Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance: An Inquiry into Values is a book by Robert M. Pirsig first published in 1974. It is a work of fictionalized autobiography and the first of Pirsig's texts in which he discusses his concept of Quality .
121-506: Robert Maynard Pirsig ( / ˈ p ɜːr s ɪ ɡ / ; September 6, 1928 – April 24, 2017) was an American writer and philosopher. He is the author of the philosophical books Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance: An Inquiry into Values (1974) and Lila: An Inquiry into Morals (1991), and he co-authored On Quality: An Inquiry Into Excellence: Selected and Unpublished Writings (2022) along with his wife and editor, Wendy Pirsig. Pirsig
242-475: A Guggenheim Fellowship in 1974 for General Nonfiction, which later allowed him to complete his second book. The University of Minnesota conferred an Outstanding Achievement Award in 1975. He won an award for literature from the American Academy and Institute of Arts and Letters in 1979. On December 15, 2012, Montana State University bestowed upon Pirsig an honorary doctorate in philosophy during
363-462: A first-person narrative , although the author is not identified. Father and son are also accompanied, for the first nine days of the journey, by close friends John and Sylvia Sutherland, with whom they part ways in Montana . The journey is punctuated by numerous philosophical discussions, referred to as Chautauquas by the author, on topics including epistemology , the history of philosophy, and
484-648: A national historic district , and the upper St. Anthony lock and dam is permanently closed. Columnist Don Morrison says that after the milling era waned a "modern, major city" emerged. Around 1900, Minneapolis attracted skilled workers who leveraged expertise from the University of Minnesota. In 1923, Munsingwear was the world's largest manufacturer of underwear. Frederick McKinley Jones invented mobile refrigeration in Minneapolis, and with his associate founded Thermo King in 1938. In 1949, Medtronic
605-417: A 1974 interview with National Public Radio , Pirsig stated that the book took him four years to write. During two of these years, Pirsig continued working at his job of writing computer manuals. This caused him to adopt an unorthodox schedule, awakening very early and writing Zen from 2 a.m. until 6 a.m., then eating and going to his day job. He would sleep during his lunch break and then go to bed around 6 in
726-495: A White Minneapolis police officer, knelt on his neck and back for more than nine minutes. Reporting on the local reaction , The New York Times said that "over three nights, a five-mile stretch of Minneapolis sustained extraordinary damage" —destruction included a police station that demonstrators overran and set on fire. Floyd's murder sparked international rebellions, mass protests, and locally, years of ongoing unrest over racial injustice. As of 2024, protest continued daily at
847-821: A center at the Northrup-King building, and it presents the Art-A-Whirl open studio tour every May. Minneapolis has hosted theatrical performances since the end of the American Civil War. Early theaters included Pence Opera House , the Academy of Music, Grand Opera House, Lyceum, and later the Metropolitan Opera House, which opened in 1894. Fifteen of the fifty-five Twin Cities theater companies counted in 2015 by Peg Guilfoyle had
968-712: A decline in his grades and expulsion from the university. In 1946, Pirsig enlisted in the United States Army and was stationed in South Korea until 1948. Upon his discharge from the Army, he lived for several months in Seattle , Washington, and then returned to the University of Minnesota, from which he received a bachelor's degree in 1950. He subsequently studied philosophy at Banaras Hindu University in India and
1089-524: A facility in economically depressed north Minneapolis, bringing jobs and good publicity. A University of Minnesota computing group released Gopher in 1991; three years later, the World Wide Web superseded Gopher traffic. In many ways, the 20th century in Minneapolis was a difficult time of bigotry and malfeasance, beginning with four decades of corruption. Known initially as a kindly physician, mayor Doc Ames made his brother police chief, ran
1210-506: A follow-up, Lila: An Inquiry into Morals (1991), in which he developed a value-based metaphysics , Metaphysics of Quality , that challenges our subject–object view of reality. The second book, this time "the captain" of a sailboat, follows on from where Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance left off. Pirsig was vice-president of the Minnesota Zen Meditation Center from 1973 to 1975 and also served on
1331-649: A greater quality of life . It has been noted that Pirsig's romantic/classical dichotomy resembles Nietzsche 's Dionysian/Apollonian dichotomy as described in The Birth of Tragedy . For example, in his book The Person of the Therapist , Edward Smith writes, "In his popular novel ... Pirsig also addressed the Apollonian and Dionysian worldviews, naming them respectively classical understanding and romantic understanding." Beverly Gross (1984) writes that Pirsig
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#17327808651501452-530: A human-relations council that interceded on behalf of minorities. However, the lives of Black people had not been improved. In 1966 and 1967—years of significant turmoil across the US —suppressed anger among the Black population was released in two disturbances on Plymouth Avenue. Historian Iric Nathanson says young Blacks confronted police, arson caused property damage, and "random gunshots" caused minor injuries in what
1573-695: A large waterfall that eroded upriver past the confluence of the Mississippi River, where it left a 75-foot (23-meter) drop in the Mississippi. This site is located in what is now downtown Saint Paul. The new waterfall, later called Saint Anthony Falls, in turn, eroded up the Mississippi about eight miles (13 kilometers) to its present location, carving the Mississippi River gorge as it moved upstream. Minnehaha Falls also developed during this period via similar processes. Minneapolis
1694-465: A less than pleasurable experience, and that this limited his ability to teach writing effectively and to develop his own philosophy and writing. In December 2019, the Smithsonian's National Museum of American History acquired Pirsig's 1966 Honda CB77 Super Hawk on which the 1968 ride with his son Chris was taken. The donation included a manuscript of Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance ,
1815-498: A meeting of the Minnesota Territorial Legislature , leaders of east bank St. Anthony lost their bid to move the capital from Saint Paul, but they eventually won the state university. In 1856, the territorial legislature authorized Minneapolis as a town on the Mississippi's west bank. Minneapolis was incorporated as a city in 1867, and in 1872, it merged with St. Anthony. Minneapolis originated around
