Why Do We Need Religion?

I used to think that the world would be much better off without organized religion. In many ways I still do.

In the past few years, however, I have talked to many people, religious and nonreligious, people who both have a good "ethical compass" (not to be confused with a "moral compass," which is entirely different and arguably does not exist) and those with little or no ethics at all. The common thread I found was that people who are "inherently" ethical were raised by caring parents, and those who had a weak sense of ethics were raised in uncaring settings. Many of the latter group were highly religious and depended on religion as a crutch to prevent themselves from lapsing into unethical practices.

Generally, people who were raised by parents who did not practice strict or harsh discipline or corporal punishment, but rather took the time to explain why something was right or wrong to the children and trusted them enough to listen and understand ended up not needing this religious crutch. Many of the latter group of people also were highly motivated to learn about the world around them as a result of being trusted and treated as knowledgeable by their parents.

So at least in part, it looks to me like Harry Harlow was right, and people with "wire monkey" parents are socially stunted. They cannot internalize the social contract enough to get along. They need religion as a crutch to keep them in line.

Flying A Cessna 150

Funnest. Thing. Ever.

Wow. My friend Mike took me for a ride in a Cessna 152 a few weeks ago, and ever since then I have had the uncontrollable urge to want to learn to fly. Maybe it is my learning/knowledge addiction, and maybe it is my genes (three grandparents and two aunts who fly, my grandfather flew PB-Ys and Martin Mariners in WWII) but I need to fly. I signed up and took my intro flight on Sunday at IOW, the Iowa City Municipal Airport. I took off, climbed, did various angles of coordinated turns, descents and flew over my house. Then it was time to head back, so I pointed the plane at the airport and flew back. The CFI commented, "you have a really good sense of direction." We did the downwind, base and final legs. I had a lot of help with the landing from my instructor, but I think I probably did 40-60% of the work landing.

Now I have to go and spend some money on an FAA 3rd class medical exam, a headset (I already bought a bunch of books) and other pilot supplies. Luckily Mike has a ground instructor rating so he is helping me with the ground study.

I had been looking for a challenge for a while. I already have a huge internal knowledgebase relating to my job, and going to graduate school in that area is not really possible at this time- there aren't really any Ph.D. programs in "sys admin." MIS does not interest me, and various industry certifications are kind of like the Hamburger U of the IT world. I don't really feel like working in a cube farm all day cranking out code and having to compete with low-paid outsourced geniuses from the Indian subcontinent, so a CS degree is right out. Other than IT and photography, there is really no reason for me to go to graduate school. So, I think the challenge of studying and practicing as a student pilot will be a good way for me to feed the need for knowledge.

I recommend this to anyone who feels they want a challenge of this type. I can't wait to solo.

2008 Jetta TDI!

The 2008 Jetta TDI has been spotted! This is great news, because there are no 2007 VW diesels in this country, due to emissions regulations. Looks like they figured out how to get them to put out less NOx and particulate with 50ppm fuel, without using urea. Also, they look like they are using the 2.0l common rail TDI, with 140hp and 240lb*ft torque!!! Cool!!!