Archive 2007

As a result of Mitt Romney’s bid for the presidency of the United States, media scrutiny and debate of what it means to be Mormon has been increasing. Browse through news related to Mormonism in recent months. You’ll find that a significant portion of them mention Mitt Romney. And, in ... Read the article →

Gordon Moore, one of the founders of Intel Corporation, observed in the 1960s that the ratio of complexity to cost for computer components doubled approximately every two years. Today this observation is known among computer scientists as “Moore’s Law.” In its original formulation, Moore’s Law reflected the rate of advance ... Read the article →

Nikolai Fyodorovich Fyodorov was an historical precursor of Transhumanism and particularly Christian Transhumanism. His name in Russian, никола Фёдорович Фёдоров, is also sometimes simplified to “Federov” in English. The Space Review recently posted an article about him. And excerpts of his writing, translated into English, are available on the Internet. ... Read the article →

I recently finished reading Engines of Creation, written by Eric Drexler in the mid 1980s. This is perhaps the most influential book ever written about nanotechnology, and is also an enjoyable read. It begins with the inclusion of “There’s Plenty of Room at the Bottom,” given by Richard Feynman in ... Read the article →

Some have suggested that human empowerment over physical appearance will decrease diversity. For example, see a recent blog entry by Wesley Smith. He claims that “the drive to genetically enhance, contrary to the utilitarian presumptions of the transhumanists, would mean the end of true diversity”. Smith appeals to the physique ... Read the article →

As reported in the Salt Lake Tribune, Jon Huntsman plans to donate to the Huntsman Cancer Institute at the University of Utah a substantial portion of the $1.5 billion he will receive from the sale of Huntsman Corporation. The institute plans to use the donation to recruit top scientists and ... Read the article →

As recently reported by the Register and Slashdot, the United States military is using powerful computers to run increasingly detailed simulations of our world. While this is interesting for many reasons, it may be yet more thought-provoking when one considers this in context of the Simulation Argument. In his paper, ... Read the article →

I recently came across a document produced by a Christian group that takes on the admirable task of presenting “Everyday Theology.” The document includes a chapter on Transhumanism. Unfortunately, however, it does not accurately characterize Transhumanists. For example, it claims Transhumanists believe “whatever can be done scientifically and technologically should ... Read the article →

Demonization of Transhumanism abounds, and ironically arises for apparently contradictory reasons. Just the other day, I commented on how “Everyday Theology” characterized Transhumanists too narrowly as radical individualists. Well, today Frederick Meekins, writing for “Ether Zone,” characterizes Transhumanists as radical communalists that are intent on absorbing all individuality into something ... Read the article →

Are you skeptical of the ideas proposed by Transhumanists? Perhaps you have something in common with the folks quoted below. “… so many centuries after the Creation it is unlikely that anyone could find hitherto unknown lands of any value.” — committee advising Ferdinand and Isabella regarding Columbus’ proposal, 1486 ... Read the article →

I was happy to read this morning of a decision by Senator Harry Reid (a Mormon) to invite a Hindu to offer prayer at the beginning of the Senate session, despite protests from three “Christians and patriots” that were removed by police from the visitors’ gallery. A part of my ... Read the article →

Some have wondered whether Singularitarianism, with which a subset of Transhumanists identify, is the true religion. Their point, with which I readily agree, is that, whether we think of Transhumanism as a religion or not, what matters is whether it will deliver on the future it advocates. In reaction, some ... Read the article →

Helen Whitney recently interviewed several leaders of the LDS Church for the PBS documentary on the Mormons. PBS posted transcripts of some of the interviews to their site. Recently, the LDS Church posted transcripts of a couple more interviews to their site, including the interview of Boyd Packer, Acting President ... Read the article →

I’m in Chicago for TransVision 2007. Here are some notes and thoughts from Tuesday morning session 1. Charlie Kam opened the TransVision conference. Anders Sandberg Anders Sandberg discussed brain emulation. What level of detail is needed? Down to quantum states? Include spin or more? How do we simulate? Need body ... Read the article →

I’m in Chicago for TransVision 2007. Here are some notes and thoughts from Aubrey de Grey’s keynote. Aubrey de Gray spoke about his new book, Ending Aging. He then continued on to talk about how persons are considered lunatics for advocating slowing the aging process. Too little biomedical funding (perhaps ... Read the article →

I’m in Chicago for TransVision 2007. Here are some notes and thoughts from Tuesday morning session 2. James Hughes James Hughes spoke on Cyborgs today and in the future. Ideas of improving human nature emerged along with the enlightenment. They anticipated the ideas advocated by Transhumanism. Diderot speculated on machine ... Read the article →

