Comment on Jose's Post

I agree with the entirety of Jose's post and can even point out that I believe we had the same thoughts and examples as we read this week's readings. To start off, I can completely comprehend how Jose sees the Doral High School cafeteria as a regular eating establishment during school days turn into a church service on Sundays. It does not matter that the service is being held in  cafeteria, what matters is how the people attending the service see it as. The minds are what make an entity true to itself, as long as everyone perceives the church service as a church service, it will be a church service, no matter if they are in a cafeteria, a public park, or a junkyard.
In addition to this aspect of the reading, Phaedrus' quote on dedication and confidence is also an idea that I believe all the group members agreed on. No one will be dedicated to something they have complete confidence on. Like the narrator explained, we all know and are confident that the sun will rise tomorrow. If so, why would be dedicated to finding out and wasting time on proving that the sun will rise tomorrow? It would just be inefficient. jose and I both had examples of taking a test on our original comments and I believe they are appropriate explanations and example to

Comment

Blog Post

Determination through lack of faith

This weeks' reading came with abundant information on the way people think and act. In my opinion, Pirsig did an excellent job in making the narrator describe Phaedrus' experience at the university and how his lack of faith in reason gave him the determination to keep teaching the class and giving his famous church speech at the end. I completely agree with what Pirsig is trying to get across. What brings one determination to complete a task? It is definitely not the thought that completing the task is easy and nothing has to be prepared or studied to do it. For example, when I know i have a test the next day but I have been paying attention in class, know the subject material and am pretty sure I am going to be fine, I do not have determination to study any more because I have convinced myself that I am set.  On the other hand, however, if I know I am not in a safe standing to do well on the test, I will definitely be determined to study more. This is exactly what happened to Phaedrus' life as a professor at the university, due to his lack of understanding on the subject, his determination in succeeding allowed him to deliver  phenomenal speech to his class.
In addition to this touch, another aspect that Pirsig speaks about is the idea of location. I agree with him in that a certain establishment does not have a "right location". A church service could be located in a church in the middle of the city as it could be located under a tiki hut in Tahiti, as long as the minds of the people attending it are unified and determined to make their presence at a religious service. In the same manner, a school or university can be located anywhere as the long the students and professors within consider it a school.
As the narrator approaches Phaedrus' old school, I wonder what effect it will have on his journey. He seems nervous about it, and seems like he is curious, but at the same time does not want to uncover any hidden tombs...

Comment on Talia's Post

I agree with Talia when she says that all the labels we put on things are make believe. However, Talia does not see any purpose for them and I think I do. I think humans created labels in order to maintain security, in order to be sure of something. It is true that going to two different medical schools give the same sort of education, but it is not the same education; you cannot compare Keiser University to John Hopkins. Even though accreditation is a little piece of flimsy paper, in a way, it is the only reassurance you can get to make sure something was done as you expected it to be done. It does seem that we value titles more than education, and I think that should be changed, but how do you go from there?

Going back to make believe labels, blue ribbon schools and college degrees are both excellent examples, but if you think about it more, our entire lives and our way of living is make believe as well. Humans are animals, and although we are more intellectual and capable of great things, why don’t we live off instinct? Why is it that we care about makeup and clothes and not food and water? I mean, it is obvious that we have to give our lives a purpose and a meaning, but it is just a thought that I have always had. Why all this, why do we go through all the trouble of living if eventually we are all going to die anyways?

Comment on Jose's Post

I don’t think that Pirsig meant to comment on the materialism of things when he made that comment. Nonetheless, I do not disagree with the statement Jose is making. Although I myself find it slightly strange to be worshipping God in a cafeteria versus the typical Church setting, there really is not anything wrong with it. There should be no reason why we are bound to the four walls of a Church building to pray. If we want to worship God in our own home we can, so why would it be wrong to worship him in a cafeteria setting?

As well as Jose I strongly agree with the statement that Pirsig had made about how “we are never dedicated to something that we have complete confidence in”.  I did feel kind of strange about the statement though. While I recognized it as true I could not find any examples of the validity of the statement within my own life. I like the point Jose made about religion, but I do not agree with it wholeheartedly. People are not dedicated to their religion because they are trying to make it sound believable to outsiders. People are typically devoted to their religion because it gives them a sense of security and a faith to get through things that they feel they would not be able to manage “alone”.

- Talia Akerman  

Accreditation and Reason

I really like the comment that was made about the accreditation of the college.  Although I was a bit skeptical of Phaedrus’ teaching I thought the comment he made to be extremely insightful. Essentially, all the labels we put on things are make believe. Being a blue ribbon school, having a college degree, having an MD at the end of your name does not really mean anything. If two people go to two different medical schools and one is accredited while the other is not, the person who went to the accredited school will be more highly regarded. For what though? Even if they both received the same exact education the person who had accreditation will be known as the better one. It really does not make any sense seeing as that accreditation is only a flimsy piece of paper. An education is an education and a little piece of paper should not change that for anything. It seems that we value the title in our society way more than we value the education itself.

            The quote that Phaedrus had said about having to “serve through reason… the goal of truth” seemed interesting to me as well. Reason is something so subjective that almost no two people will agree upon it. However, what was more interesting about the quote was the fact that reason was helping serve the goal of truth. Reason is already difficult enough to find, but truth is even more rare. The truth is so rare because so many are so afraid of what it can do and end up not telling the truth at all. How then are you supposed to reason through something that can pretty much be said to be non existent? 

- Talia Akerman 

Church of Reason

The first thing that actually caught my attention during this week’s reading was when Pirsig began to talk about the differences in “universities”. If I understood what he was trying to get across correctly, then I can relate to some of the things he was saying. For example, when he states that a real University has no specific location and that it is a state of mind, I thought about the church in Doral. Most of the Catholics around where I live attend usual Sunday mass at the Doral Academy High School cafeteria. Some would say that this is in no way shape or form a church; it’s a place of eating. However, if I understand Prisig properly, then the materialistic objects do not matter, the four walls that enclose the building do not matter; it’s the mind inside the building that controls what it is. Students who attend the school see the cafeteria during the week as a commonplace for eating, but on Sundays, they see it as a holy place. 

I was confused when Pirsig spoke about what was meant by the Church Of Reason, “their primary goal is to serve, through reason, the goal of truth”. I still do not really understand what he meant by that. At first I thought he was saying that everything done should be focused in order to achieve the truth. But, then I realized that their aiming for the goal of truth and not truth itself. Does that mean that truth does not really exist?

I strongly agree with Pirsig when he says, “You are never dedicated to something you have complete confidence in”. In my opinion, that is a fact. You can apply that statement to many things; a test for instance. You are not going to study for an exam that you know you will ace, but you will drive yourself insane studying for a test which you doubt, which you think you will fail. I think you can apply this statement to religion as well if you base it off the Pirsig’s statement that people are dedicated because they have doubt. Many, if not all extremely religious people get defensive almost immediately if you question any of their beliefs. I was raised Catholic and I believe in God, in a higher power, but I think that religion itself is a big question. I think that people become so fanatical about their religion because they have to find a way to make it seem real, to make it tangible.