1936-452: A minor setback might result from a minor injury. Worse setbacks include the lack of knowledge that a certain procedural action or condition is necessary for a project's success: If one attempts to keep working despite the lack of knowledge that this obstacle exists (let alone how to deal with it), one's lack of progress may prompt one to take long breaks from the project, to focus one's attention on other endeavors, or even to lose interest in
2057-433: A national trend, the metro area's next largest group after Christians is the 23-percent non-religious population. At the same time, more than 50 denominations and religions are present in Minneapolis, representing most of the world's religions. Temple Israel was built in 1928 by the city's first Jewish congregation, Shaarai Tov, which formed in 1878. By 1959, a Temple of Islam was located in north Minneapolis. In 1971,
2178-440: A profoundly important one—a great one even—full of insights into our most perplexing contemporary dilemmas. I just don't know. But whatever its true philosophical worth, it is intellectual entertainment of the highest order. Since then, Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance has become the best-selling philosophy book of all time. Pirsig's 1966 Honda CB77 Super Hawk , on which the 1968 ride with his son Chris which inspired
2299-594: A rate one-third that of White families. Statewide by 2022, the gap between White and Black home ownership declined from 51.5 percent to 48 percent. Statewide, alongside this small improvement was a sharp increase in the Black-to-White comparative number of deaths of despair (e.g., alcohol, drugs, and suicide). The Minneapolis income gap in 2018 was one of the largest in the country, with Black families earning about 44 percent of what White families earned annually. Statewide in 2022 using inflation-adjusted dollars,
2420-545: A reported 150 persons attended classes at a Hindu temple near the University of Minnesota. In 1972, the Twin Cities' first Shi'a Muslim family resettled from Uganda. Somalis who live in Minneapolis are primarily Sunni Muslim . In 2022, Minneapolis amended its noise ordinance to allow broadcasting the Muslim call to prayer five times per day. The city has about seven Buddhist centers and meditation centers. Early in
2541-465: A rich mixture. He recognizes that the higher elevation is causing the engine to run rich. The narrator rectifies this by installing new jets and adjusting the valves , and the engine runs well again. The narrator examines the modern pursuit of "Pure Truths", claiming it derives from the work of early Greek philosophers who were establishing the concept of truth in opposition to the force of " The Good ". He argues that although rational thought may find
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#17327808651502662-454: A secret military Japanese-language school that trained interpreters and translators. Following World War II, some Japanese and Japanese Americans remained in Minneapolis, and by 1970, they numbered nearly 2,000, forming part of the state's largest Asian American community. In the 1950s, the US government relocated Native Americans to cities like Minneapolis, attempting to dismantle Indian reservations . Around 1970, Koreans arrived, and
2783-566: A signed first edition of the book, and tools and clothing from the ride. In April 2024 Pirsig's bike went on public display for the first time ever, in the museum's exhibition "America on the Move", along with the book's original manuscript, Pirsig's manual typewriter and an Apple II computer to which he made extraordinary upgrades that earned him the honor of a room named for him — the Pirsig Meeting Room — at Apple headquarters. In 2020,
2904-462: A source of energy: Saint Anthony Falls, the only natural waterfall on the Mississippi. Each of the city's two founding industries—flour and lumber milling—developed in the 19th century nearly concurrently, and each came to prominence for about fifty years. In 1884, the value of Minneapolis flour milling was the world's highest. In 1899, Minneapolis outsold every other lumber market in the world. Through its expanding mill industries, Minneapolis earned
3025-404: A specific aspect of a problem by taking a short break from working on the problem or that specific aspect of it. Pirsig notes several aspects of hang-ups. At the time of its publication, Christopher Lehmann-Haupt , in his book review for The New York Times , wrote, I now regret that I lack the expertise in philosophy to put Mr. Pirsig's ideas to a proper test, for this book may very well be
3146-467: A truth (or The Truth) it may never be applicable completely and universally to every individual's experience; therefore what is needed is a method of thought that is more inclusive and has a wider range of application. He makes a case that originally the Greeks did not distinguish between "Quality" and "Truth"—they were one and the same, arete —and that the divorce was, in fact, artificial (though needed at
3267-594: Is 108 °F (42 °C) in July 1936 while the lowest is −41 °F (−41 °C) in January 1888. The snowiest winter on record was 1983–1984, when 98.6 in (250 cm) of snow fell. The least-snowy winter was 1930–1931, when 14.2 inches (36 cm) fell. According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration , the annual average for sunshine duration is 58 percent. The Minneapolis area
3388-551: Is a city in and the county seat of Hennepin County, Minnesota , United States. With a population of 429,954, it is the state's most populous city as of the 2020 census . Located in the state's center near the eastern border, it occupies both banks of the Upper Mississippi River and adjoins Saint Paul , the state capital of Minnesota. Minneapolis, Saint Paul, and the surrounding area are collectively known as
3509-478: Is located in south-central Minneapolis on the 10-acre (4 ha) former homestead of the Morrison family. McKim, Mead & White designed a vast complex meeting the ambitions of the founders for a cultural center with spaces for sculpture, an art school, and orchestra. One-seventh of their design was built and opened in 1915. Additions by other firms from 1928 to 2006 achieved much of the original scheme. Today
3630-405: Is near the confluence of Minnehaha Creek with the Mississippi River. Sources disagree on the exact location and elevation of the city's highest point, which is cited as being between 967 and 985 feet (295 and 300 m) above sea level. Minneapolis has 83 neighborhoods and 70 neighborhood organizations. In some cases, two or more neighborhoods act together under one organization. Around 1990,
3751-410: Is seeking a synthesis of "the normal, everyday, functioning self with the person given to extremes, excesses, dizzying heights, obsessions—our crazy self with our sane self, the greatness in us with our ordinariness". The exceptional in the narrator is represented by Phaedrus, who, despite the narrator's attempt to keep him in the past, becomes a major item of his thought toward the book's end, threatening
