I have become a Possibilian
David Eagleman reads from Sum, 40 Tales of the Afterlife
Yes, it’s true. I have become a Possibilian. It seems that in the digital age, if you are an optimist about creating, sharing, innovating, collaborating, it’s the only sensible choice. Anything and everything is possible. Of course, it’s also possible that I, we, all of us, are wrong about that. Which is another advantage of being a Possibilian: you’re open to the possibility that you are, in fact, wrong.
I learned about being a Possibilian at SxSW when I sat in on David Eagleman’s reading of his charming and brilliant book, Sum, Forty Tales from the Aferlives. Eagleman’s collection of 40 totally unrelated stories about what the author imagines might happen in the afterlife explores numerous possibilities, all of them the beneficiary of Eagleman’s rich and wild imagination.
A part-time writer/full-time neuroscientist, Eagleman spends most of his time in a lab conducting research. He took seven years to write 70 stories about what might happen when we expire, then carefully reduced the total to 40 and published his book. To his surprise, it has taken off. Time magazine has raved about it. Brian Eno has composed an opera. And Eagleman has now done readings all over the world.
I can’t say that this book has much to do with either marketing or social media. But it does have an awful lot to do with creativity.
Creativity is looking at the same world or subject or problem that we’ve all looked at for ages and finding a totally new and interesting way to present it, make people think about it, or simply get them to pay attention.
Until Eagleman, I hadn’t thought much about the afterlife in quite a while. Nor had I thought much about God or religion. But he got me to do so. How? By doing what any great creative person needs to do, whether they’re an artist, writer or photographer: he showed me something familiar in a way I’d never looked at it before. Or in this case, read me something I haven’t heard.
My favorite of his readings, was Sum, the first chapter of the book, which imagines this:
In the afterlife you relive all your experiences, but shuffled into a new order; all the moments that share a quality are grouped together.
You spend two months driving the street in front of your house, seven months having sex. You sleep for thirty years without opening your eyes. For five months straight you flip through magazines while sitting on a toilet.
You take all your pain at once, all twenty-seven intense hours of it. Bones break, cars crash, skin is cut, babies born. Once you make it through, it’s agony free for the rest of your life.
It gets better. Strongly suggest you read it if you haven’t already. And consider becoming a Possibilian. Join those who, according to Eagleman, “celebrate the vastness of our ignorance, are unwilling to commit to any particular made-up story, and take pleasure in entertaining multiple hypotheses.”
The concept aligns perfectly with the digital age. As Eagleman says, “We can’t possibly know enough to be either religious or atheist.” I would add that when it comes to everything going on right now, we can’t possibly know (at least all the time) whether we’re right or wrong or whether it will succeed or fail. That’s why we keep experimenting.
Comments
Thank you for writing about this, I'm definitely putting it in my queue. And you are absolutely correct, some of the best social ideas are far away from what we read on twitter, etc. on a daily basis. It all comes back to the human experience, doesn't it? That, by far, is the most fascinating topic of all.
Well I am pretty type A. But that just means I want things to happen fast and like a sense of control. But it doesn't mean I know anything. At least not about what comes after or even what comes next. As for art and literature from a technology conference, the more I meander through different culture and media spaces, the more I realize that everything is connected to everything else. And if it isn't, then it's our job to connect it. Thanks for reading and commenting. Will share more soon.
Edward, thank you, in the midst of a technology conference, for sharing a story about words and language! I'm enchanted by this thought of re-imagining what we imagined in the first place, and being reminded that creativity in its strongest strain can be, as Maxine Greene the great educator likes to say, "making the familiar strange". (it is also a great teaching tool)
Possible lets good or bad roll off either side.
Reordering our experiences gives credence to the skills that those with autism possess...a unique way of ordering information that often leads to highly original results, ex. Temple Grandon.
I like the idea of grouping my activities together but fear boredom, except for getting pain over all in one fell swoop. Not sure about endless days of boyfriend breakups and being dragged to the bottom of a wave. Guess the high side of each of these falls on the other side of possibility.
I embrace the concept of all of us meeting at the table and admitting we don't know what will happen but can't wait to see where it goes.
Not sure what happens to the Type A people in the world with this.
Guess that's good. Not sure. Anything is possible!
Sounds like a cool book. I have to challenge his quote though: u00e2u0080u009cWe canu00e2u0080u0099t possibly know enough to be either religious or atheist.u00e2u0080u009d
First, it feels like a cop-out. Sure, I admit that agnostics have a point, but it bugs me that they won't take a stand. If you ask them, "Look, what do you think?" they just smile beatifically and sigh, "I don't know." Drives me nuts!
Here's the thing: if you take the time to read a lot about any particular religion you will find without fail that the particulars get in the way of the bigger story. In other words, you just can't believe it all full-stop and if you do, well, you're a little odd, I think.
So what about atheism? Well, given that no major or minor religion I have ever read about seems completely plausible, I think atheism makes perfect sense. I mean, you look at the evidence and you draw your conclusion. Not as much fun as dreaming about the afterlife, I admit, but what about infinite universes, quantum theory, the Big Bang, constants like the speed of light. There's plenty out there that's way more interesting to think about than wooden boats and burning bushes.
Damn, I am such a rationalist!
Jeff
PS - I confess I'm a Possibilian, too, just didn't know it.
.-= Jeff Shattucku00c2u00b4s last blog ..The house of yesterdays. =-.
I have to read this book, if only because it's authored by a neuroscientist who wears cowboy outfits to web conferences.
Love your comments Jeff. I think any stand on the Matter requires an act of faith, despite what the atheists tell us (I'm a Zen Buddhist). I believe that to have a passionate, thoughtful position/religion/whatever means you are wrestling with the issue, which takes a lot of courage, especially in this day and age.
Max Pfennighaus
ACD Interactive, ISM
.-= Max Pfennighausu00c2u00b4s last blog ..Itu00e2u0080u0099s a Dialog, Not a Lecture =-.
He is not an agnostic. He is a possibilian. Big difference. One comment he had is this: "Religion was invented before we knew anything." Let's start over based on what we know now. Doesn't mean you can't believe, just that you can never be sure. Thanks for commenting and don't beat yourself up over being a rationalist. Rationalist and Possibilians can get along. Really. :-)
I have to read this book, if only because it's authored by a neuroscientist who wears cowboy outfits to web conferences.
Love your comments Jeff. I think any stand on the Matter requires an act of faith, despite what the atheists tell us (I'm a Zen Buddhist). I believe that to have a passionate, thoughtful position/religion/whatever means you are wrestling with the issue, which takes a lot of courage, especially in this day and age.
Max Pfennighaus
ACD Interactive, ISM
.-= Max Pfennighaus´s last blog ..It’s a Dialog, Not a Lecture =-.
Brilliant book idea.
Thanks for the book recommendation! Nowadays it's hard to tear ourselves away from the ever-growing list of social media/marketing books, but sometimes it takes a new book like this to give you a fresh perspective. I'll have to check it out!
Here's why you must. Some of the best social ideas are to be had or inspired from sources far away from traditional social media and advertising. Exploring other areas, neuroscience, art, culture, even new forms of data analysis give you more ideas to bring back and put to work in your world. Thanks for reading and commenting.
As Eagleman says, u00e2u0080u009cWe canu00e2u0080u0099t possibly know enough to be either religious or atheist.u00e2u0080u009d
He's wrong, of course!
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