“I think there is such a thing as quality, but as soon as you try to define it, it goes haywire.”
Robert Pirsig was trying to define it, rationalise it. In the end, he went haywire trying in the process. Grades in school don’t equte to quality. People can identify quality but cannot define it.
We talk about quality in art and we talk about quality in software development. And we’re always trying to strive towards it.
I’m reminded of an experiment whereby a school teacher divided a class into two and asked one group to create as many vases as possible and that they’re grade would be determined by the weight of the number of vases. The group was to create just one vase and their grade would be determined on its quality. In reality both groups were to be judged on the quality of the vase. It just so happened that the group focussing on weight (quantity) created the best vases.
I’m reminded of the commitment that artists take when embarking on the journey in the ‘Artist’s way’ by Julia Cameron
“I look after quantity and you (God) look after quality”.