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3872-617: Is sited above an artesian aquifer and on flat terrain. Its total area is 59 square miles (152.8 square kilometers) of which six percent is covered by water. The city has a 12-mile (19 km) segment of the Mississippi River, four streams, and 17 waterbodies—13 of them lakes, with 24 miles (39 km) of lake shoreline. A 1959 report by the US Soil Conservation Service listed Minneapolis's elevation above mean sea level as 830 feet (250 meters). The city's lowest elevation of 687 feet (209 m) above sea level
3993-443: Is the primary victim of the "gumption trap," the first two suffer indirectly in that a reduction in initiative results in a reduction in constructive activity and therefore inhibits one's development of the first two traits. Pirsig goes on to inform his readers that the "trap" portion of the term refers to the positive feedback loop that the event or mindset creates: the reduction in the person's enthusiasm and initiative decreases both
4114-578: The Minneapolis Spokesman led a year-long consumer boycott of four area breweries that refused to hire Blacks. Employment improved during World War II, but housing discrimination persisted. Between 1950 and 1970, the Black population in Minneapolis increased by 436 percent. After the Rust Belt economy declined in the 1980s, Black migrants were attracted to Minneapolis for its job opportunities, good schools, and safe neighborhoods. In
4235-583: The 1805 Treaty of St. Peter with the Dakota. Pike bought a 9-square-mile (23 km ) strip of land—coinciding with the sacred place of Dakota origin —on the Mississippi south of Saint Anthony Falls, with the agreement the US would build a military fort and trading post there and the Dakota would retain their usufructuary rights. In 1819, the US Army built Fort Snelling to direct Native American trade away from British-Canadian traders and to deter war between
4356-711: The American Indian Movement (AIM) in Minneapolis. Begun as an alternative to public and Bureau of Indian Affairs schools , AIM's Heart of the Earth Survival School taught Native American traditions to children for nearly twenty years. A same-sex Minneapolis couple appealed all the way to the US Supreme Court but their marriage license was denied. They managed to get a license and marry in 1971, forty years before Minnesota legalized same-sex marriage . Immigration helped to curb
4477-696: The Committee on the Analysis of Ideas and Study of Methods at the University of Chicago . In 1958 he earned a master's degree in journalism from the University of Minnesota. In 1958, he became a professor at Montana State University in Bozeman , and taught creative writing courses for two years. Shortly thereafter he taught at the University of Illinois at Chicago . Pirsig's published writing consists most notably of two books. The better known, Zen and
4598-553: The Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis , it has preserved its financial clout into the 21st century. A Minneapolis Depression-era labor strike brought about federal worker protections. Work in Minneapolis contributed to the computing industry, and the city is the birthplace of General Mills , the Pillsbury brand, Target Corporation , and Thermo King mobile refrigeration. The city's major arts institutions include
4719-704: The Gilded Age , the Walker Art Center began as a private art collection in the home of lumberman T. B. Walker , who extended free admission to the public. Around 1940, the center's focus shifted to modern and contemporary art. In partnership with the Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board , the Walker operates the adjacent Minneapolis Sculpture Garden , which has about forty sculptures on view year-round. The Minneapolis Institute of Art (Mia)
4840-1375: The Human Rights Campaign gave Minneapolis 94 points out of 100 on the Municipal Equality Index of support for the LGBTQ+ population. Twin Cities Pride is held in May. Minneapolis is the largest city in Minnesota and the 46th-largest city in the United States by population as of 2023. According to the 2020 US Census , Minneapolis had a population of 429,954. Of this population, 44,513 (10.4 percent) identified as Hispanic or Latinos . Of those not Hispanic or Latino, 249,581 persons (58.0 percent) were White alone (62.7 percent White alone or in combination), 81,088 (18.9 percent) were Black or African American alone (21.3 percent Black alone or in combination), 24,929 (5.8 percent) were Asian alone, 7,433 (1.2 percent) were American Indian and Alaska Native alone, 25,387 (0.6 percent) some other race alone, and 34,463 (5.2 percent) were multiracial . The most common ancestries in Minneapolis according to
4961-613: The Minneapolis Institute of Art , the Walker Art Center , and the Guthrie Theater . Four professional sports teams play downtown. Prince is survived by his favorite venue, the First Avenue nightclub . Minneapolis is home to the University of Minnesota 's main campus. The city's public transport is provided by Metro Transit , and the international airport, serving the Twin Cities region, is located towards
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5082-613: The Twin Cities , a metropolitan area with 3.69 million residents. Minneapolis is built on an artesian aquifer on flat terrain and is known for cold, snowy winters and hot, humid summers. Nicknamed the "City of Lakes", Minneapolis is abundant in water, with thirteen lakes , wetlands, the Mississippi River , creeks, and waterfalls. The city's public park system is connected by the Grand Rounds National Scenic Byway . Dakota people originally inhabited
5203-526: The philosophy of science . Many of these discussions are accompanied by information concerning the narrator's own past self, who is referred to in the third person as Phaedrus (after Plato's dialogue ). Phaedrus, a teacher of creative and technical writing at Montana State College , became engrossed in the question of what defines good writing, and what in general defines good, or "Quality", which he understands similar to Tao . Phaedrus's philosophical investigations eventually caused him to become insane, and he
5324-407: The "classical" narrator has an older motorcycle which he is usually able to diagnose and repair himself through the use of rational problem-solving skills. For example, when the narrator and his friends come into Miles City, Montana he notices the engine running roughly, a possible indication that the fuel/air mixture is too rich . The next day he notes that both spark plugs are black, confirming
5445-807: The 1890s and 1900s, and Slovak and Czech immigrants settled in the Bohemian Flats area on the west bank of the Mississippi River. Ukrainians arrived after 1900, and Central European migrants made their homes in the Northeast neighborhood. Chinese began immigration in the 1870s and Chinese businesses centered on the Gateway District and Glenwood Avenue. Westminster Presbyterian Church gave language classes and support for Chinese Americans in Minneapolis, many of whom had fled discrimination in western states. Japanese Americans , many relocated from San Francisco, worked at Camp Savage ,
