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Michael Smorenburg

Goodreads Author

Born

in Cape Town, South Africa

Website

http://www,MichaelSmorenburg.com

Twitter

https://twitter.com/SmorieTheWriter

Genre

Suspense, Thriller, Business

Influences

Sam Harris, Carl Sagan, Neil deGrasse Tyson, Daniel Dennet, Lawrence K ...more

Member Since

November 2014

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Michael Smorenburg (b. 1964) grew up in Cape Town, South Africa. An entrepreneur with a passion for marketing, in 1995 Michael moved to California where he founded a business consultancy and online media and marketing engine. In 2003 he returned to South Africa where he launched then sold a security company. He is a passionate investor in Bitcoin and Crypto, operates a property management company, and writes full time.

Michael's greatest love is for the ocean and the environment. His passion is macro economics, science, understanding the cosmos, and communicating the urgent need for reason to prevail over superstition.

His dedicated author's website and pictures at: www.MichaelSmorenburg.com

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http://www.amazon.com/Michael-Smorenb...
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Popular Answered Questions

What are you currently working on?

Michael Smorenburg In 1995 I wrote a 125,000 word (500 page) novel, LifeGames, and never attempted to publish it.
It was too esoteric for me.
But I now have enough working…moreIn 1995 I wrote a 125,000 word (500 page) novel, LifeGames, and never attempted to publish it.
It was too esoteric for me.
But I now have enough working knowledge of neurology to explain within the novel what is really going on in the minds of the characters locked into a bizarre set of circumstances.

I'm also thinking of compiling my 65 or so essays written and published (and commented on - 12,000 comments thus far in blogs) during the 5-year research phase of creating the SKA story.(less)

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Where did you get the idea for your most recent book?

Michael Smorenburg I saw a news report that said "Religious Communities Embrace Science”.

> The religious in question are old school, deeply conservative Calvinists in Ca…moreI saw a news report that said "Religious Communities Embrace Science”.

> The religious in question are old school, deeply conservative Calvinists in Carnarvon, a small town in South Africa's Northern Cape Provence.

> The 'high science' in question is the biggest investment in history into a scientific instrument, the Square Kilometre Array. It's objective is to find the origins of the universe - and it necessitates foreigners, scientists, streaming into the town.

Now... the religious folks of the region are staunchly suspicious of foreigners and particularly scientists - and they already know where the universe came from... Genesis has that answer.
Ergo, the the SKA is something of an affront to their sentiments; hence the 'surprise' evident in the news report.

My mind started to explore the potential for conflict and I realised that the story is much much bigger than this one little town.
The story is really about every tradition-based society; regardless of who and where in the world they are; feeling the pinch of modernity 'invading' their world - seeing and feeling the friction rising between generations as the youngsters get exposed by Internet, Social Media, TV and School Curriculums to information that contradicts their dogma.

I think the 1-star vendetta against my novel is proof positive that I have struck a nerve with this.
What is very interesting though is that even the very Calvinists and Young Earth Creationists that this novel is about who actually read it, give 5 stars and rave reviews.
The "controversy" then that the 1-stars are suggesting may well be the intrigue that makes the book worth reading.(less)

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Combine Editions
Michael Smorenburg’s books

Average rating: 4.39 · 191 ratings · 89 reviews · 11 distinct works

	The Praying Nun - A Slave Saga Book 1 4.56 avg rating — 63 ratings — 4 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	A Trojan Affair: The S.K.A. at Carnarvon 4.44 avg rating — 52 ratings — published 2014 — 9 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	IN CODE WE TRUST--Bitcoin, Cryptocurrencies, Blockchain. A Revolution Governed by Rules, not by Rulers. 4.74 avg rating — 23 ratings — 3 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	LifeGames Corporation really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 17 ratings — 6 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Ragnarok (Worlds Collide Book 1) 4.33 avg rating — 15 ratings — 4 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Reckoning - Slave Shipwreck Saga Book 2 4.36 avg rating — 11 ratings — 2 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Everything Sailing Book (Everything Series) by Michael Smorenburg (Goodreads Author), Nikki Smorenburg 2.86 avg rating — 7 ratings — published 1997 — 5 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Business Buyer's Kit: Everything You Need to Know to Find, Buy, and Finance a Business for $500,000 or Less 2.50 avg rating — 2 ratings — published 1998	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	In Code We Trust: Bitcoin, Blockchain, Cryptocurrencies, Web3.0—A Revolution Governed by Rules, Not by Rulers it was amazing 5.00 avg rating — 1 rating	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	In Prompts We Trust: Become An AI Whisperer 0.00 avg rating — 0 ratings — 2 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

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Topics Mentioning This Author

topics	posts	views	last activity
SA Book & Challen...: June SA Word Challenge (Tsonga)	9	9	Jun 30, 2017 11:34AM
SA Book & Challen...: July SA Word Challenge (Venda)	7	6	Jul 31, 2017 05:02AM
SA Book & Challen...: August SA Word Challenge (English)	8	11	Aug 22, 2017 12:48AM
SA Book & Challen...: September SA Word Challenge (Southern Ndebele)	6	6	Sep 27, 2017 09:05AM
SA Book & Challen...: October SA Word Challenge (Northern Sotho)	8	9	Oct 31, 2017 12:54AM
SA Book & Challen...: November SA Word Challenge (Tswana)	6	9	Nov 26, 2017 06:18AM
SA Book & Challen...: December SA Word Challenge (Slang)	7	15	Dec 19, 2017 02:37AM
SA Book & Challen...: January SA Word Challenge (Sotho)	12	9	Feb 01, 2018 12:52AM
Around the World ...: Jennifer - Rogue Traveler (2017)	34	183	Feb 21, 2018 01:12PM
SA Book & Challen...: February SA Word Challenge (Afrikaans)	18	12	Mar 01, 2018 10:39AM

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Michael’s Quotes

“We are going to die, and that makes us the lucky ones. Most people are never going to die because they are never going to be born. The potential people who could have been here in my place but who will in fact never see the light of day outnumber the sand grains of Arabia. Certainly those unborn ghosts include greater poets than Keats, scientists greater than Newton. We know this because the set of possible people allowed by our DNA so massively exceeds the set of actual people. In the teeth of these stupefying odds it is you and I, in our ordinariness, that are here.We privileged few, who won the lottery of birth against all odds, how dare we whine at our inevitable return to that prior state from which the vast majority have never stirred?”
― Richard Dawkins, Unweaving the Rainbow: Science, Delusion and the Appetite for Wonder

tags: death, inspirational, science, wonder

1893 likes