Essay by Sara Bartos

After reading this book, I do have many insights about what I want to achieve with my web-based portfolio. I know that I want it to consist of Quality work. It has to be both pleasing as a whole for the romantic value and its underlying parts must relate together in harmony for the classic value. As Pirsig states about whatever you are building, "You have to have some feeling for the quality of the work. You have to have a sense of what is good. That is what carries you forward" (p. 255). I have to combine my romantic and classic knowledge, but also I must know what is good in order to create a Quality web-based portfolio.

Arriving at Quality work will not be an easy task. As Pirsig points out, the road to Quality can have many traps. According to Pirsig, a person starts out full of gumption, which is exactly what one needs to connect to Quality. But beware, since there are many "gumption traps" that drain it right out of a person (p. 274). These traps fall into two categories: external setbacks and internal hang-ups (p. 275). I learned from reading about these traps to be careful not to let my value rigidity keep me from seeing something, to have all the necessary tools on hand, and to realize I have choices. The book will be a good reference when I lose enthusiasm or gumption for the project. Pirsig also brings up the point that is possible just to get mentally stuck and not know what to do. He gives an example of working a screw loose from his motorcycle (p. 257). This example is also an excellent reference when working on the portfolio because it teaches a person to look deeper for Quality solutions by looking at the underlying form of whatever may have one stuck (p. 258). He says that the solution does not matter as long as it has Quality. It does not limit a person to doing things in only one way.

Therefore, I cannot say precisely right now what I will place and will not place in my web-based portfolio. I do know, however, that once I start working on it, I will strive to place Quality work into it. I know these items will be ones that I have strong feelings for; things that I truly care about. Pirsig states that working on whatever task may be at hand "Öis to cultivate the peace of mind which does not separate one's self from one's surroundings. When that is done successfully then everything else follows naturally. Peace of mind produces right values, right values produce right thoughts. Right thoughts produce right actions and right actions produce work which will be a material reflection for others to see of the serenity at the center of it all" (p. 267). Therefore, I need to find an inner peace where my work becomes a reflection of my own heart, head, and hands. By doing this, my portfolio will be an outward reflection of Quality work for others to see.

In fact, Pirsig makes it clear that the real Quality a person is working on is oneself. He states, "The real cycle you're working on is a cycle called yourself. The machine that appears to be 'out there' and the person that appears to be 'in here' are not two separate things. They go toward Quality or fall away from Quality all together" (p. 293). Therefore, how a person lives his life is a direct reflection on their work. If it is good, he goes toward Quality, if not he falls away from it. I hope to fall towards Quality not only with my portfolio but in all other aspects of my life.

First, to find objective quality, one must look at the underlying form of music-all of its parts and how they relate to each other. Music is made up of several pieces: notes, lyrics, instruments, musicians, sound equipment, etc. Each of these must work together to have a perfect technical song. If the instruments are not tuned, then it does not matter if the notes are written perfectly. Something will be off. All instruments must be in tune, the vocals must be good, the music notes well written and all the equipment must be working-all parts must work together. In the objective style, all technical aspects must be perfect for a quality song or piece. However, even if a song is perfect technically, it is not always a piece of Quality. Underlying form could be absolutely perfect in the song, but when the song is released onto the charts it could be a huge failure. From the objective standpoint, failure would be impossible since the song was not technically flawed. But in reality, the song is missing something very important, its subjective and intersubjective styles. A song technically perfect does not necessarily invoke good feelings or understanding in the population. Although technical mastery of the underlying forms is needed to provide a strong foundation, music still needs to reach out beyond the technical perfectionism in order to touch people.

