Lila
An Inquiry Into Morals
by Robert M. Pirsig · first published 1991
54% recommend43% neutral3% critical
Why HN recommends it
Pirsig's follow-up to Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance develops his Metaphysics of Quality, covering static vs dynamic quality, social levels and anthropology. Suits readers of ZAMM wanting a deeper sequel.
Summarised by Claude from recommending comments
Sequel to the wildly popular Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance. Pirsig expands on the ideas of Quality and expands them into a complete Metaphysics of Quality.
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Lila by Robert Pirsig. Everyone knows about Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance (ZMM). Lila is not as well known, but it's fun to read if you really enjoyed ZMM. https://www.amazon.com/Lila-Inquiry-Robert-M-Pirsig/dp/05532...
on “Ask HN: What are the best unknown books you have read?” ↗"Lila" (http://www.amazon.com/Lila-Inquiry-Morals-Robert-Pirsig/dp/0... ) gave me most food for thought this year.
on “Ask HN: Best book you read in 2011” ↗…familiar with on track... Younger generations, with fresh eyes, wonder how older generations let things "go so wrong"...with an eye toward improving the society they've inherited... An excellent book, Lila: An Inquiry Into Morals, by Robert Pirsig, explores this and other phenomena in great depth... It's a semi-sequel to Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance... I recommend it...
on “The secret lives of Tumblr teens” ↗…but (IMO) necessary to mention. Pirsig wrote about an important journey he took with his son and closed it with a mention of the end of Chris' life [0]. To anyone reading this thread, I also recommend Lila: An Inquiry Into Morals [1] by the same author. It's set some time after Zen, as the author struggles with the exact topic of the OP (the fame of the book and the challenges against his "Metaphysics of…
on “The Myth of Commoditized Excellence” ↗…Infinite Games, by James Carse 2. Flow, by Czikszentmihalyi 3. The evolving self, by Robert Kegan 4. Man's search for meaning, by Victor Frankl 5. A fine balance, by Rohinton Mistry (fiction) 6. Lila, by Robert Pirsig (fiction)
on “Which book has inspired you the most in your career or personal development?” ↗…"His Dark Materials", Pullman; or "Illuminatus!", Shea and Wilson * "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy", Adams (all of its sequels are also good) * "Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance" and "Lila", Pirsig * Either "Watchmen", Moore and Gibbons; or "1984" or "Animal Farm", Orwell * "Neuromancer" or "Pattern Recognition", Gibson Be wary of anybody who recommends self-help, attitude improvement,…
on “Ask HN: Which non-programming books are a beneficial read for programmers?” ↗I've really enjoyed Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance and Lila by Robert M. Pirsig. EDIT: Also, The Phoenix Project is very very good if you are into IT management: funny, and although a novel then the content will make you want to fix your company and perhaps even…
on “Ask HN: Recommend one book I need to read this summer?” ↗Lila: An Inquiry into Morals is Pirsig's second book which is described as the defining work of the Metaphysics of Quality (MOQ). I loved ZAMM, but Lila is a much better book and even more though-provoking.…
on “Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance” ↗…about motorcycle maintenance. Pirsig uses that as a common example in various places throughout the book. Its actually a philosophical novel, the subtitle is "An Inquiry into Values" His later work Lila - is similarly subtitled "An Inquiry into Morals" I highly recommend them both. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zen_and_the_Art_of_Motorcycle_M... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lila:_An_Inquiry_into_Morals
on “Coding with gumption” ↗All the things by Christopher Alexander(Start with timeless way...explore the pattern language...move on to Nature of order...then others.) Zen and Lila by Pirsig Beginning of Infinity by Deutsch.
on “Ask HN: Mind bending books to read and never be the same as before?” ↗The Nature of Order by Christopher Alexander (also The Timeless Way of Building) Lila by Pirsig (If you've read ZMM and left Lila unread you've left a lot on the table) The Beginning of Infinity by David Deutch Antifragile by Taleb Harry Potter and the Methods of Rationality by Yudkowski.…
on “Ask HN: What books fundamentally changed the way you think about the world?” ↗Lila - "Enquiry into Morals" (R.Pirsig) .. "good" is a noun.. and MoQ in general, with all the orthogonal layers, and identity being the most basic characteristic of things probably also C.N.Parkinson laws…
on “Ask HN: Which non-programming books are a beneficial read for programmers?” ↗Lila delves further in the Pirsig's Metaphysics of Quality (MOQ) which is quite fascinating. His dialogues on static vs dynamic quality coloured my view of the world for years.
on “Ask HN: What are the best unknown books you have read?” ↗Hermann Hesse: The Glass Bead Game Robert M. Pirsig: Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance Robert M. Pirsig: Lila - An Inquiry Into Morals Eliezer Yudkowsky: Harry Potter and the Methods of Rationality
on “Ask HN: Great fiction books that have had a positive impact on your life?” ↗The Robert Pirsig books are excellent: Zen and the Art of Motercycle maintenance, and its sequal Lila.
on “What books would you recommend reading? Why?” ↗