5566-473: The 1990s, immigrants from the Horn of Africa began to arrive, from Eritrea , Ethiopia , and particularly Somalia . Immigration from Somalia slowed significantly following a 2017 national executive order . As of 2022, about 3,000 Ethiopians and 20,000 Somalis reside in Minneapolis . The Williams Institute reported that the Twin Cities had an estimated 4.2-percent LGBT adult population in 2020. In 2023,
5687-421: The 2021 American Community Survey (ACS) were German (22.9 percent), Irish (10.8 percent), Norwegian (8.9 percent), Subsaharan African (6.7 percent), and Swedish (6.1 percent). Among those five years and older, 81.2 percent spoke only English at home, while 7.1 percent spoke Spanish and 11.7 percent spoke other languages, including large numbers of Somali and Hmong speakers. About 13.7 percent of
5808-587: The 2024 city budget. In 2018, the Minneapolis City Council approved the Minneapolis 2040 Comprehensive Plan, which resulted in a citywide end to single-family zoning . Slate reported that Minneapolis was the first major city in the US to make citywide such a revision in housing possibilities. At the time, 70 percent of residential land was zoned for detached, single-family homes, though many of those areas had "nonconforming" buildings with more housing units. City leaders sought to increase
5929-443: The 2040 plan, and declaring racism a public health emergency in 2020. Twin Cities residents are 70 percent Christian according to a Pew Research Center religious survey in 2014. Settlers who arrived in Minneapolis from New England were for the most part Protestants , Quakers , and Universalists . The oldest continuously used church, Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic Church , was built in 1856 by Universalists and soon afterward
6050-420: The Art of Motorcycle Maintenance , delves into Pirsig's exploration into the nature of quality . Ostensibly a first-person narrative based on a motorcycle trip he and his young son Chris had taken from Minneapolis to San Francisco, it is an exploration of the underlying metaphysics of Western culture . He also gives the reader a short summary of the history of philosophy , including his interpretation of
6171-503: The Art of Motorcycle Maintenance , writing that he and his second wife Wendy Kimball decided not to abort the child they conceived in 1980 because he believed that this unborn child – later their daughter Nell – was a continuation of the "life pattern" that Chris had occupied. Pirsig died aged 88, at his home in South Berwick, Maine , on April 24, 2017, after a period of failing health. Pirsig received
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#17327808651506292-649: The Art of Motorcycle Maintenance . Nancy sought a divorce during this time; they formally separated in 1976 and divorced in 1978. On December 28, 1978, Pirsig married Wendy Kimball in Tremont, Maine . In 1979, his son Chris, who figured prominently in Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance , was fatally stabbed in a mugging outside the San Francisco Zen Center at the age of 22. Pirsig discusses this tragedy in an afterword to subsequent editions of Zen and
6413-439: The Dakota and Ojibwe in northern Minnesota. Under pressure from US officials in a series of treaties, the Dakota ceded their land first to the east and then to the west of the Mississippi, the river that runs through Minneapolis. Dakota leaders twice refused to sign the next treaty until they were paid for the previous one. In the decades following these treaty signings, the federal US government rarely honored their terms. At
6534-624: The Dakota were being expelled, Franklin Steele laid claim to the east bank of Saint Anthony Falls , and John H. Stevens built a home on the west bank. In the Dakota language , the city's name is Bde Óta Othúŋwe ('Many Lakes Town'). Residents had divergent ideas on names for their community. Charles Hoag proposed combining the Dakota word for 'water' ( mni ) with the Greek word for 'city' ( polis ), yielding Minneapolis . In 1851, after
6655-541: The Great Depression, the Citizens' Alliance , an association of employers, refused to negotiate with teamsters . The truck drivers union executed strikes in May and July–August. Charles Rumford Walker said that Minneapolis teamsters succeeded in part due to the "military precision of the strike machine". The union victory ultimately led to 1935 and 1938 federal laws protecting workers' rights. From
6776-584: The Indigenous population during the 19th century, they claimed the city's land, and Kirsten Delegard of Mapping Prejudice explains that today's disparities evolved from control of the land. Discrimination increased when flour milling moved to the East Coast and the economy declined. The foundation laid by racial covenants on residential segregation, property value, homeownership, wealth, housing security, access to green spaces, and health equity shapes
6897-565: The Minnesota River valley. After a kangaroo court , 38 Dakota men were hanged. The army force-marched 1,700 non-hostile Dakota men, women, children, and elders 150 miles (240 km) to a concentration camp at Fort Snelling . Minneapolitans reportedly threatened more than once to attack the camp. In 1863, the US "abrogated and annulled" all treaties with the Dakota. With Governor Alexander Ramsey calling for their extermination, most Dakota were exiled from Minnesota. While
7018-722: The Smithsonian acquired additional material from the Pirsig family relating to Pirsig's maritime interests and background, also included in the display. In 2020, the Robert M. Pirsig archive was collected by the Houghton Library at Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts; a 2021 article in the International Journal of Motorcycle Studies details the writer's close historic relationship with motorcycles from
7139-434: The Twin Cities metropolitan area tied with Boston as having the eighth-highest concentration of major corporate headquarters in the US. Five Fortune 500 corporations were headquartered within the city limits of Minneapolis: Target Corporation , U.S. Bancorp , Xcel Energy , Ameriprise Financial , and Thrivent . The metro area's gross domestic product was $ 323.9 billion in 2022 ($ 337 billion in 2023). During
7260-562: The US and co-cathedral of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis , was named by Pope Pius XI in 1926. The Billy Graham Evangelistic Association was headquartered in Minneapolis from the 1950s until 2001. Christ Church Lutheran in the Longfellow neighborhood was the final work in the career of Eliel Saarinen , and it has an education building designed by his son Eero . Aligning with