Secondly, the subjective style is very important to music. Every individual has his own preferences. One can love country music but hate rock-n-roll. The next person could love rock-n-roll but dislike rap. It is all based on what each individual feels toward music. Even if a person dislikes a particular style of music, say country, that person may still find one song in the country music category that really touches them. In music, a person can love a song on an individual level regardless of what everyone else thinks of it. The subjective style provides us with the tool to distinguish songs by one's own intuition and feelings. It is the tool of Quality that lets one feel for something, but it is not the one way to Quality. Lyrics can provoke strong feelings, but if the notes they are set to are bad, real Quality escapes the song as a whole. Thus, the subjective style cannot find Quality on its own.

Finally, the intersubjective style also plays a large role in what a person thinks is quality in music. One's culture and upbringing places value on certain types of music. For example, mariachi music in Mexico is very important to the culture. It is a popular style of music in Mexico, but not around the rest of the world. Culture dictates that many Mexicans like mariachi music because they grew up listening to it and learning it was an important part of their society. One can also look at rock-n-roll. Rock-n-roll is very important in the United States. This type of music was invented here and when people worldwide think of it they often think of the United States. For example, in The Washington Post's Weekend Section from Sept. 11, 1998, there is a section on the Spanish rock-n-roll group, Mana. The article tells how Mana has had to fight to sing rock-n-roll in Spanish instead of English. The group says, "For years there was a strong prejudice against rock-n-roll sung in SpanishÖbecause rock-n-roll was born in the United StatesÖ" (The Washington Post Weekend Section, September 11, 1998, p. 12). As this example illustrates, cultural stereotypes concerning how people feel about music is difficult to overcome no matter how good a song is.

Overall, Quality music unites all three styles: objective, subjective and intersubjective. When combined, people recognize what is best in music because the technical parts are perfect, the music invokes feelings, and the cultural traits have a positive influence. All of these styles relate together to set a song apart from the ordinary and make it Quality.

Although Pirsig wrote this book in the early 1970s, its attitudes about how different personalities react to motorcycle maintenance can easily be applied to the conflict today between personalities on the electronic frontier. Pirsig points out the differences in attitudes that he and his friend, John, have right from the beginning of the book. Pirsig states on the subject of motorcycle maintenance that, "It seems natural and normal to me to make use of the small tool kits and instruction booklets supplied with each machine and keep it adjusted myself" ( pp. 9-10). His friend John, "Öprefers to let a competent mechanic take care of these things so that they are done right" (p. 10). Pirsig discovers no matter how he approaches the subject of maintenance with John, they always end up in a disagreement. In fact, Pirsig finds that John's attitude against doing his own motorcycle maintenance extended to other things such as a dripping faucet he never fixed. Pirsig comes to the conclusion that it is "Önot the motorcycle maintenance, not the faucet. It's all the technology they can't take" (p. 14). John is trying to escape technology, and by Pirsig bringing the subject of maintenance up, he makes John angry by reminding him that he has not escaped it. While John runs from technology because he feels it will turn him into one of the mass people, Pirsig embraces it. He feels that John's flight from it is self-defeating since technology will only continue to be a large part of the world (p.16).

Today the same dichotomy of attitudes toward technology can be seen on the electronic frontier. There are many people like John, who just do not want to have anything to do with it. These people are the ones that see the new technology as an ugly surface. They do not see the underlying form of unique parts and relationships that come together and make the electronic frontier work as a whole. For instance, when trying to show someone with John's attitude about the electronic frontier, one is met with resistance because he sees the technology as ugly and immediately unappealing on the surface. This happens to Pirsig when showing John about motorcycle maintenance. Pirsig states that John, "Ödidn't really see what was going on and was not interested enough to find out. He isn't so interested in what things mean as in what they are" (p. 45). This difference is important because people like John look at the "Öimmediate artistic appearanceÖ" of an object (p. 49) while people like Pirsig look at the "Öunderlying scientific explanation, and they don't match and they don't fit and they don't really have much of anything to do with one another" (p. 49). Basically, there are two visions of reality, which Pirsig divides into, romantic and classic.

