Famous MoQites
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- Robert M. Pirsig (1928-) author of Zen and the Art of
Motorcycle Maintenance, Lila, and Subjects, Objects,
Data, and Values. Pirsig does not want Quantonics to provide
personal information. If you read his books on topics like celebrity,
you can see why. If you search for 'pirsig' you may find additional
information. He treats us extremely well when we stick to his
Metaphysics of Quality, so let's follow his lead and do just
that. MoQ is Pirsig's gift to us, so if we learn it and use it,
good will follow.
Previously Unidentified MoQites of Historical Note:
- ðHenri Louis Bergson (1859-1941) - We nominate
Bergson as an intuitive MoQite. As we read Bergson first time,
we were astounded to find exquisite harmony with both Pirsig's
Metaphysics of Quality (MoQ I) and quantum sciences' Mechanics
of Quanta (MoQ II).
Essence: Bergson says reality is quintessentially heterogeneous
and Qualitative. If he knew Robert M. Pirsig, he probably would
agree with Pirsig that reality is Quality.
Antithesis: Bergson vehemently denies any classical view
that reality is homogeneous and thus quantitative.
Bergson's bottom line: Reality is Qualitative, not quantitative!
Bergson opposed traditional philosophy's classical logic and
science. He rejected classical sciences' impudent arrogance and
its concomitant denial of intuition. Intuition, to Bergson, possessed
much higher Value than rational, dialectical thought.
Morton White in his, The Age of Analysis, says, "It
is very difficult to classify Bergson under the conventional
philosophical labels..."
Aside: Those of you familiar with Pirsig's works will
recognize a Pirsigean platypus here. To classicists, Bergson
is a 'platypus,' not classifiable, not recognizable by classical
philosophers and scientists. "Aha!" They say, "Bergson
is nonclassifiable, therefore he does not exist!" :end
aside. Doug. (28Jan2000)
In Bergson's own words, "You must take things by storm;
you must thrust intelligence outside itself by an act of will."
This is analogous to our saying, "Get out of SOM's limiting
axiomatic box/church of reason.." and as soon as you find
yourself boxed-in again, "storm out."
We found Bergson in our search for innovative
interpretations of time, and his interpretation of time certainly
falls in that category. Mae-wan Ho distills Bergson's comparison
of classical time and real time thus:
SOM/Classical Time,
"An infinitely divisible homogeneous quantity,"
vis-à-vis
Bergsonian/MoQ/quantum Time,
"An indivisible heterogeneous Quality."
In Mae-wan's Bergsonian distillation of SOM/Classical time we
see reductive homology, quantitative
reason/truth over qualitative
Value/intuition, functional analyticity, continua, etc.
In her MoQ/quantum version we see commingling multitudinism,
qualitative Value/intuition
over quantitative reason/truth,
ensemble stochasticity, quanta, etc.
(May we suggest you read at least chapter 12 of Mae-wan's, the
Rainbow and the Worm, which we reviewed here,
but we left her time chapter to your own consideration and potential
enlightenment. In addition to referring Bergson on a correct
interpretation of real time, she also references Hermann Hesse's,
The Glass Bead Game, originally titled, Magister Ludi,
which won a Nobel Prize for literature in 1946. We are reviewing
it now and will show our review mid-2000. ð Magister Ludi's Castalian
training and intellectual pursuits represent mostly an antithesis
of Bergson's own philosophy. However, Magister
Ludi's subsequent Li-la transitions to and fro three more Homo
sapiens garner a sense of Bergson's own "duration.")
Bergson
says our classical way of experiencing reality and thinking
about it is inadequate. In his view, we should not view experience
as a nonstochastic series of snapshots, one preceding, another
succeeding, each separate and distinct from one another. He calls
this way of thinking a "mechanically oriented psychology."
He thinks we should treat life as a flux of fleeting
shades merging into and emerging from one another. Instead, we
treat life like solid-colored beads, side-by-side on a necklace.
(Here is a ~350k animation of our artistic (but unfortunately
mechanistic J) equivalent of Bergson's,
"...flux
of fleeting shades merging into and emerging from one another.")
Life, to Bergson, is a qualitative process. Real, lived, qualitative
time (i.e., heterogeneous
times) is and must be carefully distinguished from physicists'
and mathematicians' artificial, quantitative time (i.e., homogeneous
time).
William James (Sidis' godfather, and namesake) found Bergson's
work tantalizing. Bergson, as did James, found formal devices
of our intellect as pragmatic [should be
prosaic — this was an original semantic error on
Doug's part] and plain. As such, these formal devices
cannot commingle and interpenetrate our consciousness, let alone
its complement. Both of them felt philosophers seek real
reality, where physicists and mathematicians seek mechanical,
axiomatic analogies of reality. (We agree! We surmise Pirsig
does too!)
