MY IMPRESSIONS ON THE BOOK "ZEN AND THE ART OF MOTORCYCLE MAINTENANCE"

It was in 2004 that I purchased the book "Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance" by Robert M. Pirsig. I am a quality assurance professional since 1996 and continue to be extremely interested in my job ! I got to know that Pirsig's book was about quality. Naturally, it made me pick the book up. When I read the book for the first time, I must confess that I quickly skimmed through some of what I thought were the "boring parts" in the book. Since then, I have read the book again a few times. The book has grown on me, particularly the boring parts !

My latest reading started on or around Independence Day in India, i.e. 15-Aug. In the book, Robert Pirsig has described two journeys: one is a physical one, with his son and friends on motorcycles and on feet, hiking in the mountains. The other is a mental one where he explores different attitudes of people and discusses abstract concepts.

In my first reading, the physical trip narrated in the book attracted me more. With the passage of time, it is now the mental journey which I find just as interesting as the physical one. I am savouring each passage in the book. I have begun writing this blog in the bus on a note taking app en route to my home on 23-Oct ! Let me see when I finish the book - and this blog post on it !  I am about half way through the book currently.

The trigger for this blog post was a call from an old friend. His son had accidentally dialled my phone number. When I called back, we spoke for a few minutes. During a pause, he asked : "Are you reading anything?" I replied: "I am re-reading Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance. I find that I appreciate it more now !" "So, I can expect a blog post on it !", was his spontaneous comment. I think "long and boring blog" was in his mind but he is much too polite and too good a friend to say the latter to me !

That is when the ideas of this blog post took hold on me. My thanks go to my unnamed friend for this blog post containing my impressions on the book "Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance" !

In the book, Pirsig begins the mental journey by showing how a motorcycle is considered differently by two types of people. If there is a problem with it, Pirsig tells us that he is the type who would get down to isolate the problem, in a systematic manner. On the other hand, his friend would not be bothered to even open the tool kit. For such people, a thing or a system just has to work as a whole. Pirsig calls the former the "classic" type of person and the latter, the "romantic". Pirsig does not say that one is better than the other; they are just two different perspectives in life. Pirsig compares these two approaches over the course of the book.

Pirsig has a second purpose behind his physical journey: it is to bring back memories of a forgotten life. The book is a nostalgia trip in that sense.

26-Oct-2018:

Just the way in which these journeys are combined together earns my admiration ! When Pirsig begins to describe his ascent in the hills, he also begins describing the loftier abstract concepts in the book. In fact, he calls this out explicitly. Thus, the physical journey mirrors the mental, abstract journey to some extent.

The people he meets and the climates of the places visited are described well by Pirsig. I felt the heat and the cold as he rides through the warm prairies and lofty mountain heights. The initial part of the book covers the physical journey more. The charm of small town America and the American countryside is captured nicely by Pirsig. The latter part of the book concentrates more on the abstract concepts. The transition is managed well.

In the rest of this blog post, I shall highlight concepts and ideas from the book which I have begun to appreciate better now.

Pirsig explains how he solved a problem with his motorcycle himself. He had given it to the garage when he first encountered the problem. The mechanic replaced the tappet, but the problem recurred. After a couple of visits to the garage, Pirsig decided to investigate the problem himself. He isolated the cause as a pin and replaced it. The problem was solved. Those of us who have given vehicles or other equipment for servicing with niggling problems and seen those problem recur would recognise this scenario !

The point that Pirsig makes is not about his personal knowledge of motorcycle mechanics. Rather, it is about the lesser commitment shown by the garage mechanics. Pirsig states that people who have high commitment would not allow distractions in their jobs, particularly if they are working on a problem or a task requiring focus. I see such high commitment exhibited by sportspeople, commonly. Practice to hone one's athletic skills requires determination, discipline and above all, commitment which can border on becoming a passion even. To progress in both the professional and the personal areas in life, commitment is a must.

"Ghosts of the past". (page 30)

NOTE: For convenience, I am specifying the page number so that those particular passages in the book can be re-read easily. This is located on page 30 in my Bantam edition of the book.

This is an important concept introduced by Pirsig. Pirsig suggests that the basis of rationality is the spirit of inquiry. The tagline for the book is "An inquiry into values". Sir Isaac Newton discovered the laws of gravity. It is an abstract concept. Pirsig says that for all practical purposes, these laws are unreal and therefore, like ghosts ! It does not mean that these laws of gravity did not exist until that time ! However, all the effects due to gravity are known now only after Newton introduced the concept. In a sense, scientists like Newton live on in their theories and laws. The rational approach is built on creating hypotheses which may be based on whatever we have learnt so far for facts observed by us. As such, "ghosts of the past" like Newton are all around us ! Pirsig states that education is in fact, systematic brainwashing so that we become accustomed to the "ghosts of the past" around us !

