Terry Pratchett on Religion and Evolution
Jeff Lanam
Excerpts:
There is a rumour going around that I have found God. I think this is
unlikely because I have enough difficulty finding my keys, and there is
empirical evidence that they exist....
I read the Old Testament all the way through when I was about 13 and was
horrified. A few months afterwards I read The Origin Of Species,
hallucinating very mildly because I was in bed with flu at the time.
Despite that, or because of that, it all made perfect sense.
As soon as I was allowed out again I borrowed the sequel and even then
it struck me that Darwin had missed a trick with the title. If only a
good publicist had pointed out to him that The Ascent Of Man had more
reader appeal perhaps there wouldn't have been quite as much fuss.
Evolution was far more thrilling to me than the biblical account. Who
would not rather be a rising ape than a falling angel? To my juvenile
eyes Darwin was proved true every day. It doesn't take much to make us
flip back into monkeys again....
Ye Old One
Thanks for posting that.
--
Bob.
Devil's Advocaat
> http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-1028222/I-create-gods-time-...
An excellent and rather moving article, thanks for bringing it to our
attention.
Jablair
> http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-1028222/I-create-gods-time-...
That was amazing. Thanks for sharing. I'm going to be extremely sad
when he is no longer with us.
Tokay Pino Gris
> http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-1028222/I-create-gods-time--I-think-exist.html
>
[snip]
DAMN! Why do such people have to get such diseases? For all I care,
Terry Pratchett could live FOREVER and write on and on and on and on.....
Please, Terry... write like crazy...
Douglas died, Spider died.... Heinlein is dead for a while now....
please hang on as long as you can?
The world will be a lot emptier when you are gone, whether it is your
actual body that dies or your mind...
But rest assured: Your stories will go on for generations. I will do my
part to make it so...
(Damn... honestly, I have tears on my cheeks....)
Tokay
--
Life isn't weird; it's the people in it.
Dr.GH
> Jeff Lanam wrote:
> >http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-1028222/I-create-gods-time-...
>
> [snip]
>
> DAMN! Why do such people have to get such diseases? For all I care,
> Terry Pratchett could live FOREVER and write on and on and on and on.....
>
> Please, Terry... write like crazy...
>
> Douglas died, Spider died.... Heinlein is dead for a while now....
> please hang on as long as you can?
>
> The world will be a lot emptier when you are gone, whether it is your
> actual body that dies or your mind...
>
> But rest assured: Your stories will go on for generations. I will do my
> part to make it so...
>
> (Damn... honestly, I have tears on my cheeks....)
>
> Tokay
>
> --
>
> Life isn't weird; it's the people in it.
Prachett is (to quote granny) "Aint Ded"
Dr.GH
Prachett is (to quote granny) "Aint Ded"
Tokay Pino Gris
May he live forever... Body and Mind.
Greg G.
May he don a Wizzard hat and make a Rincewind sprint when Death
appears.
>
> Tokay
>
> --
>
> Life isn't weird; it's the people in it.- Hide quoted text -
>
> - Show quoted text -
John Wilkins
I Aten't Dead
--
John S. Wilkins, Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Philosophy
University of Queensland - Blog: scienceblogs.com/evolvingthoughts
"He used... sarcasm. He knew all the tricks, dramatic irony, metaphor,
bathos, puns, parody, litotes and... satire. He was vicious."
Friar Broccoli
He seems to already have control over half the minds
in this group. I suspect that in most cases he doesn't
want our bodies
Dr.GH
John Wilkins
> On Jun 29, 4:49 pm, j.wilki...@uq.edu.au (John Wilkins) wrote:
> > Dr.GH <garyh...@earthlink.net> wrote:
> > > On Jun 29, 1:33 pm, Jablair <jablai...@gmail.com> wrote:
> > > > On Jun 29, 12:36 am, Jeff Lanam <jeffla...@yahoo.com> wrote:
> >
> > > > >http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-1028222/I-create-gods-tim
> > > > >e-... Excerpts:
> >
> > > > > There is a rumour going around that I have found God. I think this
> > > > > is unlikely because I have enough difficulty finding my keys, and
> > > > > there is empirical evidence that they exist....
> >
> > > > > I read the Old Testament all the way through when I was about 13
> > > > > and was horrified. A few months afterwards I read The Origin Of
> > > > > Species, hallucinating very mildly because I was in bed with flu
> > > > > at the time. Despite that, or because of that, it all made perfect
> > > > > sense.
