In this anniversary year, it's time to go back to exploring the book that began the whole journey. A great novel, a great philosophy, a classic whose time has arrived www.robertpirs... www.pirsigsjou... www.psybertron...
Back in the early 80s, I was working as the Honda motorcycle technician and attended the college at night. My boss gave me this book. I read it, and it really gave me so many insights. I love this book.
Hey Sevila, hard to believe that's it's been 50 years, but I bought it shortly after it came into print, and read it while hitchhiking in the Rockies a whole summer before my senior year of high school. I went onto do a double major in Philosophy and English in college, and it was Pirsig and that book started my journey into philosophy and eventually theology. Though I am not a religious man by any stretch, I ended up on that journey due to Pirsig initially. Thanks for all your content, I'm slowly chewing through all of it. And, like you, I am a romantic. Being a believer, I also love science and rational thought and find myself more often in the camp of the atheists or agnostics versus religious people, because the journey is an internal one that we walk alone, and it requires all of my mind, heart and soul. I still love Pirsig, both the man and his writings, and wish I could have his perspective on all of the changes we have endured since he has passed on. Thank you!
What is the nature of reality and how can understanding it help you live a better more quality life? Awnser, a subject object metaphysics where there is transjective relationship between the two. As a whole this describes the term duality. The subject does not exhist with out the object and vice versa. Robert Pirsig would suggest the transjective relationship which exists at the pre intelectual cutting edge of reality preceeds the exhistance of both. Josha Bach suggests it is all a subjective simulation inside your brain. This thought leader does not think reality is conscious from top to bottom. The makeup of the MOQ is object being inorganic patterns of value and biological patterns of value, subject being social patterns of value and intellectual patterns of value. With out the inorganic, there is no biological. With out the biological there is no social. Without social, there is no intellectual. Each catagory of patterns of value are developing and changing towards quality and each have different goals. This hierarchy provides a morality structure. Looking at this structure we have the start of a map on how to cultivate a good life. When looking at religion through this morality we can give more meaning to the stories and commandments that dogmatically commanded us through fear to align. Society at one point was much more fractal and projected less power(metaphor for quality). The morality of religion helped society band together and project more power. We are missing what religion provided today as the fractal world is coming together as one and causing disruptions to different static patterns. The patterns of the described metaphysics have the ability to consciously value, that means for example at the inorganic lvl of patterns, that mass shows value for its self by moving toward itself. This means a doesn't cause b to change to c, it would mean b values pre condition c more than condition a valued to create. Because the metaphysics values at all lvls, you could say causality does not exist.There is consciousness from top to bottom all valuing quality creating the very fabric that allows all lvls to come into exhistance. This seems way more probable than our exhistance randomly occurring through causality. This is why you should be humbled by the cutting edge of reality( space time) where you experience consciousness. The goal of the biological level of the object layer has the quality goal to survive, eat breath and reproduce. This can be simplified into a phrase, power projection. As a species we were hunter gathers. We come to learn early on the nature of our physicality allowed us to work together and project more power through collective abstractions in our brains. As we projected power, we developed our brains cognitively developing communication and language. There is an entire history to cognative development. I will point out that this would preceed any religion as you would need language to establish the walls of religion. Through language, we were able to establish intellectual thoughts, ideas and identity, the intellectual part of the hierarchy of the meta physics. To describe the morality structure of the described metaphysics, imagine the hierarchy in pyramid form with inorganic at the base, biological the second layer, social third layer and intellectual at the top. Now think about the unfolding cutting edge of reality where the entire structure comes together searching for pure dynamic quality in a transjective relationship. Each layer moves towards quality from certain static patterns to new dynamic patters . Imagine each layer gets wider as it moves towards its quality. It can then support more of the higher layer allowing for it to grow and move to higher quality in that layer. Each layer is also constrained by the higher layer forming a balance of growth of quality. If actions of immorality take place, One can damage this support structure crumbling the quality at the higher lvls. Part of the structure of the social world is a monopoly on violence, the strongest power projector and the agora(Greek for market place). This became apparent in history once agrarian society(farming society) was established. At this point society needed stability to function provided by the monopoly on violence. The social level is also where there is reciprocal exchange in relationships between people. You are projecting power by sharing cognative abstract reality. This establishes shared truth and makes reality more concrete for your individual intellectual reality. Your relationships are like the brick work that support your reality. The social level also explains why we are organized under governments. The monopoly on violence or strongest power projector, protects the agora. The agora allows for exchange, growth and development of a civilization. When you are immoral to the social layer you damage your ability to participate in shared cognative abstract reality. This inhibits your ability to have your intellectual layer supported by the collective abstract thought from the social layer which is important for mental health. This also points out that participaton in reality as important because you are strengthing the wall of reality for everyone else along with yourself. Don't ignore people. Don't let your ego stop you from participating, you only limit your self growth to quality. See the goal of quality = forgiveness and love. Ego is the tendency to love yourself above others If ultimate reality is non duality experiencing itself through duality (if there is 1 there is infinte divisions of one, so 1 can subjectively exhist), it suggests your ego or Centerpoint does not actually exhist. Ego is an abstraction made up from language and is completly subjective. It would almost be selfish for you to uphold the idea of separateness and duality in the form of your ego. This is where wo the story of you is stored. Realizing your not the center point or there are infinite center points experiencing the whole of non duality let's you realize how selfish it is on a moral lvl to view the world as you being the only center point. Questions Upstream of Religion What is panpsychism? Is consciousness fundamental? Are you the highest form of consciousness? What is duality? What is non duality? What is metaphysics? Does causality exhist if everything is conscious? Is consciousness separate from the voice in your head? Does your consciousness exhist after death? What is metaphysics? What is geshalt? What is the cutting edge of reality? What is space time? What is consciousness? What is awareness? What is subject? What is object? What is transjective? Are we one thing? Is there parts of this that are inert or not conscious? What is quality? What is beyond space time? What is ego? Does ego exhist after death? Does ego exist? What is the super ego? Why did we develop language? Is there a right or wrong? What is morality? Thank you for your work! This is just one interpretation of how to look at these ideas and conversations.
Two month ago, I was a goldenwest swap meet and I saw The motorcycle. I asked how much? The Chinese lady said, $50.00 then the guy behind me said, $200 long story short it went all the way up to $4500. Well, it didn’t run. We all talked and read the book. Well, made new friends. 1985 to 1995 I worked for Downey Toyota remember reading book and also Deming method. Deming Method a Japanese process of quality control . I do my best to buy the best and do it right the first time. Thank you for your insights. Yes, I just returned from walmart , I had to get some thousand island dressing damn, so many brands and why this cost more and that. Before, we had a simple choice today , is it sugar free, does it have thos or that. Where is it made. All that to sale us something.. well, keep it simple. 😅
