Category: Uncategorized

ACMS – A trackback link from “Point of Beginning” the newsletter of the American Congress of Mapmakers and Surveyors (ACMS), and a Viewpoint article by Frank Hissong on cultural change and the value of agility in surveying and mapmaking in the digital world. Intrigued because of the references to Tom Peter’s with whom I updated links recently.

Some snippets – Irrationality really is better. Avoid “rational / comprehensive models”, they don’t work. Ready, Fire, Aim – said Peters yonks ago – likening business to a guided missile. We need to “move faster and faster until the thrill of the speed overcomes the fear of death” says Hunter S Thompson. Leap of faith. Tipping point. It’s all there, all completely counter-intuitive, but essential for successful business. [See Manifesto]

(Interesting for me to follow the ACMS link further – my father used to be a cartographic surveyor – all their little stories and competitions about “throwing a chain” and pacing a distance and estimating an angle rang bells. Is it an art or a science ? Should we make any distinction ? Is this “Rta” or plain old Quality ?)

Gregg Rosenberg’s Theory of Natural IndividualsA link from John Gregg’s Consciousness Site to Gregg Rosenberg’s book “A Place For Consciousness”.

[Post Note : notice that Gregg (Rosenberg) is linked with Tuscon conferences and specifically refers to Chalmers in his work. It’s a small tanged world.]

Anthony McWatt’s Textbook on Pirsig – Anthony’s new web site hosts a complete copy of his recently completed ten year quest to create a Textbook on Pirsig. (Link added to the Pirsig Pages too) I’ll post a review when I’ve had a chance to read. Looks promising, from a real Pirsig scholar.

John Gregg’s Consciousness Site – An interesting site sharing some common (non-Pirsig) threads with Psybertron. Thanks to Meredith Gregg’s interest in Pirsig for the link.

[Post Note : And this closes the loop of links from Pirsig to Chalmers through John Gregg and Gregg Rosenberg. Well, well, well. And with Chalmers Hofstadter influence and the latter’s Zen sympathies, this gets more interconnected all the time.]

Owen Barfield – Note to self – must read some Owen Barfield – for starters …
The Owen Barfield Website
Owen Barfield and C S Lewis [Quote] Most notable of his works are perhaps History in English Words, Poetic Diction, Saving the Appearances, Unancestral Voice, and Worlds Apart. Barfield also wrote a fairy tale, The Silver Trumpet, as well as a book about C.S. Lewis, whom he met and became a life long close friend at Wadham College, Oxford. [Unquote]
The Case for Anthroposophy by Rudolph Steiner with intro from Barfield.

Wild Orchids and Trotsky – readable witty autobiographical essay (blogged earlier)
A Talent for Bricolage – Joshua Knobe’s interview with Rorty
Richard Rorty’s homepage at Stanford – limited site, but comprehensive bibliography
Terry Eagleton on Rorty – DeLong’s review of Illusions of Postmodernism
Google’s directory listing for Rorty
Web Companion to Pragmatism includes interviews with Rorty, Putnam and Quine and more
Quine / Rorty audio interview at The Connection
A conversation with Richard Rorty by Scott Stossel

I digress
John Searle interviewed by Reason Online

The library in his house “Finca Vigia” in Cuba includes F S C Northrop’s “The Meeting of East and West“. This image from the site by Hilary Justice.

Northrop is the red one in the middle.

The brown one to the left of it is “The Good Soldier Schweik” by Hasek, which is a longer story, but I have my Dad’s 1952 Penguin paperback:

Pirsig ZMM Journey Route Map Updated – Thanks to a great deal of information from Henry Gurr I’ve been able to correct and update the ZMM route details as part of a general update of the Pirsig Pages and the biographical timeline.

Henry’s site has many more photographs and location details than I can link to and his site is well worth a visit.
(Is that you in the photograph at Crater Lake Henry ? – link updated)

Now I hope to concentrate on questions relating to Pirsig biographical details. Watch this space.