> >
> > > > > As soon as I was allowed out again I borrowed the sequel and even
> > > > > then it struck me that Darwin had missed a trick with the title.
> > > > > If only a good publicist had pointed out to him that The Ascent Of
> > > > > Man had more reader appeal perhaps there wouldn't have been quite
> > > > > as much fuss.
> >
> > > > > Evolution was far more thrilling to me than the biblical account.
> > > > > Who would not rather be a rising ape than a falling angel? To my
> > > > > juvenile eyes Darwin was proved true every day. It doesn't take
> > > > > much to make us flip back into monkeys again....
> >
> > > > That was amazing. Thanks for sharing. I'm going to be extremely sad
> > > > when he is no longer with us.
> >
> > > Prachett is (to quote granny) "Aint Ded"
> >
> > I Aten't Dead
>
> Picky picky picky
It's headology. If you use the wrong words, you get the wrong response.
Dr.GH
My favorite example of headology was in "witches abroad" (pg 322 in
the 2002HarperCollins edition). Granny never had to utter a word. And
then she said, That's headology. It's the only thing that matters.
Everything else is only messin' about."
Dr.GH
Granny (various sources);
“I Aten't Dead”
“I aintnt dead”
“I still ate'nt dead”
Terry Pratchett (Dec 12 2007):
PS I would just like to draw attention to everyone reading the above
that this should
be interpreted as 'I am not dead'. I will, of course, be dead at some
future point, as
will everybody else. For me, this maybe further off than you think -
it's too soon to tell.
I know it's a very human thing to say "Is there anything I can do",
but in this case I
would only entertain offers from very high-end experts in brain
chemistry.
Lee Jay
Decent article, but I have to admit I must be in the other half, since
I don't recall ever hearing his name before this thread - I had to
look it up on Wikipedia to see who he was.
Lee Jay
John Wilkins
All you have to do is read one of his novels, preferably one of the
really good ones like Small Gods or Guards! Guards!, and then pass over
all your fiction budget to Himself for the next 5 years. In return, he
gives you back your soul (it's a give of reverse deal with the devil).
John Wilkins
s/give/kind/
No idea what the fingers were thinking at that moment...
Dogmantic Pyrrhonist (AKA Al)
Aye, 'tis. And I for one would have found it sad if he didn't put
those rumours to rest.
Al
Robert Carnegie
> John Wilkins <j.wilki...@uq.edu.au> wrote:
Um, that doesn't work either - I recommend you kind up :-)
I didn't see the mistake on first reading, however.
For that matter, I read Pterry's description of a scene in a new book
as, "a 13-year-old boy, now orphaned, screams at his goats for
answers". About as constructive as the other thing.
I speculate that the new project, in which "a world very like this
one" /could/ be Discworld or not specified, was overtaken after
original conception by one or more this-world global catastrophes. At
the least, you'd want to see what happens in real life before
developing the story. Then again, catastrophes happen all the time.
This world carries six billion and more people, and bits of it do harm
to large proportions of that number with distressing frequency.
John Wilkins
Kind me a break, will you?
>
> I didn't see the mistake on first reading, however.
Nor I.
>
> For that matter, I read Pterry's description of a scene in a new book
> as, "a 13-year-old boy, now orphaned, screams at his goats for
> answers". About as constructive as the other thing.
>
> I speculate that the new project, in which "a world very like this
> one" /could/ be Discworld or not specified, was overtaken after
> original conception by one or more this-world global catastrophes. At
> the least, you'd want to see what happens in real life before
> developing the story. Then again, catastrophes happen all the time.
> This world carries six billion and more people, and bits of it do harm
> to large proportions of that number with distressing frequency.
Any links on this? I'm allowing him time to write new books rather than
six a year as he used to, on account of his diagnosis, but I'm waiting
breathlessly.
Lee Jay
Oh...that explains it. I don't read fiction, and haven't in nearly 25
years (since 10th grade). So that makes my current fiction budget
pretty small, doesn't it!
Lee Jay
Friar Broccoli
Not fiction. History, philosophy, and the importance of
NOT speculating on cosmic truths.
and haven't in nearly 25
> years (since 10th grade). So that makes my current fiction budget
> pretty small, doesn't it!
Your budget is doomed. Resistance is futile.
Pete
<snip>
>> Decent article, but I have to admit I must be in the other half, since
>> I don't recall ever hearing his name before this thread - I had to
>> look it up on Wikipedia to see who he was.