Bergson's primary theory is called 'creative evolution,' and
it contraposes both mechanistic objectivism/transformationalism
and deterministic teleology. Both depend upon analytic, homogeneous
time. Both fail to see how time cohesively, heterogeneously,
yet ubiquitously sinks its many-pronged, multitudinous, multi-orthomodular
tuning forks into reality's whole cloth. Bergson thinks his theory
allows us to change our thinking modes and see objectivism's
and teleology's innate weaknesses. Then we can move to a new
open bazaar of change and freedom unencumbered by inductionism
and causal determinism.
Note that Bergson's élan vital is much like Pirsig's
DQ, Sidis'/William James' reserve energy, Stein's
nonspace, Quantonics' nonactuality, etc.
Bergson wrote, Time
and Free Will (1890), Matter and Memory (1896,
tr. 1911 & 1988), Introduction
to Metaphysics (1903, reprinted as The Creative Mind
(1946)), and Creative
Evolution (1907, tr. 1911?), and The Two Sources of
Morality and Religion (1932). Bergson won a 1928 Nobel Prize
for literature. Read about him and see whether you agree with
our assessment of his candidacy as an official MoQite.
One final aside: Please be aware that Quantonics and its
QTMs (Quantum/Quantonic Thinking Modes) resolve a large question
which Bergson addressed called, 'Darwin's dilemma.' QTMs show
us that evolution is occurring in many time 'frames' in
massively parallel fashion across all scales of physical reality,
at differing rates commingling times' frames. What
Bergson called 'saving up' of mutations is, just like his concept
of time, "...an indivisible heterogeneous Quality."
In a Bergsonian, real sense, time is evolution
and evolution is time. Doug. (28Jan2000) :end aside.
- Blaise Pascal - We nominate Pascal as Quantonics' first official
MoQite immediately behind Pirsig. At first glance one would disagree.
However, Pascal's ideas so closely align Pirsig's we have to
place him here, even above Pirsig's beloved pragmatists. Why
do we place Pascal in this high stature? He is our first philosopher
whom we have read who intuits quantum science. We show quantum
science on this web site as a strong dual of Pirsig's MoQ. We
even call Pirsig's philosophy MoQ I and quantum science MoQ II,
to show how closely their dualities align. Pascal sees reality
as a both/and commingling of both shape (Pirsig's Static Quality)
and motion (Pirsig's Dynamic Quality). He sees them as inseparable,
a fecund wave function of both particleness and
waveness interpenetrating, dancing harmoniously together. And
Pascal did all this between 1623 and 1662!
Note that similar to William James Sidis, Pascal's father chose
to teach Pascal himself.
Pascal intuited and experienced directly what Pirsig calls the
unknown, or Dynamic Quality. Pirsig's DQ is what Buddha calls,
"...an Unborn, Unoriginated, Uncreated, Unformed."
It is identical to quantum science's Vacuum Energy Space, or
VES. When measured, it is source of creation,
change, and discreation.
Yes, we must promote Pascal, 300+ years after his death, to MoQite!
Done!
Unconfirmed approximates:
Definition of Quality:
Quality is a multiversal admixture of both
dynamis and stasis.
Dynamis inures privilege over stasis, but depends on stasis to
preserve dynamis' better
quantal evolutionary progress judgments.
Definition of dynamis:
Dynamis creates, changes, discreates, commingles and interpenetrates
all stasis. Dynamis remains undefined. It is not finite intellect
definable. It may be described, but it may not be defined. Dynamis
may be described as stasis' complement, i.e., nonactuality/nonspace/unlatched/unfretted/etc.
Definition of stasis:
Stasis is co-within dynamis. Stasis is all known- and
unknown-actualized/-latched/-fretted/etc. reality.
Definition of quantal:
Planck rate discrete action (i.e., Planck rate pragma) with
superluminal (zero latency) edges (non-classical, non-dissipative).
Definition of evolution/evolutionary:
Quantized incremental outcomes prefer ensemble stochastic
value (interrelationships)
preconditions. Note: This explains SOM's material/physical
delusions of analyticity, induction, cause-effect, determinism,
reversibility, etc. Expected, but non-general, local Earth conditions
manifest mostly stabile stasis ensembles.
Are YOU an MoQite?
- If you are a student of Pirsig's works, there may be an outside
chance you may be an MoQite.
- If you do not know whether you are an MoQite, but you re-read
Pirsig's works regularly, you are probably on your way to becoming
an MoQite.
- If you believe nature is both good and moral,
you share intrinsics with practicing MoQites.
- If you believe reality is quantum and non-classical, your
own heuristic philosophy is close to Pirsig's MoQ.
- If you intuit change as higher value than stasis,
you intuit MoQ's rudiments.
Known Wannabes:
- Anthony McWatt — First known MoQ Ph.D. candidate, UK
- Bo Skutvik — Pirsig acquaintance; ardent supporter,
NO
- Doug Renselle —
Student of Pirsig's works; disciple, US
- Mukundan Iyengar
— I am presently studying management (MBA) in a premier
institute in Jamshedpur, India called Xavier Labour Relations
Institute(XLRI) which is a part of the fraternity of Xavier institutes
all over the world. Incidentally, Jmshedpur is the home town
of TATAs the first business house of India. I am an ardent follower
of Mr. Pirsig.
- Add your name to this
list — with brief credentials
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