7381-419: The US average of 11.1 percent. As of 2022, 90.8 percent of residents age 25 years or older had earned a high school degree compared to 89.1 percent nationally, and 53.5 percent had a bachelor's degree or higher compared to the 34.3 percent US national average. US veterans made up 2.8 percent of the population compared to the national average of 5 percent in 2023. In Minneapolis in 2020, Blacks owned homes at
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#17327808651507502-514: The age of four to shortly before his death. Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance The title is an apparent play on the title of the 1948 book Zen in the Art of Archery by Eugen Herrigel . In its introduction, Pirsig explains that, despite its title, "it should in no way be associated with that great body of factual information relating to orthodox Zen Buddhist practice. It's not very factual on motorcycles , either." Pirsig received 121 rejections before an editor finally accepted
7623-609: The age of nine, Pirsig skipped several grades at the Blake School in Minneapolis. In May 1943, he was awarded a high school diploma at the age of 14 by the University High School (later renamed Marshall-University High School ), where he had edited the school yearbook, the Bisbilla. Pirsig then studied biochemistry at the University of Minnesota . In Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance , he describes
7744-663: The area now called Minneapolis. Archaeologists have evidence that since 1000 A.D., they were the Dakota (one half of the Sioux nation), and, after the 1700s, the Ojibwe (also known as Chippewa, members of the Anishinaabe nations). Dakota people have different stories to explain their creation. One widely accepted story says the Dakota emerged from Bdóte , the confluence of the Minnesota and Mississippi rivers . Dakota are
7865-436: The associated concept plays an important part in the practical application of his Metaphysics of Quality . Pirsig refers to two types of gumption traps: setbacks , which arise from external/"exogenous" events, and hang-ups , which are the product of internal/"endogenous" factors such as a poor fit between one's psychological state and the requirements of a project. The nature of setbacks can vary considerably. For example,
7986-461: The beginning of the American Civil War, annuity payments owed in June 1862 to the Dakota by treaty were late, causing acute hunger among the Dakota. Facing starvation a faction of the Dakota declared war in August and killed settlers. Serving without any prior military experience, US commander Henry Sibley commanded raw recruits, volunteer mounted troops from Minneapolis and Saint Paul with no military experience. The war went on for six weeks in
8107-405: The board of directors. Robert Pirsig married Nancy Ann James on May 10, 1954. They had two sons: Chris, born in 1956, and Theodore (Ted), born in 1958. Pirsig had a mental breakdown and spent time in and out of psychiatric hospitals between 1961 and 1963. He was diagnosed with schizophrenia and treated with electroconvulsive therapy on numerous occasions, a treatment he discusses in Zen and
8228-407: The book for publication—and he did so thinking it would never generate a profit. 50,000 copies sold in the first three months, and more than 5 million in the decades since. The book is a fictionalized autobiography of a 17-day journey that Pirsig made with his Honda CB77 motorcycle from Minnesota to Northern California along with his son Chris in 1968. The story of this journey is recounted in
8349-447: The book was taken, was acquired by the Smithsonian's National Museum of American History , along with the book's original manuscript, a signed first edition, and tools and clothing from the ride. In April 2024 the motorcycle went on public display for the first time, in the museum's largest exhibition "America on the Move", along with Pirsig's manual typewriter and an Apple II computer to which he made upgrades. The exhibition celebrates
8470-413: The book while living above a shoe store in south Minneapolis , while working as a tech writer for Honeywell . Pirsig had great difficulty finding a publisher for Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance . Pirsig pitched the idea for his book to 121 different publishers, sending them a cover letter along with two sample pages, with 22 responding favorably. Ultimately, an editor at William Morrow accepted
8591-443: The book's continued popularity, a half-century after its release, and how its tale of 'Taking to the road' is "a recurring theme in the nation’s mythology and a demonstration of rugged American individualism." It is referenced in the 2019 video game Days Gone . In May 2024, the book was the subject of BBC Radio 4 's series Archive on 4 , to mark the fiftieth anniversary of its publication. Minneapolis Minneapolis
8712-440: The central character, thought to represent himself, as being an atypical student, interested in science in itself rather than a professional career path. In the course of his studies, Pirsig became intrigued by the multiplicity of putative causes for a given phenomenon, and increasingly focused on the role played by hypotheses in the scientific method and sources from which they originate. His preoccupation with these matters led to
8833-450: The city became more and more racially divided. Though such language was prohibited by state law in 1953 and by the federal Fair Housing Act of 1968 , restrictive covenants against minorities remained in many Minneapolis deeds as of the 2020s. In 2021, the city gave residents a means to discharge them. Minneapolis has a history of structural racism and has racial disparities in nearly every aspect of society. As White settlers displaced
8954-410: The city into crime, and tried to leave town in 1902. The Ku Klux Klan was a force in the city from 1921 until 1923. The gangster Kid Cann engaged in bribery and intimidation between the 1920s and the 1940s. After Minnesota passed a eugenics law in 1925, the proprietors of Eitel Hospital sterilized people at Faribault State Hospital . During the summer of 1934 and the financial downturn of
9075-609: The city set up the Neighborhood Revitalization Program (NRP), in which every one of the city's eighty-some neighborhoods participated. Funded for 20 years through 2011, with $ 400 million tax increment financing ($ 542 million in 2023), the program caught the eye of UN-Habitat , who considered it an example of best practices . Residents had a direct connection to government in NRP, whereby they proposed ideas appropriate for their area, and NRP reviewed
9196-493: The city's defining physical characteristic. Long periods of glaciation and interglacial melt carved several riverbeds through what is now Minneapolis. During the last glacial period , around 10,000 years ago, ice buried in these ancient river channels melted, resulting in basins that filled with water to become the lakes of Minneapolis . Meltwater from Lake Agassiz fed the Glacial River Warren , which created
