Alzheimer’s leads atheist Terry Pratchett to appreciate God

[Agrippa]

from Times Online (http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/books/article4087520.ece)


http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/multimedia/archive/00321/Pratchett_321824a.jpg


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”.

The novelist, who has sold more than 55m books, described his diagnosis with Alzheimer’s last year as an “embuggerance”. He believes he may be able to write another two or so books before his condition becomes too severe.

He has also expressed his anger that some people of his age are considered too young to be treated with the drug Aricept on the NHS.

“If I ate myself into obesity I could get pills for that for nothing,” he said. “If I wanted Viagra I could get that for nothing. But I can’t get a drug that gives me that little bit of extra edge. I can afford £90 a month, of course, but there may be someone who can’t in his fifties.”

The author has pledged more than £500,000 to fund research into the disease.

[GracchusBabeuf]

This is a sad day for Terry. But he's not the first to "find god" after getting a disease. I hope when I'm on my deathbed, I become an agnostic instead of the atheist I am now.;)

[Kwisatz Haderach]

This may sound strange coming from me, but I've heard many similar stories from other people (not necessarily suffering from any disease), and, well, I wish I knew what they were talking about. I never found God in that way.

[Jazzratt]

It's a sad thing to hear about a man I respect. I guess you can't expect people with diseases like that not to suffer certain delusions. I hope his fund goes a long way toward helping secure a cure or treatment long before it becomes a major worry for me.

[Bilan]

Well, that's sad, but (unsurprisingly) makes no sense. Though, I suppose if he was 'angry at god for not existing' it only took something that was equally peculiar to make him 'appreciate god' (whatever that means).
Tragic, really.

[ÑóẊîöʼn]

Of all authors that I have read, I have read the works of Terry Pratchett the most. I remember, as a precocious kid and young teenager, reading his books into the small hours of the morning because I simply could not put them down and go to sleep. The fact that the man whose captivating writing put some serious magic in my childhood (years before Harry bleedin' Potter!) and set my youthful imagination ablaze gets Alzheimer's rather than say, Tony Blair or Dick Cheney, indicates that there's no fucking justice in this universe.


“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.”I find this hopeful-sounding passage quite interesting. Especially in light of the fact that, in a fairly recent book, Terry Pratchett wrote about hope:

Moist recognized that hope. It was how he'd made his living. You knew that the man running the Find the Lady game was going to win, you know that people in distress didn't sell diamond rings for a fraction of their value, you knew that life generally handed you the sticky end of the stick, and you knew that the gods didn't pick some everyday undeserving tit out of the population and hand them a fortune.
Except that, this time, you might be wrong, right? It might just happen, yes?
And this was known as the greatest of treasures, which is Hope. It was a good way getting poorer really very quickly, and staying poor. It could be you. But it wouldn't be.

- Terry Pratchett, Going Postal

Of course, if you're a best-selling author who's succumbing to Alzheimers, a little bit of hope can be comforting, I guess. Considering also that he's not taking it lying down, I very much doubt that Pratchett is in any danger of becoming some woollen-headed superstitionist.

But too much hope is toxic. It induces mental and intellectual paralysis. The human mind's background noise becomes "don't worry, X will save us!" or "X is going to happen any day now and everything will be fine". Perhaps the most tortured manifestation of this mindset can be seen in websites like Rapture Ready (http://rr-bb.com/index.php). Of course, while religion is by far the biggest abuser of this toxin, it is by no means its exclusive facilitator. Transhumanists in general and Singularitarians in particular have been accused of falling prey to this mindset. Primitivists hope daily for the collapse of civilisation. Even secular leftists can fall into this trap, if proletarian revolution becomes an article of faith, an inevitability.

Man. Why do I only think like this when I've had too much caffeine and not enough sleep?

[Bud Struggle]

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

The fact of the matter is we really can't judge people that have mental problems such as Alzheimer’s disease. Strange things happen--Athiests find God, Believers loose him. In the end though when the chemical balance of the mind changes what was once someone is that person no longer.

It's nothing that can be blamed, or judged or criticized. It's beyond the person's ability to do function as he had done before.

The person in question should be remembered for what he did and what he contributed before he contracted the illness and the rest just forgotten.

[Dyslexia! Well I Never!]

Bud-Struggle are you saying that a Dyslexic, Dyspraxic or Autistic person should be discounted after the early stages of pregnancy in which these chemical imbalances occur because they aren't people worth listening to any more?

Albert Einstein would as a dyslexic be forced to disagree, however when it comes to Tom Cruise I'm right with you on this one. (then again Cruise caught Religion so I suppose he should be ignored before dipped in a light marinade of sewage, high molar concentration acids and kerosene before being rolled into a ball and fired into the heart of the sun.)

Or are you instead stating that somebody who contracts a mental illness later becomes somehow less important than another person who doesn't?

Or is it just degenerative neurological disorders that you feel discount any merit in people's opinions?

An man suffering from a degenerative neurological condition will clutch at straws, a famous man will be noticed doing so. If it helps him battle on let him beleive whatever the hell he wants as long as he doesn't start pushing his delusions upon others.