"Church of Reason" (page 132)

The role of meaningful learning is explained by Pirsig when he discusses the "Church of Reason" lecture.

In Pirsig's earlier experience, he taught students in a university which was at risk to lose its accreditation. The students expressed the fear that their education would be incomplete. Pirsig felt that the students had confused education with a degree certificate. It is at this point that he gives the "Church of Reason" lecture.

He likens a church to the university. The people of the community may sponsor the building of a church. The priest of such a church should not assume that his loyalty is to the community. Rather, it is to God.

In the same manner, if a university loses its accreditation, it cannot award degrees to its students ; however, this does not mean that it cannot provide education ! Just as the priest is beholden to pray to God rather than serve a community, a university is a place where knowledge and learning are stimulated and inculcated. In a nutshell, Pirsig identifies the real raison d'etre of any educational institution !

"Assembly of Japanese bicycle require great peace of mind" (page 146)
This quote was a pre-requisite in an instruction manual for a product ! Pirsig builds on this idea and suggests that one's inherent attitude and values reflect themselves in the activities that one performs.

I can share a personal experience where this was demonstrated. Many years ago, I met my friend's brother for the first time. He was interested in graphology, the study of handwriting. My friend asked me to write a passage on a blank page. Seeing my handwriting, my friend's brother discussed my personal traits, almost all of which were correct ! I was amazed as to how he could observe so many traits from one single passage. He explained the process behind his analysis, which led to him discovering my personal traits. This was when I realised that how we think and what we feel are reflected in all our activities. The process of observation and inference, an important basis of scientific thinking could indeed be applied in reality, to individuals and circumstances alike.

"A bad workman blames his tools" is a popular adage. Pirsig and the instruction in the manual suggest that the workman's attitude may also be responsible for the "badness" of his work ! Pirsig states the quote in a humorous way initially. Then, he shows us that it is quite true.

07-Nov-2018

I finished my re-reading on 04-Nov.

As a teacher, Pirsig noticed that his students could identify the "good" essays in class, though they may have been unable to articulate why they felt that the essays were "good".

The "classic" approach to identifying "good" essays would be to assess spelling, grammar and rules of composition. On the other hand, the "romantic" person would still be able to pick the "good" ones, without following the "classic" systematic approach. Since most of the students did not know how to assess essays formally, it meant that they used the "romantic" approach.

Pirsig investigates how quality could be assessed by the students. During a period of intense introspection, he realises that it is not people who create a quality product ; rather it is quality that is imbibed into the whole world !

At this point, the book transforms into a spiritual one ! The "atman" or the "Brahman" (Pirsig calls it Dharma, according to Buddhist philosophy) in Hindu philosophy or the "arrete" in Greek philosophy is akin to quality, according to Pirsig.

Pirsig's analysis is that there are different hypotheses for each situation. A scientist somehow selects one that would explain why the situation occurred. Pirsig suggests that s/he selects this hypothesis because it is more aligned to "quality". This is the same reason why (or how) the students can pick a "good" essay. Anything which leads to this abstract idea of quality or "oneness" is the right approach, concludes Pirsig.

09-Nov-2018

I have edited text written earlier today.

As Pirsig explains further in the book, the instruction: "Assembly of Japanese bicycle require peace of mind" loses its humorous quality and becomes a superb piece of advice. Unless I am calm, how can I assemble a complicated jigsaw puzzle ?!

"Gumption" or persistence or stubbornness is a strong recommendation. The ability to stay with a task or activity completely is an extremely important one. Pirsig emphasises the need for gumption.

Pirsig progresses from one concept to another, finally culminating in the idea that quality is an event that is inherent in every item or situation, a Big Bang of sorts !

12-Nov-2018

I plan to summarise the blog post written above and post it in LinkedIn. I will redirect the reader there to this blog post for detailed information ! The summary that I shall put up in the LinkedIn article follows.

Summary

"Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance" by Robert Pirsig is a book that requires complete attention. On the face of it, the book explains about quality. I feel that the book goes beyond it, becoming almost a spiritual book.

Robert Pirsig examines how quality is not "in" a product or thing, but rather is responsible for the creation or development of the product.