9317-497: The city's history, millers were required to pay for wheat with cash during the growing season and then to store the wheat until it was needed for flour. The Minneapolis Grain Exchange was founded in 1881; located near the riverfront, it is the only exchange as of 2023 for hard red spring wheat futures . Along with cash requirements for the milling industry, the large amounts of capital that lumbering had accumulated stimulated
9438-421: The city's mid-20th century population decline. But because of a few radicalized persons, the city's large Somali population was targeted with discrimination after 9/11 , when its hawalas or banks were closed. In 2020, 17-year-old Darnella Frazier recorded the murder of George Floyd ; Frazier's video contradicted the police department's initial statement. Floyd, a Black man, suffocated when Derek Chauvin ,
9559-470: The collection of more than 90,000 artworks spans six continents and about 5,000 years. Frank Gehry designed Weisman Art Museum , which opened in 1993, for the University of Minnesota . A 2011 addition by Gehry doubled the size of the galleries. The Museum of Russian Art opened in a restored church in 2005, and it hosts a collection of 20th-century Russian art and special events. The Northeast Minneapolis Arts District hosts 400 independent artists and
9680-494: The development of his ideas and writing his book in a videotaped lecture that can be viewed on YouTube . The talk was at the Minneapolis College of Art and Design on May 20, 1974. A transcript of this talk also appears as the introduction to On Quality: An Inquiry into Excellence , a 2022 book of Pirsig's unpublished and selected writings. In 1974, Pirsig was awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship to allow him to write
9801-562: The end of World War I in 1918 until 1950, antisemitism was commonplace in Minneapolis— Carey McWilliams called the city the antisemitic capital of the US. Starting in 1936, a fascist hate group known as the Silver Shirts held meetings in the city. In the 1940s, mayor Hubert Humphrey worked to rescue the city's reputation and helped the city establish the country's first municipal fair employment practices and
9922-459: The evening. Pirsig joked that his co-workers noticed that he was "a lot less perky" than everyone else. In the book, the narrator describes the "romantic" consideration of life of his friend, John Sutherland, who chooses not to learn how to maintain his expensive new motorcycle. John simply hopes for the best with his bike, and when problems do occur he often becomes frustrated and is forced to rely on professional mechanics to repair it. In contrast,
10043-689: The falls. Lumbering's decline began around the turn of the century, and sawmills in the city including the Weyerhauser mill closed by 1919. After depleting Minnesota's white pine, some lumbermen moved on to Douglas fir in the Pacific Northwest . In 1877, Cadwallader C. Washburn co-founded Washburn-Crosby, the company that became General Mills . Washburn and partner John Crosby sent Austrian civil engineer William de la Barre to Hungary where he acquired innovations through industrial espionage . De la Barre calculated and managed
10164-438: The finished manuscript; when he did, his publisher's internal recommendation stated, "This book is brilliant beyond belief, it is probably a work of genius, and will, I'll wager, attain classic stature." In his book review , George Steiner compared Pirsig's writing to Dostoevsky , Broch , Proust , and Bergson , stating that "the assertion itself is valid ... the analogies with Moby-Dick are patent". Pirsig described
10285-591: The first Filipinos came to attend the University of Minnesota . Vietnamese , Hmong (some from Thailand ), Lao , and Cambodians settled mainly in Saint Paul around 1975, but some built organizations in Minneapolis. In 1992, 160 Tibetan immigrants came to Minnesota, and many settled in the city's Whittier neighborhood. Burmese immigrants arrived in the early 2000s, with some moving to Greater Minnesota . The population of people from India in Minneapolis increased by 1,000 between 2000 and 2010, making it
10406-467: The housing disparities created the educational disparities that we still live with today." Professor Samuel Myers Jr. says of redlining , "Policing policies evolved that substituted explicit racial profiling with scientific management of racially disparate arrests. ... racially discriminatory policies became institutionalized and 'baked in' to the fabric of Minnesota life." Government efforts to address these disparities included zoning changes passed in
10527-481: The intersection where Floyd died, now known as George Floyd Square , with the slogan "No justice, no street". Minneapolis gathered ideas for the square and through community engagement promised final proposals for the end of 2024, that could be implemented by 2026 or thereafter. Protesters continued to ask for twenty-four reforms—many now met; a sticking point was ending qualified immunity for police. The history and economic growth of Minneapolis are linked to water,
10648-569: The largest concentration of Indians living in the state. The population of Minneapolis grew until 1950 when the census peaked at 521,718—the only time it has exceeded a half million. The population then declined for decades; after World War II, people moved to the suburbs and generally out of the Midwest. By 1930, Minneapolis had one of the nation's highest literacy rates among Black residents. However, discrimination prevented them from obtaining higher-paying jobs. In 1935, Cecil Newman and
10769-517: The lives of people in the 21st century. The city wrote in a decennial plan that racially discriminatory federal housing policies starting in the 1930s "prevented access to mortgages in areas with Jews, African-Americans and other minorities" and "left a lasting effect on the physical characteristics of the city and the financial well-being of its residents". Discussing a Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis report on how systemic racism compromises education in Minnesota, Professor Keith Mayes says, "So
10890-756: The local banking industry and made Minneapolis a major financial center. The Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis serves Minnesota, Montana , North and South Dakota , and parts of Wisconsin and Michigan ; it has the smallest population of the twelve districts in the Federal Reserve System , and it has one branch in Helena, Montana . Minneapolis area employment is primarily in trade, transportation, utilities, education, health services, and professional and business services. Smaller numbers of residents are employed in government, manufacturing, leisure and hospitality, and financial activities. In 2022,