A crutch can be useful but give a man who doesn't need a crutch one as a child and his legs will atrophy until he can't walk without it.

[Bud Struggle]

Bud-Struggle are you saying that a Dyslexic, Dyspraxic or Autistic person should be discounted after the early stages of pregnancy in which these chemical imbalances occur because they aren't people worth listening to any more?

What are you talking about? I didn't mention dyslexia at all. I was talking about what this thread was about: Alzheimer’s, a form of dementia.

And I didn't say anything about "discounted"--I said judged.

Learn to read.

[black magick hustla]

Some of the smartest men and greatest men were religious. In fact, the philosophical interpretation a lot of physicists have about their work surprises me that it does not makes them religious. For if the universe is rational, then it must have been created by a Mind. Its a shame that the universe is not rational tho.

[redarmyfaction38]

gods exist when people believe in them, the more people believe in them, the bigger they get.
notice he didn't say which god:D

[Dooga Aetrus Blackrazor]

It's sad when the degeneration of the mind begins to reveal itself in a loss of dignity. A person in their most weakened state is always most susceptible to irrational crutches. Is it wrong to give a dieing man a crutch? Probably not. It's still a sad revelation of the toll the disease is taking on him that he needs one.

[Sean]

Bartering is one of the five stages of the Kubler-Ross model of grief (denial, anger bartering depression and acceptance) and I suppose inventing something to barter against helps. Its kind of annoying that this might be played as a trump card in the same way they gnaw over Darwin's bones and say the he repented on his deathbed. Its also kinda bullshit to call him a coward given that I'm not in that position myself, but I'm watching someone else dying of a terminal illness. In life I'm sure its easier to live without the crutch of an imaginary friend after death, but when faced with death head on, I'm not sure even the staunchest atheist could say that they definately wouldnt apply such mental gymnastics just to alleviate their own psychological breakdown, or for that matter have a choice.

Godless bastard that I am, I also don't appreciate the phrasing of the headline, 'Alzheimer's leads to...', it suggests believing in god is caused by an illness.

[Sentinel]

What a shame. It's good to know research on the subject of alzheimers is going relatively well and a proper cure, rather than mere treatment for the symtoms, is on it's way. I recently read a very encouraging interview with a swedish researcher who has been working on it for a while.

Thus I'm hopeful that alzheimers will be history should I ever reach that kind of age, which is of course uncertain due to other reasons. But please, anyone looking after me when I'm old: should I ever start rambling about repention and god, please duct tape my mouth shut even if that would mean you'd have to feed me intravenerously ever since.

[Decolonize The Left]

What are you talking about? I didn't mention dyslexia at all. I was talking about what this thread was about: Alzheimer’s, a form of dementia.

And I didn't say anything about "discounted"--I said judged.

Learn to read.

We can read. I'll go over it again so you understand the proper critique that was levied against you.

You said:

The fact of the matter is we really can't judge people that have mental problems such as Alzheimer’s disease.Please note that your original statement here contradicts your claim that:

I was talking about what this thread was about: Alzheimer’s, a form of dementia. You weren't - you were talking about "mental problems such as Alzheimer's disease." You have made a generalization which allows Dyslexia! Well I Never! to call you on your claim.

You then claimed:

It's nothing that can be blamed, or judged or criticized. It's beyond the person's ability to do function as he had done before.

The person in question should be remembered for what he did and what he contributed before he contracted the illness and the rest just forgotten.Ironically, you contradict yourself in this very series of claims. You first say that this person cannot be judged. You then proceed to judge their inability to function and conclude that "the rest [ought to be] just forgotten."

Once again, Dyslexia! Well I Never! is correct to note that individuals with mental disabilities are entirely capable of contributing in meaningful fashions to society. You, obviously according to the quote above, disagree.

- August

[Bud Struggle]

We can read. I'll go over it again so you understand the proper critique that was levied against you.

Fine


You said:
Please note that your original statement here contradicts your claim that:
You weren't - you were talking about "mental problems such as Alzheimer's disease." You have made a generalization which allows Dyslexia! Well I Never! to call you on your claim. I didn't say ANY mental problem--I said those that like Alzheimer's--INCLUDE dementia. Now if Dylesia! Well I Never thinks, Dyslexia is symtom of dementia--well then I stand corrected.

I think not though.


You then claimed:
Ironically, you contradict yourself in this very series of claims. You first say that this person cannot be judged. You then proceed to judge their inability to function and conclude that "the rest [ought to be] just forgotten." No. I say that if a person is inable to judge then they shouldn't be judged on the basis of past human reasoning. There is a human limit of reason--certainly Communism can be judged on the past failures of human reasoning. Many deaths--failure of governments worldwide. Yet you seem to believe that there is something to this nonsense. Communist Demintia? You are making a case for it.


Once again, Dyslexia! Well I Never! is correct to note that individuals with mental disabilities are entirely capable of contributing in meaningful fashions to society. You, obviously according to the quote above, disagree.

- August

As long as you think dyslexia is a form of dementia--I agree. If it's some sort of a tick or annoyance--then I disagree. People with dementia are certainly able to enjoy and share in the wide world of ideas and actions--but they can't always be taken at their word for their understanding of tha actual universe and the things in it.