Assorted Notes

SATURDAY, 3 JANUARY 2015

For a long time I thought of a lot of my writing as lectures, even sermons. Now I understand that most of my pieces are part of a conversation. Someone else reads it, thinks about it, and decides they agree with it or they don’t agree with it. Great. That is how it should be. Then my writing is part of a conversation, even though I can’t be there most of the time to respond.

TUESDAY, 6 JANUARY 2015

It is good to be confident and to say what you think, but few people doubt the value of modesty – to voice your opinion and then to listen to what someone else has to say.

What you said or wrote may touch on some good points; it might be a good argument; it may compel someone to think about something they have never thought of, or to think about it in a different way. But the likelihood is very strong that you did not consider all sides of the story, that you didn’t cover all the angles. It is at this point that a reasonable person would realise that when you make a statement, or risk an argument, verbally or in writing, you make an attempt at dialogue rather than trying to convert the other person to your cult or ideology.

I thought of the blog of cartoonist and author, Scott Adams, his interesting articles, and the contributions readers leave in the comments section which are sometimes equally interesting, but the reader might be taking an opposing position.

I also thought about the conversations I have with adult students. I will make a statement, which I would think is more or less accurate. After making the statement I will step back, and the students will respond one after another – some of the responses are clever, others not so much. Whether or not my original statement was accurate is certainly important, but not as important as the fact that we are having a conversation on a particular topic. This, in my opinion, is much more valuable than any lecture or sermon I can attempt to give.

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THURSDAY, 25 DECEMBER 2014

Isn’t calling yourself an atheist somewhat silly? Is it not similar to calling yourself “not a Yankees supporter”? Why not identify yourself as what you are – a Red Sox fan, a Giants supporter, and so forth?

The other problem with identifying yourself as an atheist is that the onus then rests on you to define what you do not believe in. What or who is the god in which you do not have any faith?

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A few minutes of research have taught me that there is strong atheism and weak atheism. The Strong Atheist (also Positive Atheist) takes the view that there is reason to believe that there is no god, that it is even logically impossible that a god or gods exist. The so-called Weak Atheist (or Negative Atheist) believes that there is no reason to believe that there is any god.

Then there are the ignostics – people who take the position that every religious conviction assumes too much about the concept of “God”. The ignostic therefore says that both the “believer” and the “unbeliever” make too many assumptions about what they believe or do not believe.

Another alternative is to join the ranks of people who are opposed to any belief in the existence of a god, namely the anti-theist. Christopher Hitchens wrote in his book, Letters to a Young Contrarian that he not only believed that all religions are versions of the same untruth, but also that the influence of churches and the effect of religious beliefs do more harm to humans and to society than any good.

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TUESDAY, 23 DECEMBER 2014

Brand Smit as manifested in 2003’s Personal Agenda: Book Two, 2004’s Book Three and Final Chapter, and the rest of the material from 2004 was a loner. More than that, he started criticising people who in his opinion couldn’t stand being alone. He insisted that people not treat him differently just because he wasn’t part of a couple.

Then, suddenly, starting from March 2005, he was no longer alone. Suddenly, the loner was part of a twosome.

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I continued writing through 2005, and to some extent still in the voice of Brand Smit from Personal Agenda – I had no other voice. By 2006 there was no doubt: I was happier, my life was better, and I had definitely reached the end of a certain journey as a writer.

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MONDAY, 22 DECEMBER 2014

A name, this everybody knows, is more than a sound that is uttered when someone specifically wants to get your attention. It is more than a drawing of lines and curls on paper for administrative purposes. A name connects you to people, and to relationships. I am not just “Brand Smit” – I am “Brand”, son of “Barney” and “Adriana”.

This connection gives you an indication of how and possibly where you should position yourself. For example, are “Barney” and “Adriana” figures in the Russian criminal underworld? Are they Inuit living in a village in northern Canada? Are they wine growers in Chile?

As it turned out, my parents are potters and business people of mostly European descent who speak Afrikaans and who grew up in predominantly Afrikaans communities in Southern Africa. This gives me something to work with, or it gave me something to work with starting a little over forty years ago.

There is an important point that I suspect many people overlook or misunderstand. This information about my cultural, ethnic and linguistic origins did not tell me who to be or what to do, it simply told me where to look for ideas on what to do or who to be. It does not say: Be this. It says: Search here.

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