Phaedrus feels the real problem between these two attitudes toward technology is not the technology itself. It is not ugly. "The real ugliness lies in the relationship between the people who produce and the technology and the things they produce, which results in a similar relationship between the people who use the technology and the things they use" (p. 261). He thinks that modern technology in the dualistic world lacks true craftsmanship. "The creator feels no particular sense of identity with it. The owner of it feels no particular sense of identity with it. The user feels no particular sense of identity with it. Hence, by Phaedrus' definition, it has no Quality" (p.261). Since Quality is uniting of the classic and romantic styles, the two attitudes continue to collide over technology. One must not run away from technology. Instead a "Öbreak down (of) barriers of dualistic thought that prevent a real understanding of what technology is--not an exploitation of nature, but a fusion of nature and the human spiritsÖ" (p. 261-262) must occur. Once these barriers are broken down, one can transcend to understanding technology on a romantic and classic level. A person with an attitude like John can learn to understand the beauty of the underlying classic form of the electronic frontier. In contrast, a classic person, can learn to see the technology as a work of art and put feelings and creativity behind what he does. Both personalities need to care about the technology in the classic and romantic sense for Quality to be achieved on the electronic frontier or in fixing a motorcycle.

The differences in attitudes about the electronic frontier will come closer together as the electronic frontier is tamed. I can use myself as an example. I know I look at the world in a more romantic style than classic. Yet, I am trying to understand the importance of the classic view in learning about the underlying forms of technology and objects in general. I need this understanding to be successful, and I know I cannot achieve this goal by running away from technology like John did. Technology is going to keep expanding and changing even faster than it is now. I cannot overlook the classic side because I think it looks ugly on the surface. One reason I am taking this class is to try and understand more about the electronic frontier, to learn about its parts and see how they relate to making the technology work as a whole. To go even deeper, the reason I am doing a master's degree in telecommunications is because I know it is to my advantage to combine the technology based core classes with my international studies courses. In a sense, it is a combination of romantic and classic views.

In the overall picture, I know there are more and more individuals out there who are becoming interested in the underlying form of technology like myself. It stands to reason that there are those on the classic side who want to add the romantic view into their lives to become successful also. As the Information Age progresses, I see people uniting romantic and classic views on the electronic frontier because we are all ready for some real Quality. There is so much information to sift through that one needs to use objective and subjective skills to weed out the horrid and find the Quality. Also, it works in reverse, since one must know and understand Quality to create new information out on the electronic frontier. There will always be strong differences in attitudes about the electronic frontier because not everyone is open minded to looking at it through a different perspective. However, I hope that most people are willing to give it a try to improve the world one little bit of Quality piece at a time.

The narrative of Pirsig's motorcycle trip with his son covers four segments of the book. Each section seems to build up the tension between Pirsig and his son, Chris. This essay will give a brief summary of each of these sections. It will begin with the start of the trip across the Central Plains, and then continue into the hardships of the Great Plains. Next, it will discuss their time spent in the high country of Montana on the motorcycle. Third, it takes Pirsig and Chris off the motorcycle and on a hiking trip in the mountains. Finally, it finishes on the motorcycle on the West Coast. In each segment, the environment that surrounds Pirsig and Chris is very important since it often reflects their relationship. They are part of the environment on the motorcycle or on foot instead of just passive observers as they would be in an automobile.

The motorcycle trip begins on the Central Plains of Minnesota. Pirsig is travelling to Montana with his son, Chris, and two friends, John and Sylvia Sutherland. They are riding in back country avoiding major freeways. Their plans are indefinite. They are there "Ömore to travel than to arrive anywhere" (p. 4). The trip on the motorcycles, however, is different from traditional transportation in cars. Pirsig makes the point that "Öon a cycle the frame is gone. You're completely in contact with it all. You're in the scene, not just watching it anymore, and the sense of presence is overwhelming" (p. 4). Sylvia also notes the distinction between the two modes of transportation. During a break from riding, she states that the people in the cars, looked "like they were all dead. Like a funeral procession" (p. 8). Riding on the motorcycle frees the travelers to become part of their surroundings unlike their counterparts in the cars. Pirsig often points out birds and other natural things to Chris.

