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Comment by dswalter | Hacker News Reader

I can't help but feel this is a useful analysis for humanity, but somehow saddening for a fan of the person being analyzed. Almost overly invasive.

Would Sir Terry have appreciated or approved of this?

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He seemed pretty curious about the world, and was pretty candid about his disease. Not to put words in his mouth, but I suspect he'd have been interested in this. I can imagine him have Lord Vetinari detect a decline from someone's writing and make some subtle move as a result!

Didn't the Oblivion NPC he contribute to get a bunch of features to help him deal with the problems he faced playing the game? I never met the man, but I think he'd be appreciative of the studies if they help people who suffer from dementia and/or Alzheimer’s.

I met Sir Terry Pratchett only once, briefly, at a book signing, and got scolded for a bad joke (and for letting him sign his first book, which he did not like), i think it's really hard to guess what he would have wanted at that time. This happened around 2006, after he knew about the dementia, but well before i or the public knew about it.

The younger Terry, unencumbered by dementia, would likely have loved the idea of analyzing his writing for most scientific purposes, he co-wrote multiple scientific fiction books together with physicists and other science communicators.

I actually regret making him upset, i did not know about his troubles at the time and i would not make the same (completely unrelated to his ailment) joke knowing about it, neither would i have brought his first book if i knew he disliked it.

Just imagine having your head full of a world you created, a world filled with more stories than you could ever write down, and realizing that you will never get a chance to do so and that it will all fade before you can share it. That experience must be extremely painful and for sure leads to changes in personality traits.

Right before i had my turn he signed the book of my girlfriend and he also signed her journal even though there was a strict "only one book per person" rule. When she asked him if he would sign the journal as well he said "I would even sign your hand, madam". This is the Terry i will remember, the charming and incredibly witty person that bestowed upon me the best stories i have ever enjoyed.

GNU Terry Pratchett, for Death can not have him!

I never spoke to the man, but reading the oodles and oodles of words he put out for the public over the years gives me the impression that he would find something like this mostly neat and worthwhile while still being a bit disquieting and weird.

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