Pirsig provides a useful analogy linking the concepts of quality, the "romantic" approach and the "classic" approach. The two approaches are like the engine and the compartments (or the "boxcars" as he terms it) of a train. The "romantic" approach is the front of the engine, the leading edge of the train. The "classic" approach is analogous to the coaches or the boxcars of the train. They represent the "ghosts of reason" or the whole system of rationality, where one observation is questioned, based on which inferences are drawn. A train of ideas and concepts develop !

The train runs on the tracks of "quality" or "arrete" or "Zen". https://www.britannica.com/topic/Advaita-school-of-Hindu-philosophy introduces the concept of "Brahman" according to the Advaita philosophy, which brings out the similarity to Pirsig's explanation of quality. Quality or "goodness" is embedded into the universe. In popular movies like "Star Wars", I suppose this is something similar to "the Force". Pirsig's request is to consider each object to be interrelated to everything else in the universe and not being disconnected ! If this attitude is adopted, solutions would present themselves automatically.

The "romantic" approach is the leading edge of the train, not concerned with the boxcars or compartments it pulls and showing a single, solid look of the entire system. The "classic" approach is seeing the compartments and the engine of the train, the wheels and the other parts of the train separately and considering each part. It is akin to taking apart an assembled toy, to understand how the parts fit together. Both approaches are required, according to situations, I believe.

Pirsig's book spans multiple genres.

At one level, the book can fit into any of these genres:
* Non-fiction
* Autobiography
* Travelogue
* Philosophy
* Self help
* Spiritualism

It is rare to find a book that can straddle two genres successfully. Pirsig's book is one that does a good job of straddling at least five !

To me, the important points from the book to adopt in one's professional life would be:
* A solution that uses technology needs to take one towards better peace of mind. For example, I suppose that one concern about social media is that it can isolate us. Loneliness leads to loss of peace of mind. On the other hand, social media could bring old friends together again. Any application of technology that leads to a separation between oneself and the world (or others) is not a healthy one. Any product or solution developed ought to consider how it could be used to help people progress to a better harmony with the world around them. The relationship of the product should not be considered in isolation, i.e. for itself alone. In today's world with many exciting developments, this observation made by Pirsig in the book (page 322 in my edition of the book) is extremely relevant.
* Believe that everything is connected. Forgetting the big picture because we are working at the ground level could be a disadvantage. Similarly, working in isolation may not be the best way to solve a problem : a peer or a colleague may provide a golden insight !
* Recognise that there are multiple ways to look at the same situation. The "classic" approach is to break down a problem and aim for a systematic approach. The "romantic" approach is to consider the product or system as a whole. If I am stuck, zooming out and looking at the problem from a distance may provide another approach to the problem. The facts that caused the problem are all present before us. One just does not value those facts, quite literally.
* Be committed and persistent ! Pirsig terms the persistence required in our lives as "gumption". Ego, anxiety, boredom and impatience are all what he terms as gumption traps. He suggests ways to overcome these gaps. While all solutions may not work out in practice, at least the awareness of the gumption traps would help in one's life !
* Do not be constrained by history. Until the age of Copernicus and Galileo, people believed that Earth was the center of the universe ! It took courage to face the facts and assert that the Earth goes around the Sun, though it seems otherwise.

Pirsig's book provides stimulating ideas like the idea of the "Church of Reason" where he brings out the fact that buildings and accreditation alone do not constitute a university ; rather, it is the task of encouraging learning which defines the university. The way in which Pirsig links one concept or idea to another is worth admiring. Starting with the difference in the "classic" and "romantic" approaches in life, Pirsig proceeds to link the two via an event he calls "quality". Just the manner in which a number of scientists, philosophers and their ideas are discussed makes the book readable. Pirsig takes up each topic in what he calls as a "chautauqua", a discussion on the particular topic in depth. I see how he has conveyed a new idea in each "chautauqua" and marvel at his narrative technique.

To any professional interested in wondering what quality is, "Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance" does not provide a direct answer. To people who know Hindu and/ or Buddhist philosophy well, the book only repeats the ideas in those philosophies. Still, I would recommend this book simply for the way in which the author Robert Pirsig covers and links the ideas related to rationality, philosophy and spirituality. One learns about Greek philosophers like Plato and Socrates too ! The book is heavy reading in some portions, but if one is in the mood for a book that can make one think deeply, I would strongly recommend reading Robert Pirsig's masterpiece "Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance" !