After riding all day long, the group holds discussions in the evenings. One evening, Chris asks the group to tell ghost stories. This leads to a discussion on the belief in ghosts. Here Pirsig tells Chris he is chasing his own ghost, one named Phaedrus. Chris keeps asking questions of his Dad to try and connect with him, but Pirsig does not seem to know how to handle all the questions and seems lost in thought about his ghost.

The landscape slowly begins to change into the open dryness of the Great Plains. The prairie is a harsh environment, but since Chris wants to camp the group decides to try it. The camping experience is a huge struggle for everyone. They arrive at the camping spot late and have little light to work with, everyone is tired from riding all day, and Chris does not feel like helping and wanders away with the flashlight. Once the meal is prepared, Chris drops his food and becomes very upset. He says his stomach hurts and he wanders off. At this point, Pirsig tells John and Sylvia that Chris has the beginning symptoms of a mental illness. They are shocked. They ask if he has received help. Pirsig says he has been to doctors, but that he pulled Chris out of treatment because they were not kin. Pirsig felt those strangers could not give Chris the help he needed. Pirsig is trying to help Chris with this motorcycle ride across the country. Later, Chris returns and tries to reach out to Pirsig, but Pirsig does not console him. Pirsig is not sure what Chris needs.

This section across the Great Plains ends with the group encountering a stifling heat while on the road. Everyone's nerves become irritable. John and Sylvia want to ride fast to get out of the heat, but Pirsig needs to go slow to make sure his motorcycle does not break down. Everyone is feeling angry. The harsh environment is really reflected in their feelings. Then at their low point of travelling, the road unexpectedly shifts upward and winds out of the plains into cool meadows. Rain falls and the group shifts to happy attitudes with the new environment.

The group has now reached the high country in Montana. In the group discussions, the talk shifts to Pirsig's time there as a college professor. Pirsig himself is having some memory flashbacks and there is a realization that Pirsig really does have his own mental ghost to deal with. He calls this ghost Phaedrus. In reality, Pirsig is Phaedrus. Pirsig has been in a mental institution where he had shock therapy. He does not remember all the things that occurred in his life, but he knows he was a different person than he is today. The person he was before the shock therapy is referred to as Phaedrus. As the trip progresses, Pirsig finds that more memories of himself as Phaedrus return.

Through the rest of the drive in the high country, everyone is in good spirits. They enjoy the scenery and Pirsig notes that he has not seen John and Sylvia look as happy and relaxed as they are now in years. Pirsig also notes that he is not going to develop the characters of John, Sylvia or Chris in the narrative of this book. He is not writing action packed fiction and does not want to make them objects since they are his friends.

Pirsig also discusses how he appears remote to his group. He feels Chris understands this better because he is use to it. Chris has a deeper interest in it also. Pirsig states that he has only to look at Chris to see his own mood reflected. For example, he is beginning to feel tense about their arrival in Bozeman and as he looks at Chris, Chris seems more nervous. In fact, Pirsig is actually depressed when they arrive in Bozeman. He feels the town has changed into a tourist area and he no longer knows it.

The group is staying with old friends of Phaedrus, the DeWeeses. DeWeese is an art instructor at the college in Bozeman. The DeWeese's live outside of town in a mountainous area. The group arrives and there is some tension between John and DeWeese because each man knows a different Pirsig--one the current author and the other Phaedrus. Pirsig puts DeWeese at ease though by saying he has changed a great deal. Eventually the evening leads into a discussion on technical directions for a barbecue rotisserie that DeWeese is trying to put together. Pirsig says the problem with the directions is that they are written to give a person only one way of doing it. Pirsig believes that assembling the rotisserie together is an art. It is all about how one does it. The evening ends with Pirsig and the DeWeeses' in a deep discussion about inner peace. Pirsig tells them he may be writing his thoughts down in essays. In these discussions, Pirsig's deeper thoughts on his metaphysical inquiry appear. He is never able to fully separate the two stories.

