Geophagy

What an intellect has Le Bon David! said Pliny admiringly.

You think so? I said. Don't you find him a little bit pompous?

Certainly not, replied Pliny, I find him a man after my own heart. In particular I am in complete accord with him on the matter of scepticism.

You, Pliny! Aren't your Natural Histories full of hearsay and unsubstantiated stories? Please don't take offence, I added.

The ability to read my Natural Histories in the spirit intended is not given to everyone, he said enigmatically.

Is it given to me? I asked.

No, he answered. You always seem to delight in taking me literally. But there is no point continuing with this. Did you know there was a fly on the window?

Yes, I can't seem to get it to go outside by natural means, I said. I'm quite disappointed, because I had hoped the glass Sulphur Crested Cockatoo would scare the flies away. He looks quite realistic don't you think?

No, said Pliny, he doesn't, being two-dimensional. And anyway, I do not think that Sulphur Crested Cockatoos eat flies.

What do they eat then, Pliny?

I believe, said Pliny sagely, that they are known to practice geophagy.

Velosophy 3 : Freewheel v. Determinism

Greetings fellow velosophers! Thanks for your wonderful response to our first 2 issues. Le Bon David here, with more cycling conundrums and paradoxes for you. Today I am going to address the big question of freewill versus determinism as it pertains to bicycling.

First I am going to talk in general terms about riding and then I shall examine the implications of falling off.

What could be a more apt metaphor to illustrate free will than the riding of a bicycle? We are free to start and stop at will, change our direction at will, wear whatever apparel we like, ride in the rain, travel over thorns, tinkle our bells, and shout rudely at people who do not get out of our way in time. And free wheeling is the ultimate example of freedom, for most of us. The pure joy of whizzing along without effort is without parallel.

But wait! Is this truly free will? Is not every single example I have given causally determined by an unbroken chain of prior occurrences? Sadly I think most of you would have to say Yes.

However, I put it to you that since the necessary connection between cause and effect can never be rationally justified, our belief in them must rest entirely upon our acquired habits.

What good news for those of us who are prone to tumble off occasionally! No one likes to think they have tumbled off of their own free will. Even less do we like to think we have tumbled off in a manner predetermined by an outside force or series of events. But SCEPTICISM informs us we have merely fallen off our bicycles from habitude.

That is all for this week, cycling friends! Please feel free to write in with thoughts and opinions on this and any other topics that interest you. Next week my friend the VeloDrone will pondering the topic of Nihilism. Do join us!