SXSW 2012 - David Eagleman on his in'tl besteller SUM, science, the afterlife and possibilism

David Eagleman on his in'tl besteller SUM, science, the afterlife and possibilism
Event	Interactive 2010
Format	Solo
Organizer	David Eagleman – Vintage Books
Description	"Eagleman is a true original. Read Sum and be amazed. Reread it and be reamazed." - Time Magazine Sum is a work of literary fiction composed of forty mutually exclusive stories. Each story offers a different reason for our existence and the meaning of life and death. These are not serious proposals; they’re satirical and thought provoking lenses through which to see our lives at new angles. Can you give us some examples? In different stories, God is a married couple, God is a committee, God is a species of dimwitted creatures, or God is the size of a bacterium. In other stories there is no God at all and people in the afterlife battle over stories of His non-existence. In other stories we are mobile rovers built by planetary cartographers, or we are ten-dimensional creatures taking a vacation in three-dimensional bodies, or our life runs backwards after the expansion of the universe reverses and you get to see all the details you mis-remembered.
Questions Answered	What is SUM about? Why did you decide to write about the afterlife in literary form? How does your background as a Neuroscientist effect your fiction? Do you think scientists are more or less likely to believe in God? You say you believe in "possibility", what do you mean by that? How do you see your work relating to "the new athiests" (hawkins, hitchens, harris etc. .) Do you think religion is possible? Why do you think agnostism is weak? You call yourself a possibilian, and your next book is called "Why I am a Possibilian". Why? What do your science students make of religious and literary work?
Level	Beginner
Category	Art

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David Eagleman on his in'tl besteller SUM, science, the afterlife and possibilism