A few days later, John and Sylvia leave for home. After saying their good-byes, Pirsig and Chris walk to the college in Bozeman. Chris does not like it and can pick up on Pirsig's tension. Chris runs out of the building Pirsig used to teach in. Pirsig, however, continues into his old classroom. He looks around and ends up in his old office area. Here he has more memories about his life as Phaedrus. He realizes that in this office is where his first thoughts on Quality were born.

Now that John and Sylvia have left, Chris and Pirsig are taking time off the motorcycle to hike up a mountain. Soon Pirsig starts having problems with Chris. Chris is hiking with an ego mentality. He is doing it to reach the top, not to look around and enjoy the moment. Pirsig tries to tell him to slow down or he will be weakened physically and spiritually. He tries to explain that the mountain is not meant to be climbed with effort and desire, but instead it is to be used to mentally reflect what is going on around a person. Chris does not seem to understand this and feels he has something to prove. Pirsig states, "When you climb a mountain to prove how big you are, you almost never make it" (p. 189). Chris' every step becomes an effort since his goal is to prove himself to Pirsig, not to reflect for himself.

Chris eventually breaks down and says he hates this trip. Pirsig ends up carrying both packs to get them moving again. That evening, Pirsig tries to read to Chris from Thoreau. Pirsig explains that he often brings difficult books to read to Chris on a trip. Then Chris asks questions line by line until he understands. But it is not working in this environment. Pirsig states, "It's just Chris and me and the forest and the rain. No books can guide us anymore" (p. 202). It is now just Pirsig and Chris trying to work out their problems on the mountain. Chris keeps asking Pirsig questions about what he thinks to try and reach him, but Pirsig doesn't seem to know how to answer correctly and ends up answering him in vague terms.

Now Pirsig starts having dreams about being behind a glass door. Chris and the rest of his family are on the other side. Pirsig is unable to get to them and Chris keeps calling out for him. Also, Chris says Pirsig is keeping him up at night with talk about meeting Chris on top of the mountain. Pirsig does not really believe this and thinks Chris dreamed it.

They have now made it to the top of the mountain. Chris is elated and races Pirsig up the last few feet. Chris' elated feelings are based on his ego of getting to the top. However, Pirsig becomes spooked on the top. He has a feeling that it is Phaedrus that is there on the top of the mountain to meet them. He wants to get down. Chris, in his elation, is disappointed that they are heading back down.

They make it to Bozeman after a hard trip down and crash in a motel. Here Pirsig has the glass door dream again. This time there is a dark figure keeping him from going through the door to his family. He tells Chris in the dream that he will meet him at the bottom of the ocean this time.

They begin on the motorcycle again to the West Coast. Pirsig laments on the fact that he does not know what to say to Chris. He feels the more he tries to figure out what is on Chris' mind, the more distorted it gets. Chris keeps asking questions in his effort to connect to his dad. Neither one seems to know how to relate to the other. This shows up in Chris' physical symptoms of stomach pains and diarreaha. Pirsig reflects that he has some sort of value rigidity towards Chris that is keeping them apart. At home, Chris always gets in trouble by imitating his dad. The only person Chris wants to be popular with is Pirsig. Pirsig is not sure if this is a problem or not. Both he and Chris are depressed as they enter the West Coast area.

The final section of the book starts with the glass door dream again. This time it morphs into a full-blown nightmare. The dark figure keeping him from his family is Pirsig himself. He realizes that this means Phaedrus is waking up again, and that he is close to a mental breakdown again. Chris, frightened by his father's nightmare, keeps asking why they keep going and going. Pirsig responds by saying, "We just have to keep going until we find out what's wrong or find out why we don't know what's wrong. Do you see that?" (p. 307). Chris does not see that and becomes more upset as they go.

