{"id":29645,"date":"2021-03-26T08:26:49","date_gmt":"2021-03-26T12:26:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/?p=29645"},"modified":"2021-04-01T21:26:07","modified_gmt":"2021-04-02T01:26:07","slug":"the-art-of-motorcycle-maintenance","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/the-art-of-motorcycle-maintenance\/","title":{"rendered":"Guide to Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>What is <em>Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance<\/em> about? What lessons does author <a href=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/robert-pirsig\/\">Robert Pirsig<\/a> discuss?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance<\/em> is a discussion of life lessons framed around a father-son motorcycle trip. Through the book, Pirsig touches on many themes, such as the uses of technology, forming strong relationships, and how to find meaning in the journey. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Read more about <em>Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance<\/em> below.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<!--more-->\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><em>Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance<\/em>: An <strong>Introduction<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>A cultural touchstone of the Seventies, Robert M. Pirsig\u2019s <em>Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance <\/em>(<em>ZAMM<\/em>)<em> <\/em>is a smorgasbord, equal parts autobiographical novel, travelogue, and collection of philosophical essays.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The book features a two-track structure. The first track, told in the present tense, follows an unnamed narrator (whom Shortform, because of the numerous parallels between the narrator and the real-life Robert Pirsig, has chosen to call \u201cPirsig\u201d) and his 11-year-old son Chris on a motorcycle trip from Minnesota to California. This track features the vivid descriptive language, dialogue, plot, and character development typical of a realist novel.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The second track consists of a series of philosophical and autobiographical discourses. Pirsig calls these discourses \u201cChautauquas.\u201d (In the 19th century, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/chautauqua-meaning\/\">Chautauquas<\/a> were traveling tent shows that featured lectures from religious and intellectual figures.) Pirsig\u2019s primary concerns in these Chautauquas are three:<br><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>Modern technology and human beings\u2019 relationship to it<\/li><li>The story of Phaedrus, Pirsig\u2019s alter-ego<\/li><li>Phaedrus\u2019s concept of \u201cQuality\u201d<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>The First Track: The Story<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>When <em>Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance<\/em> begins, Pirsig and Chris have just left Minneapolis on motorcycles. They are accompanied by <a href=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/john-and-sylvia-sutherland\/\">John and Sylvia Sutherland<\/a>, friends of Pirsig, who are riding with the Pirsigs as far as Bozeman, Montana. Whereas Pirsig is an editor of technical manuals, John is a drummer, and their differing attitudes toward motorcycle maintenance provide the impetus for Pirsig\u2019s early Chautauquas on technology.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>As the riders make their way west, the Pirsigs\u2019 backstory is slowly revealed. The key plot points are as follows:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>Some years before the ride, Pirsig suffered a mental breakdown and was institutionalized. He was treated with electroshock therapy, which caused him to forget who he was before the treatment. Through occasional fragments of memory and his own research, he\u2019s been able to get a sense of the person he was before. He calls this person Phaedrus.<br><\/li><li>Phaedrus was a gifted child who enrolled in college at 15 to study science. He found himself haunted by philosophical questions and eventually flunked out. After a stint in the army, he returned to college to study philosophy.<br><\/li><li>After graduating, again consumed by existential questions, Phaedrus spent years in India studying philosophy. He found Eastern philosophy equally as unsatisfying as Western philosophy and returned to the States. He earned a graduate degree in journalism and wound up teaching rhetoric and composition at Montana State University in Bozeman.<br><\/li><li>His experience teaching led him to the discovery of \u201cQuality,\u201d an indefinable philosophical concept from which (he thought) sprung all of human experience and endeavor. Both for professional and intellectual reasons, he decided to continue researching \u201cQuality\u201d in an interdisciplinary graduate program at the University of Chicago. It was while he was living and studying in Chicago that he suffered his breakdown.<br><\/li><li>Chris has been causing trouble at home lately. He also suffers from chronic stomach aches, but no doctor has been able to find a physical cause. His caretakers fear he\u2019s at risk of a breakdown as well.<br><\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>In Bozeman, the group stays with an old colleague of Phaedrus named DeWeese. After a few days, the Sutherlands return to Minnesota, and the Pirsigs press on to California. As they near their destination, Pirsig fears that Phaedrus is reviving in his mind and another breakdown is imminent.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>When the Pirsigs reach California, Chris\u2019s mood is at its nadir. Pirsig feels compelled to have a frank talk with him. He tells Chris that he, Pirsig, was once insane, and that the doctors fear Chris will end up insane as well. (Shortform note: The terminology and overall depiction of mental disorders in the book is dated.) In response, Chris descends into a wailing fit. As Chris rocks and cries, Phaedrus speaks through Pirsig, and Chris responds favorably. When Chris asks if Pirsig was <em>really <\/em>insane, Phaedrus, through Pirsig, says no. Chris suddenly brightens, and the book ends with the Pirsigs cruising along the Pacific coast, reconciled.