11011-499: The median income for a Black family was $ 34,377 less than a White family's median income, an improvement of $ 7,000 since 2019. Before 1910, when a developer wrote the first restrictive covenant based on race and ethnicity into a Minneapolis deed, the city was relatively unsegregated with a Black population of less than one percent. Realtors adopted the practice, thousands of times preventing non-Whites from owning or leasing properties; this practice continued for four decades until
11132-440: The narrator's stability and relationship with his son. However, the narrator's difficulties with his son during the journey also question whether surrendering parts of himself in exchange for "sanity" has even helped this relationship. Gross writes, "He relates to mechanical things, not to people. There is beauty in his recognition that personality inheres in motorcycles, riding gloves; there is sadness and sickness in his removal from
11253-681: The nickname "Mill City". Due to the occupational hazards of milling, six companies manufactured artificial limbs. Disasters struck in the late 19th century: the Eastman tunnel under the river leaked in 1869; twice, fire destroyed the entire row of sawmills on the east bank; an explosion of flour dust at the Washburn A mill killed eighteen people and demolished about half the city's milling capacity; and in 1893, fire spread from Nicollet Island to Boom Island to northeast Minneapolis, destroyed twenty blocks, and killed two people. The lumber industry
11374-554: The only inhabitants of the Minneapolis area who claimed no other land; they have no traditions of having immigrated. In 1680, cleric Louis Hennepin , who was probably the first European to see the Minneapolis waterfall the Dakota people call Owámniyomni , renamed it the Falls of St. Anthony of Padua for his patron saint. In the space of sixty years, the US seized all of the Dakota land and forced them out of their homeland. Purchasing most of modern-day Minneapolis, Zebulon Pike made
11495-410: The person's likelihood of success in that project and the degree of success likely, thus doubly affecting the expected outcome of the person's efforts. The usual result further discourages the person, whether it be a mere lack of success or a bigger outright failure complete with embarrassment and loss of the resources initially invested . The specific term "gumption trap" was invented by Pirsig, and
11616-473: The personality of people, his own most notably". The Chautauquas, which emphasize the narrator's tendency toward solitary thought and over-analysis, may reflect his avoidance of the problems before him: his relationships and the resurrection of Phaedrus. To the extent that the narrator denies Phaedrus, the Chautauquas are practical, but when he decides that he will admit himself to hospital again, he realizes
11737-461: The philosophy of Aristotle as part of an ongoing dispute between universalists , admitting the existence of universals , and the Sophists , opposed by Socrates and his student Plato . Pirsig finds in "Quality" a special significance and common ground between Western and Eastern world views. Pirsig took nearly four years to complete Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance , writing most of
11858-704: The plan, and then securing its survival. Ultimately in 2024, the state legislature passed a bill approving the city's 2040 plan. Minneapolis experiences a hot-summer humid continental climate ( Dfa in the Köppen climate classification ) that is typical of southern parts of the Upper Midwest ; it is situated in USDA plant hardiness zone 5a. The Minneapolis area experiences a full range of precipitation and related weather events, including snow, sleet, ice, rain, thunderstorms, and fog. The highest recorded temperature
11979-588: The plans and provided implementation funds. The city's Neighborhood and Community Relations department took NRP's place in 2011 and is funded only by city revenue. In 2019, the city released the Neighborhoods 2020 program, which reworked neighborhood funding with an equity-focused lens. This reduced guaranteed funding, and several neighborhood organizations have since struggled with operations or merged with other neighborhoods due to decreased revenue. Base funding for every neighborhood organization increased in
12100-511: The population was born abroad , with 53.2 percent of them being naturalized US citizens . Most immigrants arrived from Africa (40.6 percent), Latin America (25.2 percent), and Asia (24.6 percent), with 34.6 percent of all foreign-born residents having arrived in 2010 or earlier. Comparable to the US average of $ 70,784 in 2021, the ACS reported that the 2021 median household income in Minneapolis
12221-418: The power at the falls and encouraged steam for auxiliary power. Charles Alfred Pillsbury and the C. A. Pillsbury Company across the river hired Washburn-Crosby employees and began using the new methods. The hard red spring wheat grown in Minnesota became valuable, and Minnesota "patent" flour was recognized at the time as the best bread flour in the world. In 1900, fourteen percent of America's grain
12342-447: The project altogether. Pirsig suggests preventing these kinds of gumption traps by being slow and meticulous, taking notes that might help later, and troubleshooting in advance ( e.g. , by laying out the requirements for one's project in logical and/or conceptual order and looking for procedural problems ranging from unaccounted-for prerequisites to gaps in one's instructions or plans). Hang-ups stem from internal factors that can get in
12463-510: The river's west bank included woolen mills, iron works, a railroad machine shop, and mills for cotton, paper, sashes, and wood-planing. Minneapolis supplied the materials for farmsteads and settlement of rapidly expanding cities on the prairies that lacked wood. White pine milled in Minneapolis built Miles City, Montana ; Bismarck, North Dakota ; Sioux Falls, South Dakota ; Omaha, Nebraska ; and Wichita, Kansas . Growing use of steam power freed lumbermen and their sawmills from dependence on
12584-506: The second half of the 20th century. Between 1958 and 1963, Minneapolis demolished " skid row ". Gone were 35 acres (10 ha) with more than 200 buildings, or roughly 40 percent of downtown, including the Gateway District and its significant architecture such as the Metropolitan Building . Opened in 1967, I-35W displaced Black and Mexican neighborhoods in south Minneapolis. In 1968, relocated Native Americans founded
12705-419: The site of today's Minneapolis. European colonization and settlement began north of Fort Snelling along Saint Anthony Falls —the only natural waterfall on the Mississippi River. Location near the fort and the falls' power—with its potential for industrial activity—fostered the city's early growth. For a time in the 19th century, Minneapolis was the lumber and flour milling capital of the world, and as home to
12826-555: The south on the city limits. Residents adhere to more than fifty religions. Despite its well-regarded quality of life, Minneapolis has stark disparities among its residents—arguably the most critical issue confronting the city in the 21st century. Governed by a mayor-council system, Minneapolis has a political landscape dominated by the Minnesota Democratic–Farmer–Labor Party (DFL), with Jacob Frey serving as mayor since 2018. Two Indigenous nations inhabited