>>
> All you have to do is read one of his novels, preferably one of the
> really good ones like Small Gods or Guards! Guards!, and then pass over
> all your fiction budget to Himself for the next 5 years. In return, he
> gives you back your soul (it's a give of reverse deal with the devil).
I still reckon if you haven't read the books before, you can't do better
than the first two - Colour of Magic & The Light Fantastic.
Pete
Lee Jay
Unfortunately, being forced to read "the classics" in High School
poisoned me against reading books (which I did frequently up until
that point). After that, it caused me trauma to do so, so I gave it
up. Further, it takes me forever to read a 2-300 page book (50-100
hours) because I "zone out" as soon as I start reading and often don't
realize until the end of the chapter that I've been thinking about
something else since the end of the chapter's first paragraph.
Lee Jay
Friar Broccoli
The above is a nearly perfect description of me up until about 45,
Including the effects of school. (I made sure my son enjoyed
reading etc before six so the system couldn't do the same thing
to him)
After that I was able to focus (somewhat anyway) and can now
read whole books on evolution etc., however I never had any
such problems with Terry Pratchett, and I am herewith providing
you an exclusive MONEY BACK guarantee (Wilkin's money) that
you will have not the slightest difficulty either attending to or
quickly completing any of the masters works.
Mike L
> Dr.GH <garyh...@earthlink.net> wrote:
> > On Jun 29, 1:33 pm, Jablair <jablai...@gmail.com> wrote:
> > > On Jun 29, 12:36 am, Jeff Lanam <jeffla...@yahoo.com> wrote:
> > > > [quoting Terry P.] Evolution was far more thrilling to me than the biblical account. Who
> > > > would not rather be a rising ape than a falling angel? To my juvenile
> > > > eyes Darwin was proved true every day. It doesn't take much to make us
> > > > flip back into monkeys again....
>
> > > That was amazing. �Thanks for sharing. I'm going to be extremely sad
> > > when he is no longer with us.
>
> > Prachett is (to quote granny) "Aint Ded"
>
> I Aten't Dead
Tut Aren't Kamin', though.
I almost sympathise with Lee Jay, upordownthread. Pterry's often as
funny as Douglas Adams, and I love the man this side idolatry as much
as any, but let's get a grip: slipping a liberal motherhood-and-apple-
pie message in amid the laughs and discreet bids for inclusion in the
OED is a nifty political move, and I'm all for it. But George Eliot,
or even Mrs Gaskell, the dear man is not, and wouldn't claim to be.
--
Mike.
Lee Jay
I was reading nearly 300 books a year from 7-9 (the RIF program -
Reading Is Fun). Isn't it a shame what they did to me?
I'm only 38. Perhaps by the time I'm 45, things will change. ;-)
Lee Jay
Jim Willemin
news:461e03f8-05a6-4c3e...@z66g2000hsc.googlegroups.com:
<snip>
>
> I'm only 38. Perhaps by the time I'm 45, things will change. ;-)
>
> Lee Jay
>
>
Edgar Bergen: "But Mortimer, boys your age should like girls."
Mortimer Snerd: "Well, maybe when I get to be my age I'll like girls too!"
Robert Carnegie
> Robert Carnegie <rja.carne...@excite.com> wrote:
> > I speculate that the new project, in which "a world very like this
> > one" /could/ be Discworld or not specified, was overtaken after
> > original conception by one or more this-world global catastrophes. At
> > the least, you'd want to see what happens in real life before
> > developing the story. Then again, catastrophes happen all the time.
> > This world carries six billion and more people, and bits of it do harm
> > to large proportions of that number with distressing frequency.
>
> Any links on this? I'm allowing him time to write new books rather than
> six a year as he used to, on account of his diagnosis, but I'm waiting
> breathlessly.
It's the first that I've heard of it. The actual rate has been around
two books a year, mostly set on Discworld, but according to this
report, this other book has been in gestation for years in the
background. I have in mind that either the tone is too dark for
Discworld, or he wants to reach readers who reject Discworld as too
silly - and that events such as the Asian tsunami, hurricanes, and
earthquakes, might make you put such a project aside while you wait to
learn what happens in the real cases.
Robert Carnegie
> I was reading nearly 300 books a year from 7-9 (the RIF program -
> Reading Is Fun). Isn't it a shame what they did to me?
>
> I'm only 38. Perhaps by the time I'm 45, things will change. ;-)
If you actually want to get into fiction reading, there are ways. If
not, well, it isn't compulsory. I don't think we should make an issue
of this!
However, if fiction doesn't interest you, why do you participate in
talk.origins ?? ;-)