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>The Second Track: Chautauquas<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>The second track of <em>Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance<\/em> is the chautauquas. These are lessons from Pirsig. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Modern Technology and the Human Response<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p>Pirsig\u2019s discourses on technology are a response to the \u201cBeat\u201d and \u201cHippie\u201d cultural movements, which equated \u201ctechnology\u201d\u2014machinery, engineering, physical science\u2014with either soulless consumption or catastrophic innovations like the hydrogen bomb. Drawing on Phaedrus\u2019s thought, Pirsig divides humanity into two kinds of thinkers:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li><em>Classical thinkers<\/em>, who assess objects in the world in terms of their <em>functions<\/em>; and<\/li><li><em>Romantic thinkers<\/em>, who assess objects in the world in terms of their <em>appearance<\/em>.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>John Sutherland is Pirsig\u2019s prime example of a romantic thinker. Sutherland refuses to learn how to maintain his motorcycle because it\u2019s \u201csquare\u201d\u2014it smacks of cold, procedural knowledge that runs counter to the \u201cgrooviness\u201d and spontaneous creativity he prizes. Pirsig, meanwhile, a self-anointed classical thinker, relishes knowing how his motorcycle functions and being able to repair it if something goes wrong.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Pirsig\u2019s Chautauquas on technology aim to show that <strong>technological work <\/strong><strong><em>is <\/em><\/strong><strong>creative<\/strong> (or, at least, <em>can <\/em>be). It\u2019s all a matter of the mindset we bring to it. If we approach technology as though it\u2019s something alien to us, something we can handle only with detailed instructions, then it <em>will <\/em>appear lifeless and intimidating. But if we approach it as the product of human intuition\u2014which it was, of course, when it was invented or first constructed\u2014we are better able to use <em>our own <\/em>intuition to engage with it. <strong>That is, when working with technology, Pirsig urges us to experiment, to try something that hasn\u2019t been vetted by the experts, to <\/strong><strong><em>innovate<\/em><\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>When we approach technology in this fashion, we\u2019re no longer prisoner to the classical\/romantic binary. We\u2019re wedding the two by being attuned to a rarely remarked facet of our day-to-day experience. We\u2019re attending to <em>Quality<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Quality<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p>The central theme of the second half of <em>ZAMM<\/em>, \u201cQuality\u201d was Phaedrus\u2019s intellectual obsession and constitutes the origin of Pirsig\u2019s musings on the classical\/romantic divide.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Quality is&#8230;hard to define, especially given the fact that Phaedrus makes clear that to define Quality is to misunderstand it. Nevertheless, Phaedrus does give us some leads:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li><strong>Quality includes its colloquial sense<\/strong>. Although Quality has a highly technical philosophical significance (more just below), it also means \u201cvalue\u201d or \u201cgoodness.\u201d (The subtitle of <em>ZAMM <\/em>is \u201cAn Inquiry Into Values.\u201d) Phaedrus begins thinking about Quality in the first place because his students, without prompting, can tell the difference between a quality essay and one that lacks quality.<br><\/li><li><strong>Quality also includes <\/strong><strong><em>everything else<\/em><\/strong><em>. <\/em>Phaedrus\u2019s concept of Quality placed it at the very beginning of human knowledge and experience\u2014in fact, Phaedrus believed that Quality was the <em>source <\/em>of that knowledge and experience. Imagine the most primitive human picking up a sharp stone and using it to dig a hole. This human has no language to describe the stone or its possible uses, hasn\u2019t been taught that sharp stones are good for digging\u2014this human might not even fully comprehend the stone as a separate <em>being<\/em>. Nevertheless, something about the stone has drawn the human to it and caused him to pick it up and use it\u2014that something is <em>Quality<\/em>.<br><\/li><li><strong>Quality is transcendent<\/strong>. The closest analogue Phaedrus provides for Quality is <a href=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/the-tao\/\">the Tao<\/a> (\u201cPath\u201d or \u201cWay\u201d) as described in Lao Tzu\u2019s <em>Tao Te Ching<\/em>, a foundational text in Chinese philosophy and religion. The Tao is a mystical entity impossible to name or adequately express, yet it generates and directs the universe. One can \u201cknow\u201d the Tao not through words but through outlook and experience.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Pirsig devotes dozens of pages to narrating Phaedrus\u2019s explorations of Quality. Because Quality touches all aspects of human experience, from the metaphysical to the mundane, Pirsig is able use Quality as a springboard to discuss almost anything. Over the course of 200+ pages, Pirsig covers Montana state politics, the academic discipline of rhetoric, Eastern philosophy, 19th-century mathematics, and ancient Greek philosophy, among other topics.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>But it\u2019s when Pirsig turns to the practical task of repairing a motorcycle that the power of Quality-thinking becomes clear. <strong>Essentially, to be attuned to Quality, we must cultivate a \u201cbeginner\u2019s mindset\u201d\u2014we must forget what we know (or think we know) and simply meditate on the task in front of us<\/strong>. This is why it\u2019s Pirsig\u2019s firm belief that to be \u201cstuck\u201d\u2014on a work or creative project, on making a life decision\u2014is actually, counter-intuitively, the <em>best place to be<\/em>. It\u2019s at that moment, when our go-to intellectual or emotional strategies fail us, that we begin to hook into Quality, the metaphysical <em>something<\/em> that will always lead us to a solution.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Gumptionology 101<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p>In the final 100 pages of the book, Pirsig spends about 25 talking about <em>gumption<\/em>\u2014which, in the <em>ZAMM <\/em>context, we can think of as \u201centhusiasm for the task at hand.