cat”.

Put me in mind of Douglas Adams – the golden slipper and more (?)

Put me in mind of Pirsig – the ice-nine seed crystal.

Put me in mind of Rand – migration from industrial might to (dystopian) Utopia

Upcoming presentations at Liverpool University’s (IDF) “Inter-Disciplinary Forum” inlcudes one on 6th June by Mark Maxwell on “The Metaphysics of Quality and the Unity of Disciplines“

Be interesting to hear how that goes down. A potted summary of Pirsig’s MoQ, a shift from physics to life sciences, and a reference to Frijtof Capra’s “Web of Life”. Intriguing.

For myself, I’m reading David Granger’s “Dewey, Pirsig and the Art of Living” … a truly excellent summary of Pirsig’s Quality and Dewey’s Aesthetic Education – establishing, according to Jim Garrison, that their common ground is total. Hardly suprising I’d say, since each seems equal to reality itself. (Actually a very good read, and a comprehensive analysis of Pirsig so far. Will blog more when finished. Blogged earlier about Granger’s paper which focussed mainly on relating Pirsig’s English rhetoric class teaching stories in relation to Dewey. The book so far covers Pirsig’s metaphysics much more comprehensively – the platypi, the hot stove, everything so far as I can tell.)