The Robert Pirsig Association (RPA) is asking for input from Pirsig fans and scholars alike to help chart our course for 2025 and beyond for our Strategic Planning Sessions on Sat/Sun February 8-9th with two sessions to provide coverage for participation from different time zones. Â
Western (US-EU) session:Â 11:00 a.m. ET (Feb 9th) / 4:00 p.m. UK (Feb 9th)
Eastern (EU-Asia) session:Â 6:00 p.m. ET (Feb 8th) / 11:00 p.m. UK (Feb 8th) / 10:00 a.m. AUS (Feb 9th)
Please make suggestions and/or expressions of interest in participating in the Eastern and/or Western planning sessions via our contact form:Â https://www.robertpirsig.org/contact-us/ Please respond by 7th February in order to receive invite(s) to the Strategic Planning Session(s).
BEFORE MAKING SUGGESTIONS, please note the following: The Robert Pirsig Association is an all-volunteer organization. We rely on the efforts of individuals motivated by Quality, working together to implement our plans. Please review the Ongoing Activities SCOPE and content graphics to ensure your suggestions align with our mission:Â https://www.robertpirsig.org/online-resources/
RPA Accomplishments to Date:
Started Sept 2023 to seize on the 2024 ZMM50th anniversary as an organizing opportunity.
RobertPirsig.org website rich with resources.
Conservation of scholarship and historical documents related to Robert Pirsig.
All subscriber / members receive email notification of news and updates.
ZMM50th anniversary celebrated with online Chautauqua, Minneapolis Gathering, and ZMM50thRide.
RPA Long Range Calendar…
2025: 50th anniversary of Pirsig’s sailing trip down the Hudson River that LILA is based on (Sept/Oct)
2027: April 24, 10 years since Robert Pirsig passed away.
2028: Robert M. Pirsig Centennial. Also, 60th anniversary of the 1968 motorcycle ride west (60th anniversary ride?).
2031: 40th anniversary of the publication of LILA (MOQ Conference?)
2034: 60th anniversary Zen & the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance
—-
Think big, think small. Think long term, think short term.Â
Ideas of Quality are like seeds that will germinate sooner or later.
Thank you in advance for your input!
—-
Discover more from The Robert Pirsig Association
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
How exciting . . . Looking forward to seeing how things may get going! Thx, V/R, Kearnsey out
Hi Mick, thanks for your interest, passed on to the organisers, assuming this means you’re interested in an invite to attend 🙂
You may have already discussed this with the Group but if not please feel free to table; what do we think is the best way to get the MOQ noticed and understood by the general populace ? I’m thinking academically and intellectually might not be the way to go. I talk about values when I get letters printed in the local Christchurch Press newspaper because if I mention the philosophy head-on the letters don’t get published. Could getting a celebrity interested be the way to go ? Anyone know any ?!
Thanks for this agenda item Nick – in practice so far we have only used social media and motorcycling groups and zero academic / philosophical content or channels since we created the RPA – but we do indeed need to think about your point.
We have been looking out for Celeb fans – several participated in Chris Harding’s excellent BBC Documentary https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m001zfqh – and I’m always looking out for others, ones I’ve mentioned previously are Salman Rushdie, Michael Palin, Johnnie Walker and Grayson Perry. Most are “ageing” (or deceased) of course 🙂 Let us know if you know any others. (There’s a US Football coach I believe?)
Pirsig reminds us that words get in the way of experiencing quality, yet three words see, say and do capture the simplest of notions that is, words may be the bridge that enables actions. Finding that other people ‘see’ their experiences differently raises issues of how to relate differences in perceptions of quality. While writers are likely to assume they share common linguistic resources with readers the question of how to think about the differences in accounts of life experiences of quality point to the everyday problems of communicating within, between, among in-groups and out-groups. Human behaviours, as outcomes of brain activities cover emergent phenomena that are endlessly various, yet, within them, few people report experiences that are universally agreed as accessible instances of quality behaviours. These open-ended ideas suggest a reflective strategy for continuing Pirsig’s work.
Thanks for your thoughts Robert. I think you’re right and hopefully you see your point emphasised in the diagram making the distinction between “Lived” and “Academic” philosophy. We definitely need the former. Dialogue, whether dialectic or rhetoric, is still limited by words. We need activities that encourage reflective engagement in the world, not just discussions about the world.