\u201d&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Say you notice a loose doorknob. You\u2019ve fixed doorknobs in the past, and you know exactly how to fix this one\u2014in fact, you\u2019re already imagining the satisfaction of getting down to work on that doorknob and repairing it without breaking a sweat. At this moment, you\u2019re filled with gumption.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>But then let\u2019s say you can\u2019t find the right tool\u2014the tool you imagined wielding so skillfully\u2014and you realize you <em>won\u2019t <\/em>be able to fix the doorknob. Suddenly all that gumption goes up in smoke. You\u2019ve hit a <em>gumption trap<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Pirsig believes gumption to be both effect and promoter of Quality-thinking. If you\u2019ve gotten stuck on a project or task, and overcome that stuckness by dint of your \u201cbeginner\u2019s mindset,\u201d you\u2019re going to be brimming with gumption the <em>next time <\/em>you get stuck. And that gumption will lead you again to find novel solutions and innovative ideas (i.e., Quality).&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Although Pirsig\u2019s long list of gumption traps and workarounds is largely motorcycle-specific, there is one group of traps\u2014\u201chang-ups,\u201d or internal gumption traps\u2014that can hamper any effort. Among these hang-ups are traits like <em>ego<\/em> (which prevents us from acknowledging stuckness and opening ourselves to Quality) and <em>impatience <\/em>(which causes us to rush into a non-Quality solution just to get something done). Pirsig\u2019s descriptions of and recommendations for these gumption traps can be found in Chapter 9 of the full summary.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>The Journey Is the Prize<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p>Throughout <em>Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance<\/em>, in both the Chautauquas and the narrative, Pirsig suggests that his and Chris\u2019s road trip isn\u2019t about arriving at any particular destination\u2014rather, it\u2019s about the traveling itself. All too often we become consumed with ends\u2014a job, a promotion, a purchase\u2014and forget to appreciate the means by which we arrive at those ends. Pirsig\u2019s entire book, which meanders and digresses and <em>takes its time<\/em>, can be seen as a testament to the principle that \u201csometimes it\u2019s a little better to travel than to arrive.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>What is Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance about? What lessons does author Robert Pirsig discuss? Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance is a discussion of life lessons framed around a father-son motorcycle trip. Through the book, Pirsig touches on many themes, such as the uses of technology, forming strong relationships, and how to find meaning in the journey. Read more about Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance below.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":17040,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[40,42,6],"tags":[242],"class_list":["post-29645","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-books","category-motivation","category-spiritual","tag-zen-and-the-art-of-motorcycle-maintenance","","tg-column-two"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v24.3 (Yoast SEO v24.3) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Guide to Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance - Shortform Books<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"What is Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance about? 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In this autobiographical novel, Robert Pirsig talks about life, travel, and more.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/the-art-of-motorcycle-maintenance\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Shortform Books\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2021-03-26T12:26:49+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2021-04-02T01:26:07+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/s3.amazonaws.com\/wordpress.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/innovators-dilemma-honda-innovation.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"854\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"558\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Carrie Cabral\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Carrie Cabral\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"10 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/the-art-of-motorcycle-maintenance\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/the-art-of-motorcycle-maintenance\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Carrie Cabral\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/2ababb7c63a94ff5d2190f71dc417d56\"},\"headline\":\"Guide to Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance\",\"datePublished\":\"2021-03-26T12:26:49+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2021-04-02T01:26:07+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/the-art-of-motorcycle-maintenance\/\"},\"wordCount\":1931,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/the-art-of-motorcycle-maintenance\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/innovators-dilemma-honda-innovation.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Books\",\"Motivation\",\"Spiritual\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/the-art-of-motorcycle-maintenance\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/the-art-of-motorcycle-maintenance\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/the-art-of-motorcycle-maintenance\/\",\"name\":\"Guide to Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance - Shortform Books\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/the-art-of-motorcycle-maintenance\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/the-art-of-motorcycle-maintenance\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/innovators-dilemma-honda-innovation.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2021-03-26T12:26:49+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2021-04-02T01:26:07+00:00\",\"description\":\"What is Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance about? 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