As they continue riding into California, Chris asks if they can turn back home. Chris is mad because they continue going without going anywhere and doesn't understand why. Pirsig realizes what Chris is really angry at is the fact that Chris misses Phaedrus. He finally understands this is the real meaning of his dream. Chris has been looking for Phaedrus, not him. Pirsig had to compromise his beliefs to leave the mental hospital and be with his family. But Chris does not understand this difference in fathers. Pirsig begins to believe that Chris is going to be another Phaedrus--a seeker of truth and always asking questions. He is trying to find the truth about who his father is.

After a big scene in a restaurant, Pirsig realizes he needs to have a serious talk with Chris. He tells Chris that he is sending him home. This statement makes Chris even more upset. Pirsig gets Chris to listen when he tells him that he is "Ölooking at a father who was insane for a long time, and is close to it again" (p.367). Pirsig is so close to a breakdown that he feels he cannot take responsibility for Chris anymore. In addition, he tells Chris that all Chris' troubles are in his mind. Here Pirsig says he is not giving Chris strength but killing him.

Chris begins to wail. Pirsig seems to morph into Phaedrus to provide Chris the strength he needs. He tells Chris everything will be ok and that they will be together from now on. Chris suddenly asks why Pirsig left them. Pirsig has a memory flashback and realizes that the scene with the glass door at the hospital really happened. It was not just a dream. For all these years, Chris thought that Pirsig did not want to see him. He did not understand that Pirsig could not leave. This misunderstanding is the cause of Chris' pain with his father. Now Chris feels secure when Phaedrus says they will never be separated again. Next, Chris asks if Pirsig was really insane, and Phaedrus answers no. Chris says, "I knew it" (p. 370). Here Pirsig realizes that Chris has been carrying him, not the other way around. Pirsig knows what to do now, he states, "Öthe answer is right in front of me. For God's sake relieve him (Chris) of his burden! Be one person again!" (p. 370).

As they go down the highway again the mood has changed. Chris is now standing up on the cycle behind Pirsig, no longer looking into his dad's back, but experiencing his environment around himself for the first time. Both Pirsig and Chris have made it to an understanding in their relationship. Chris has found his dad again and Pirsig has found himself again. They have had a very difficult trial in reaching their goals, but now they are traveling again with the right attitudes and feelings that things are going to get better.

In the afterword, Pirsig tells that Chris has been murdered right before his 23rd birthday. Pirsig keeps looking for what it was that he missed about Chris. He says he missed Chris' pattern, but realizes that the flesh and blood is only a small part of a larger pattern of Chris. This larger pattern is still out there for him to see Chris. When Pirsig's second wife unexpectedly conceived, he feels Chris is right there telling him to that they should have the baby. Pirsig feels Chris' ghost came back in Nell, his new little girl. She brings Pirsig's life back into perspective and helps mend that larger pattern.

Pirsig wants to use his time on this trip to discuss things that come to mind. He wants to get beyond the day to day shallowness of conversation. He wants this trip to be a Chautauqua, which he describes as cutting deeper into the old channels of consciousness to find out "what is best" (p. 7). He wants to dig deeper into thought instead of using the broader generalizations of everyday life. This Chautauqua leads into his discussion on Quality . To discuss the Quality he is aiming for, Pirsig juxtaposes two styles of reasoning: the Objective and the Subjective. He also refers to them as the Classic and the Romantic, respectively. Pirsig divides human understanding into either classic or romantic reasoning. The classic being the logical and scientific mode and the romantic being the creative and artistic mode.

The romantic mode is to see the world as a whole. It looks at the surface appearance of the whole object. For example, it would look at car and just appreciate it for how it looks as one whole piece of machinery, not as various parts that make up the underlying form of the machinery. Pirsig states that this mode "Öis primarily inspirational, imaginative, creative, intuitive. Feelings rather than facts predominate" (p. 61). This mode is not held together by any reasons or laws of science, it is led by "Öfeelings, intuition and esthetic conscience" (p.61). It views just the surface and does not dig deeper into the underlying form.

