INTERVIEW WITH A GOD
Perhaps you've heard of him, he's created his own religion, single
handedly invented a new branch of mathmatics, and claims to be the
first of a new breed of human: Homo Deus, which literally means
"God Man". To find out more about the man behind the myth, we
caught up with David Leeper in a bordello in sunny Clearwater, FL.
He agreed to do an interview if we settled his tab with the house
(a whopping $2500!). Perhaps we're crazy, but we agreed. This is
how it went:
Dead Or Really Cool:
You're a self-declared God and some have compared you to Richard
Feynman. How's this make you feel?
David Leeper:
Being a God is cool. Chicks dig it. I usually get good parking.
Being compared to Richard Feynman hasn't gone to my head. I still
remember the little people.
Dead Or Really Cool:
Tell us a little about your religion.
David Leeper:
It's simple really. I'm a God and in my own universe there is no
other God. It combines belief in God and Atheism.
Dead Or Really Cool:
Whoa! Hold on just a minute! A lot of people would say
"Belief in God and Atheism don't mix." How would you respond
to this?
David Leeper:
A lot of people would say logic and emotion don't mix.
But it all depends on you point of view, doesn't it.
Dead Or Really Cool:
I'm not sure I follow you...
David Leeper:
Well, some people look at the world and don't try to understand it.
Let's call these people "Level 1". Other people analyze the world
from both an intellectual and emotional point of view. They see the
world in terms of True and False or Right and Wrong. Let's call
these people "Level 2". A third group takes these opposing points
of view created by analysis and finds a synthesis between them.
Let's call these people "Level 3".
Dead Or Really Cool:
So at Level 1 there's no analysis, at Level 2 there is analysis
and at Level 3 there is Synthesis.
David Leeper:
Right. And with this synthesis you transcend the tools used by
analysis.
Dead Or Really Cool:
Are you saying you transcend right and wrong?
David Leeper:
In a way, yes, you do. But what I'm saying is you transcend the
tools, such as intellect and emotion.
Dead Or Really Cool:
Or God and Atheism.
David Leeper:
Exactly.
Dead Or Really Cool:
Sounds interesting. What's your religion called?
David Leeper:
Zero. The name comes from Cohesive Math. In CM every idea
is a number and the opposite idea is the negative number.
For example, Theism and Atheism could be assigned to 1 and -1.
When you add these together you get...
Dead Or Really Cool:
Zero! Ok, that makes sense. But why find a 'divine' when a
'human' is available?
David Leeper:
The short answer is "What's the difference?", which is valid,
but kind of smart-ass-ish. The real answer is thinking of
yourself as a God is different then thinking of yourself as
a mere human. You act differently and (hopefully) this
brings new possiblities. But you don't want to get lost in
that, you need the mere mortal to keep you grounded.
There are other answers to your question too, answers that
have to deal with what Zero will be doing in the future.
But I don't want to talk about that now.
Just remember, you're a God if you want to be.
-- David Leeper dleeper@gte.net Homo Deus http://home1.gte.net/dleeper/index.htm 1 + 1 != 2 http://home1.gte.net/dleeper/CMath.html