W. looks for the apocalyptic and the messianic in every conversation he has, he says. He attempts to push every conversation towards them: the apocalyptic and the messianic, he says. Nothing matters but urgency and sincerity, W. says. His urgency and sincerity might inspire others to become equally urgent and sincere in their conversation, he notes; conversely, the urgency and sincerity of others, for him, is like messianism itself.
What does he look for in his conversationalists? A sense of the end, he says. A sense we are living in the last days. And a sense of joy, says W. The third level of knowledge. Do you know what that means?, W. asks me. No, you wouldn't, he says, and for the same reason that no one wants to talk to you.
W. reminds me of our third leader. Everything he said, even the most trivial thing, was messianic. He lived a life of complete seriousness, but for all that, he was a joy to be with. He never took himself seriously, W. notes. He took his thought seriously, but never himself, which is a sign of a real thinker.
What he could teach us about conversation! What we could learn, if we saw him more often! But we'd only disappoint him, W. says, though he seemed to like our company. We'd only bother him, and he'd shake us free to ride higher on the thermals of real thinking.
Lars Iyer's Blog 