In contrast, the classic mode is to see the world in underlying form. For instance, it looks at a car and sees more than the surface appearance. It is looking at its underlying form of all its parts and how each one relates to the other to make the machine work. It goes beyond the surface picture. Pirsig says classic mode has definite laws and reason, "Öwhich are themselves underlying forms of thought and behavior" (p. 61). As the romantic mode inspires and brings feelings, the classic mode is meant to bring order. That is its esthetic measure. He states, "Everything is in terms of pieces and parts and components and relationships" (p. 62). Everything in the classic mode has to be proven scientifically.

Pirsig uses his "Church of Reason" analogy to show the two styles of thought. He describes a church building which has been taken over by a bar. Several people in the community complain to the church officials about this. The church official responds by asking the people if they think a church is just a building, the bricks, the doors, the pieces, the underlying form. He states a church is not the building, and "Öthe building in question was not holy ground. It had been desantified" (p.131). Only the underlying form of the classic view existed--these leftover pieces do not cause it to be the church. For the church official, it was very easy to look objectively at the building and not see a church. However, the people of the community are using the romantic view to see the surface appearance of the building in a shape of a church and do not break it down into its underlying form. They still see the building as a whole representing a church. Thus, seeing beer signs hanging from it upsets them (p.131).

This dichotomy of thought is what leads Pirsig to reconcile these two styles. He brings them together in his analogy of a large railroad train. He calls the train "knowledge" and divides it into two parts: Classic Knowledge and Romantic Knowledge. The train is broken into parts that are all classic knowledge. The romantic knowledge becomes the leading edge of the train. It is leading the train by its experience and creativity since by dividing up the train into classic parts it becomes static. But the train cannot be led forward without uniting two styles and receiving guidance by the track, which Pirsig calls Quality. In other words, the basic object vs. subject thought will not move the train forward. The Quality track that comes before the romantic and the classic styles unites them to move the train forward. Pirsig states that if a person wants to do something like "Öfix a motorcycleÖthen classical, structured dualistic subject-object knowledge, although necessary, is not enough. You have to have some feeling for the quality of the work. You have to have a sense of what's good. That is what carries you forward. This sense isn't just something you're born with, although you are born with it. It's also something you can develop. It's not just 'intuition,' not just unexplainable 'skill' or 'talent.' It's the direct result of contact with basic, reality, Quality, which dualistic reason has in the past tended to conceal" (p. 255). Pirsig is saying that Quality is reality and the romantic and classic styles are born from it. When they are united together with a sense of what is good, Quality work appears which everyone recognizes.

Now that Pirsig unites romantic and classic styles under the banner of Quality, a person needs to take a look at exactly what this reality of Quality is. Pirsig goes on an exploration of quality in two different phases. In the first phase, he makes no attempt of a rigid definition. In fact, when his students at the college ask him to define Quality, he states, "Quality is a characteristic of thought and statement that is recognized by a nonthinking process. Because definitions are a product of rigid, formal thinking, quality cannot be defined" (p. 184). What he is saying is that if you hold up two pieces of work, a person can tell which one has the better Quality. He just knows. He does not follow a rigid definition. Although his students did not question him on this, faculty at the school began to question him.

This criticism of his lack of definition leads Pirsig to his second phase. "In this phase he made systematic, rigid statements about what Quality is, and worked out an enormous hierarchic structure of thought to support them. He literally had to move heaven and earth to arrive at this systematic understanding and when he was done felt he'd achieved an explanation of existence and our consciousness of if better than any that existed before" (p. 168). In this process, he makes Quality a separate entity over the dualistic styles of subject and object as discussed above. He also ties Quality to caring about the work done. "A person who sees Quality and feels it as he works is a person who's bound to have some characteristics of Quality" (p. 247).