12947-690: The supply of housing so more neighborhoods would be affordable and to decrease the effects single-family zoning had caused on racial disparities and segregation. The Brookings Institution called it "a relatively rare example of success for the YIMBY agenda". From 2022 until 2024, the Minnesota Supreme Court , the US District Court , and the Minnesota Court of Appeals arrived at competing opinions, first shutting down
13068-449: The time) and is now a source of much frustration and unhappiness in the world, particularly overall dissatisfaction with modern life. The narrator explains that he seeks a perception of the world that embraces both the rational and the romantic, and that he seeks to demonstrate that rationality and Zen-like "being in the moment" can harmoniously coexist. He suggests such a combination of rationality and romanticism can potentially result in
13189-663: The turn of the 21st century, Latinos were the state's largest and fastest-growing immigrant group. Immigrants from Sweden , Norway , and Denmark found common ground with the Republican and Protestant belief systems of the New England migrants who preceded them. Irish , Scots , and English immigrants arrived after the Civil War; Germans and Jews from Central and Eastern Europe , as well as Russia , followed. Minneapolis welcomed Italians and Greeks in
13310-416: The undeniable presence of Phaedrus in him, and the Chautauquas are given over to those more abstruse topics. According to the author, a gumption trap is an event or mindset that can cause a person to lose enthusiasm and become discouraged from starting or continuing a project. The word "gumption" denotes a combination of common sense, shrewdness, and a sense of initiative. Although the last of these traits
13431-506: The university's fall commencement. Pirsig was also honored in a commencement speech by MSU Regent Professor Michael Sexson. Pirsig had been an instructor in writing at what was then Montana State College from 1958 to 1960. Pirsig did not travel to Bozeman in December 2012 to accept the accolade, allegedly due to frailty of health. However, in Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance , Pirsig writes about his time at Montana State College as
13552-404: The way of starting or completing a project. Examples of such hang-ups include anxiety, boredom, impatience, and the failure (often borne of excessive egotism ) to realize that a ) one might not have all the information necessary to succeed and/or b ) certain aspects of the problem might be more or less important than one believes. Dealing with hang-ups can be as simple as reducing hyperfocus on
13673-436: Was $ 69,397 ($ 78,030 in 2023), It was $ 97,670 for families, $ 123,693 for married couples, and $ 54,083 for non-family households. In 2023, the median Minneapolis rent was $ 1,529, compared to the national median of $ 1,723. Over 92 percent of housing units in Minneapolis were occupied. Housing units in the city built in 1939 or earlier comprised 43.7 percent. Almost 17 percent of residents lived in poverty in 2023, compared to
13794-461: Was a "relatively minor incident" in Minneapolis compared to the loss of life and property in similar incidents in Detroit and Newark. A coalition reached a peaceful outcome but again failed to solve Black poverty and unemployment. In the wake of unrest and voter backlash, Charles Stenvig , a law-and-order candidate, became mayor in 1969, and governed for almost a decade. Disparate events defined
13915-548: Was acquired by a French Catholic congregation. St. Mary's Orthodox Cathedral was founded in 1887; it opened a missionary school and in 1905 created a Russian Orthodox seminary. Edwin Hawley Hewitt designed St. Mark's Episcopal Cathedral and Hennepin Avenue United Methodist Church , both of which are located south of downtown. The nearby Basilica of Saint Mary , the first basilica in
14036-627: Was born on September 6, 1928, in Minneapolis , Minnesota, the son of Harriet Marie Sjobeck and Maynard Pirsig . He was of German and Swedish descent. His father was a graduate of the University of Minnesota Law School , taught in that school from 1934, served as its dean from 1948 to 1955, and retired from teaching there in 1970. Pirsig senior subsequently taught at the William Mitchell College of Law until his retirement in 1993. A precocious child with an alleged IQ of 170 at
14157-468: Was built around forests in northern Minnesota, largely by lumbermen emigrating from Maine 's depleting forests. The region's waterways were used to transport logs well after railroads developed; the Mississippi River carried logs to St. Louis until the early 20th century. In 1871, of the thirteen mills sawing lumber in St. Anthony, eight ran on water power, and five ran on steam power. Auxiliary businesses on
14278-592: Was founded in a Minneapolis garage. Minneapolis-Honeywell built a south Minneapolis campus where their experience regulating control systems earned them military contracts for the Norden bombsight and the C-1 autopilot . In 1957, Control Data began in downtown Minneapolis, where in the CDC 1604 computer they replaced vacuum tubes with transistors . A highly successful business until disbanded in 1990, Control Data opened
14399-514: Was milled in Minneapolis and about one third of that was shipped overseas. Overall production peaked at 18.5 million barrels in 1916. Decades of soil exhaustion , stem rust , and changes in freight tariffs combined to quash the city's flour industry. In the 1920s, Washburn-Crosby and Pillsbury developed new milling centers in Buffalo, New York , and Kansas City, Missouri , while maintaining their headquarters in Minneapolis. The falls became
14520-733: Was originally occupied by Dakota bands, particularly the Mdewakanton , until European Americans moved westward. In the 1840s, new settlers arrived from Maine , New Hampshire , and Massachusetts , while French-Canadians came around the same time. Farmers from Illinois , Indiana , Ohio , and Pennsylvania followed in a secondary migration. Settlers from New England had an outsized influence on civic life. Mexican migrant workers began coming to Minnesota as early as 1860, although few stayed year-round. Latinos eventually settled in several neighborhoods in Minneapolis, including Phillips , Whittier , Longfellow and Northeast . Before
14641-413: Was subjected to electroconvulsive therapy , which permanently changed his personality. Towards the end of the book, Phaedrus's strong and unorthodox personality, presented as dangerous to the narrator, becomes more apparent and the narrator is reconciled with his past. Pirsig wrote most of the book while living above a shoe store in south Minneapolis , while working as a tech writer for Honeywell . In
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