Why does attachment replace craving?

Question

In the book The Meaning of Life from a Buddhist Perspective links eight, nine, ten of dependent origination, pratityasamutpada, are mentioned as attachment, grasping, existence. I am accustomed to seeing eight, nine, ten, as craving (desire), clinging (attachment), becoming, respectively. What are the ramifications of the swap - if I might infer it that way?

On a side note, along with the mentioning of the above, there is the mention of "multiple rounds of dependent-arising occurring simultaneously"

Answer 1

I think this is just a translation issue. As I understand the philosophical breakdown here, we have (without using key-words):

1. An evaluative stage, where we assess some perceived state: good/bad, right/wrong, pleasant/grating, etc.
2. An impulse/intention stage, where we determine that we will address the evaluation, trying to shift the perceived state away from the bad and towards the good.
3. An achievement stage, where our efforts result in a change in the perceived state (rarely exactly the change we envisioned in the evaluative stage).

In English, the terms 'attachment' and 'craving' can fit either °1 or °2, depending on whether we use them with an active or passive connotation. Different people tend to spin it different ways, and there isn't a firm consensus on which term should be used for which.

The last phrase, I think, is just a nod to the complexity of the world. It's rare that a result has only one cause, or that a cause produces only one result. Karma is a web of movements, in which myriad events are constantly interacting and interfering with each other, combining to produce results. That's why I prefer to say 'perceived states' instead of 'perceived objects' or 'perceived events'. A 'state' is the collection of all the forces and influence moving through perception.

Answer 2

I recall (in the past) reading Tibetan teachings where attachment is the first of the three poisons (greed, hatred & delusion). I guess its simply a translation issue from Tibetan language to English language.

Answer 3

To second what Ted said, you need to understand the essential meaning, the words are just pointers.

The essential meaning of these nidanas is:

• the mind produces an idea of an external object
• the mind produces an idea of contact with what it delineated on the previous step
• the mind attributes the feelings of pleasure or pain to the contact
• the mind produces an idea that attaining (or avoiding) the object will generate (or avoid) the qualities of pleasure or pain
• the mind comes up with a plan for attaining or avoiding the object
• as the mind executes the plan it evaluates the current position vis-a-vis the target
• the mind tracks the current position over time
• tracking the position over time develops into a sense of self
• attaining the object, enjoying the result, and reflecting back on the steps taken to attain it, cements the sense of self as the subject of the pursuit.

(^This is more or less the same as what Ted said in his 1/2/3 bullet points, I'm just spelling it out)