Finally, after years of study, Phaedrus makes Quality to be the new system of rationality. "Reason was to be subordinate, logically, to Quality" (p. 324). Phaedrus feels that Reason and Quality were separated and became in conflict with one another. "Quality had been forced under and reason made supremeÖ" (p. 324). For Phaedrus, a whole new structure of thinking must be developed with Quality being supreme.

But it is different for Pirsig, and he states that, "My personal feeling is that this (Quality) is how any further improvement of the world will be done: by individuals making Quality decisions and that's all" (p. 323). He wants us to "Öreturn to the rebuilding of this American resource--individual worth" (p. 323). Only a "Öreturn to individual integrity, self-reliance and old-fashioned gumption" (p. 323) will return us to Quality. Basically, to find Quality a person needs to look within himself. Individual values need to be right to have Quality. A person must work to "improve the world in first one's own heart and head and hands, and then work outward from there" (p. 267). There is no rigid definition for Quality. Instead, to find Quality, a person needs to care about his inner self and the relationship between his inner self and his work. He needs to show true caring on all aspects, from the whole to the parts by uniting the classic and romantic styles into true maintenance and craftsmanship and then Quality will show outward.

When making concrete decisions about web page construction, one needs to find a balance between the objective, subjective and intersubjective. Each style plays an important role in producing quality work.

First, the objective side of quality is very important in web page construction. It is the technical skills of the job. In web construction, one must know how to use the hardware and software in a computer to create a page. In this class, the first five weeks are devoted to learning this objective style about the electronic frontier to construct a web page. The skills needed include: connecting to the internet, obtaining an e-mail and ISP account, configuring a web browser, and downloading, installing and using specific programs, such as WinZip, FTP, Telnet, and anti-virus software. In the weeks ahead, the class will learn more about HTML, graphics, scanning, and other technical related skills. All of these objective type skills provide a strong foundation necessary to build a basic web page. Without them, one would not get beyond the initial idea of creating a web page.

Second, one must move beyond the "plumbing" of the objective skills. The subjective side of quality embodies the artistic, creative, imaginative, intuitive side of web page construction. Once a person has the technical skills, he can brainstorm on what he would like to have on the web page. What does he care about enough to place on the site? Is it family, philosophy, or hobbies? Whatever he chooses should be something he has a true interest and feelings about. If one creates a web site without caring about it, then one cannot expect others to be interested in it either. Thus, the subjective style is needed to focus in on some topic of interest for the web page. Otherwise, it just drifts in technical perfection with no real value.

Third, the intersubjective side of quality is a major part of how people look at things, including web pages. As a group tied together by a culture, there are definite judgments made about what is good, correct and ethical. A cultural standard exists. For example, a web page can be constructed that is excellent technically and is really liked by the creator, but is offensive to most everyone else in that culture. For example, a child pornography web site could meet all characteristics of objective and subjective quality, but still be lacking true quality because child pornography is definitely not in the tastes of most cultures. It would sicken most people. Intersubjective quality is used to guide a person on what is appropriate and not appropriate when constructing a quality web page. Without it combining with subjective and objective quality, the web page would be missing a serious cultural component.

A person can say this philosophizing about the objective, subjective and intersubjective sounds good. It makes sense on paper, but when the time comes to actually construct the web page, will these ideas still hold? When concrete decisions must be made, one tries to bring all three tools of quality together. One looks for technical excellence, personal caring and cultural and societal appeal to others. This unification is not an easy task. Quality is not something a person has a formula for to create. It must come from hard work on several different levels. Sometimes decisions are made that are the wrong ones-perhaps too much emphasis was placed on the technical but not enough on the overall picture. When these things happen in constructing a web page, a person needs to go back and reevaluate his work. Perhaps he needs to look at it from a different perspective to find what is missing. The key is that there is no reason that a person cannot make changes to his web page to find a higher level of quality. Quality is not often achieved on the first try. Therefore, I am sure my web page construction will suffer at the beginning from errors, but I look forward to going back and evaluating to find real Quality.