Why Must Read Sum: Forty Tales from the Afterlives?

I first discovered David Eagleman through his wonderful PBS television series on "The Brain". As an outstanding expert in neuroscience, as well as a exemplar television personality, Eagleman's enthusiasm for brain science and psychology inevitably leads to an understanding of philosophy and the meaning of existence. Here in "Sum" Eagleman explores the mystery of human consciousness through a series of fables on the afterlife, each leading to conclusions that may confound our notions of the afterlife that we may hope to encounter. While some of the more negative customer reviews I've read here on Amazon seem to have found Eagleman's thoughts on the afterlife to be nihilistic, depressing and anti-religious; I found his narratives to be thought-provoking and in some ways life-affirming. At the heart of it, Eagleman is a brain scientist and a humanitarian. In his television series on the brain he states how the human brain is the most wonderful known thing that exists in the universe. He's compassionate on how mental illnesses, substance abuse, war and genocide can be understood on a brain level. Taken in that context, "Sum" celebrates the joys of life even though life can also seem tragic in many ways. A couple of negative reviews complained that the sub-title of "Sum" is misleading, that instead of finding a garden-variety account of near-death experiences with white lights, celestial reunions with dearly departed, and encounters with God; they found something else that they didn't want to see, that strives to question not only the possibility of the afterlife but also the notions of what we think the afterlife should look like. In this sense, I would suggest that "Sum" can be taken as 40 arguments in favor of what is going on here and now, with the people we care about, those we are able to help to feel better about themselves, and our capacity to enjoy what we have. As we long for heaven, look forward to eternal bliss, hope for something better than a cruel and seemingly meaningless life on earth, and fear that death may just be an obliteration of all we know and love; Eagleman reminds us that as good as the afterlife may seem, life itself may not be as bad as we think. For a scientist, Eagleman's style of writing in the genre of fiction is clear, economical and has a good sense of flow. I breezed through this narrow but very thought-provoking volume in less than a few days. To those negative reviews that would classify Eagleman as anti-religion or anti-Christian, I would counter that notion by saying that I have never in "Sum" nor in Eagleman's TV series on "The Brain" seen Eagleman to treat religion or Christianity with any level of disrespect or ridicule. If anything, I would think that those among the religious might want to give "Sum" an even chance and consider how Eagleman's ideas might challenge us to explore our purposes in life and what the God we choose to believe in might want us to do while we are alive and able to love and care for one another and also enjoy the good things in life that we believe to be His (or Her?) creation.