Sci Fi Writer and Atheist Terry Pratchet Has Been Diagnosed with Alzheimer’s

[Synnical]

This article headline proclaims:

Alzheimer’s leads atheist Terry Pratchett to appreciate God

http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/books/article4087520.ece



I don't read that when I study the text of the article, was unable to track down the link to the interview.

TERRY PRATCHETT, the fantasy writer suffering from Alzheimer’s disease, has suggested he may have found God after years of atheism.

The 60-year-old creator of the Discworld series has spoken of an unexplained experience shortly after his diagnosis with the condition.

“I’m certainly not a man of faith, but as I was rushing down the stairs one day . . . it was very strange. And I say this reluctantly, because I am trying to deal with this situation in as hardheaded a way as I can. I suddenly knew that everything was okay, that what I was doing was right, and I didn’t know why,” Pratchett said.

“It was a thought that all the right things are happening in the circumstances; and I thought, ‘Well, that’s all right then.’ I don’t actually believe in anyone who could have put that in my head – unless it was my dad, and he’s been dead a few years.”

In an interview in today’s News Review, the author also said: “It is just possible that once you have got past all the gods that we have created with big beards and many human traits, just beyond all that, on the other side of physics, there just may be the ordered structure from which everything flows.

“That is both a kind of philosophy and totally useless – it doesn’t take you anywhere. But it fills a hole.”

Previously, Pratchett has said he was “rather angry with God for not existing”.

-Cindy in Fort Lauderdale

[YankeyMCC]

1. This sounds like a similar experience I had

I hesitate to compare my situation to his given the severity of what he's facing - such a terrible disease, particularly for someone of his talents - but I was faced with a very difficult point in my life, was rushing around haggard and in a moment of stillness I thought I heard an external voice, inside my own mind, helping me get through.

It took me about a year to figure out that voice was just a manifestation of fatigue and tapping a bit of my own emotional and mental strength I hadn't to that point in my life had to tap before.

Mr Pratchet is facing a much more serious situation and is much older than I was at the time, so maybe I'm way off base here, but it sounds very similar.

[moggie]

2. That's quite a common experience, I think

In my case, I didn't hear it as an audible voice, but the "help" was there. The funny thing was that I realised at the time that it was my own mind coming to my aid, and yet that realisation didn't diminish the value of the experience. I was rather surprised and pleased to discover that my unconscious was on my side! Shame it didn't last...

Such experiences are often profound for the individual concerned, and yet sound unimpressive when described, even in the hands of a professional writer. I remember reading a piece by the Scottish writer A L Kennedy, where she described a religious experience she'd had while experiencing despair, and my main feeling was embarrassment at the unconvincing and mundane nature of the event. It's no different with Pratchett.

I'm glad he has found some solace, and I hope it lasts, but I'll chalk it up to psychology, rather than supernatural agency.

[YankeyMCC]

4. Very true

it effectively turns a low point into a new source of confidence, it is comforting to know that some part of me has the strength to get through difficult times even though I typically don't feel that confident in myself, and that is profound, all the more profound when I realize it is a natural phenomenon and not supernatural and part of me and not some external force.

[Random_Australian]

3. Mmm, same here. Well, actually, the experience was the same and the

reasons were very different. Loooong story. :crazy:

[TZ]

5. ....

Thats because you hadn't joined the Big Yak conspiracy then.......:hug: :hi:

[SpookyCat]

6. That's just awful.

I love his writing, in fact I was just this afternoon telling a friend about his work. Damn.

BBC did a production of Hogfather for Christmas last year that was just wonderful.

I hope he has many years of quality left.