Comment by NickArgall on Reflections on Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance · 2023-02-28T02:31:03.919Z · LW · GW

I remember being profoundly disappointed by the judgements made during the story of the beer can shim. His anticipatory condescension doesn’t seem to be working in the direction of any kind of enlightenment. Indeed, the narrator seems to be stuck in a painful cycle of suffering. His motorcycle might be working, but something else isn’t.

Some people set out to study problems that must be solved, that simultaneously can’t be solved. The idea is to trigger a breakdown, and a breakdown is what we see in the book. I (and others) believe that deliberately triggering a breakdown is irresponsible if you don’t do it in a safe place. The importance of safe and supportive environments is easy to overlook when you think you’re reading a book of Japanese jokes.