Dennis B Murphy >>>>>>>>>>

Blog: Thoughts and Commentary

Back

March 2007

3.28.07: I recently finished The God Delusion by Richard Dawkins. A couple of KEY points from the book are: a) NOMA is wrong and
b) there's no reason WHY religion should be exempt from inspection by science.

What is NOMA? Several years ago, in response to the growing fundamentalist attack on evolution by creationists, Stephen Jay Gould, an eminent scientist, coined the term Non-Overlapping Magesteria- i.e. some things are for science and some are for religion and they shouldn't intrude on each other's domain- Science can't say anything about God- it is outside the realm of science to discuss this. Hindsight clearly shows that Gould was trying to be diplomatic, in an effort to gain allies from the non-fundamentist religionists. Clearly this is a failed concept. For NOMA to work, BOTH sides of the debate need to accept the terms and the religionists, even the moderate religionists, don't hesitate to intrude their religion into science (much less politics). So from a practical application- NOMA is a failed concept.

Enter Dawkins- Why SHOULD religion be exempt from investigation or inspection by science? Religionists say - well, it just is. I've seen NO credible reason why this assertion should be accepted at face value and NO reasons presented to support the assertion. Hence, Dawkins begins to do just that in this new book. It is somewhat incomplete- Dawkins presents some hypothesis for various aspects of human society and psyche developed from naturalistic sources (along with supporting science), but I do admit he doesn't close the deal. I expect more from him and others in the future.

3.27.07: WOW this month is flying by! But I did get three days of cycling in row- Ft Custer Sunday, CGSA Monday for a lap and on the road tonight.

The Custer ride was a fiasco of sorts- I put the new Velocity rims on the other day but neglected tape- I had TWO flats (rear tire) in 17 miles! So when I got home Sunday evening I dug around and found a pack of Veloplugs (see photo below) in which you plug the spoke holes only instead of taping the entire inside of the rim. This will eliminate the flats. Orange bike, Orange Rims and Orange bottle cages (also from Velocity).

3.14.07: I repeat! March is quickly becoming a lost month as far as training is concerned. Arrgh. Between work travel, tutoring geometry and other activities I will have lost the first two weeks of the month!

On the plus side- I have a new, second set of wheels. I've always wanted two wheelsets for the bike to be able to swap whole wheels with different tires depending on riding conditions or course. Now I have it- and they are Velocity wheels- and they are ORANGE!! So I now have my orange Rush with orange wheels! that will look SWEET when I get out and ride.. who cares if my fitness level sucks? HAHAHAHA

wheel set color to go with -> this bike.

Jeez Kentucky- get with the 21st century. We arrived in Georgetown (Scott County) Kentucky this evening for a work-related trip. I checked in to the hotel and then walked next door to Ruby Tuesdays to have a beer... and they were CLOSED! what? 1030pm? jeez. And you cannot buy a beer in this county and bring it back to the room. The last time I was here I wanted to get a pizza and beer and watch TV in the hotel. I ordered the pizza near the hotel, then had to drive seven miles up the expressway to the next exit- which was in a different county- to get a beer to go- then drive back to get my pizza then to the hotel! what a waste.

3.7.07: March is quickly becoming a lost month as far as training is concerned. I don't think I've gotten more than three hours in in seven days on the bike! Jeez. Started reading "The God Delusion" by Richard Dawkins. So far, the key point in three chapters is his (accurate) assertion that religion gets a free pass not accorded any other views or positions and that somehow, religion is "off limits" to questioning scientifically.

3.1.07: Since I got diligent about spinning, my bodyfat percentage has dropped four points but the weight keeps hovering between 177-180. I feel pretty confident for the upcoming season though.