I’m in Chicago for TransVision 2007. Here are some notes and thoughts from Tuesday afternoon session 2. Ralph Merkle Ralph Merkle discussed how cryonics is making its way slowly into mainstream awareness and acceptance. Cryonics puts bodies into preservation until future tech can revive and rejuvenate. Cooling down is done ... Read the article →

I’m in Chicago for TransVision 2007. Here are some notes and thoughts from Ed Begley’s keynote. Ed Begley talked about the importance of the moment and planning for the future. He talked about environmental and other world problems facing us. He’s not depressed because of what we’ve done already. He ... Read the article →

I’m in Chicago for TransVision 2007. Here are some notes and thoughts from Wednesday morning session 2. Marvin Minsky Marvin Minsky spoke about problems that we need to solve. The most serious are population and longevity. Others include epidemics, pollution, energy sources, income-gap poverty, education, terrorism, biological diversity, cultural diversity, ... Read the article →

I’m in Chicago for TransVision 2007. Here are some notes and thoughts from Thursday morning session 1. Max More Max More spoke on evidenced-based Transhumanism. There is not much evidenced-based business. Medicine is getting better, but Transhumanism is overly focused on best practices rather than evidences. Not all groups place ... Read the article →

I’m in Chicago for TransVision 2007. Here are some notes and thoughts from Thursday morning session 2. Peter Diamandis spoke on getting off earth. In the early days of space exploration, there were no regulations or old engineers to say what could not be done. The laws of physics are ... Read the article →

I’m in Chicago for TransVision 2007. Here are some notes and thoughts from Thursday afternoon session 1. Giorgio Gaviraghi Giorgio Gaviraghi spoke on the eva project. Mothership eva is a space settlement. Main obstacles are high costs, long times government regulation and poor public perception. There are various strategies for ... Read the article →

I’m in Chicago for TransVision 2007. Here are some notes and thoughts from Thursday afternoon session 2. Natasha Vita-More Natasha Vita-More spoke on the future of the human body. The posthuman … Is it disembodied, a cyborg, an aggregate of such things? The impending future human is the posthuman. There ... Read the article →

I’m in Chicago for TransVision 2007. Here are some notes and thoughts from Ray Kurzweil’s keynote. William Shatner began with the star trek intro about “space, the final frontier.” He spoke about the importance of innovation and imagination. Keep exploring. The WTA is very trek-like. It holds that we cannot ... Read the article →

I’m in Chicago for TransVision 2007. Here are some notes and thoughts from Ray Kurzweil’s keynote. Ray Kurzweil mentioned that he usually has to explain accelerating change. This group is different. Why do some people get it quick, and why do some resist? It might be attacking their coping mechanisms. ... Read the article →

Today, I came across the blog of Paul Toscano. His relationship with Mormonism is difficult to describe and beyond the scope of what I would like to address in this post. Suffice it to say that he has been deeply influenced by Mormonism, whether or not he yet considers himself ... Read the article →

Today at dinner, my mother mentioned that she had recently purchased a book by Francis Collins, a geneticist and head of the Human Genome Project. It’s entitled The Language of God. In the book, Collins argues that respect for science and faith in God are compatible. Coincidentally, upon returning home ... Read the article →

Dave Banack, writing for Times and Seasons, asks: What sort of mythology would develop or result from the modern world of our own day? What myths work in the modern world? … Does Mormonism have anything to offer? Does Mormon doctrine or the Mormon worldview provide any mythic frames that ... Read the article →

Bill Muehlenberg, in his CultureWatch blog, recently wrote about “The First Church of Transhumanism.” After providing a summary of his perspective on Transhumanism, he writes the following: “The truth is, life extension is already a current reality. Indeed, we will all live forever. But there are just two destinies after ... Read the article →

Adam Greenwood at Times and Seasons speculates regarding millennial children. He wonders whether we might have future opportunities to raise new children or experience again the raising of our current children. Among Mormon Transhumanists, we see parallels between the Millennium and the Technological Singularity. The Singularity is a hypothetical period ... Read the article →

While at the recent symposium organized by the Sunstone Education Foundation in Salt Lake City, I attended a presentation by Blake Ostler. Blake was making an argument about spiritual experience, the details of which are not the subject of this post. During the presentation, he noted that one might appeal ... Read the article →

When I think about the origins of life in our time and space, I tend toward a materialistic animism. Matter has all the properties necessary to become life, if only it is organized appropriately. Indeed, from this perspective, there is no line between life and non-life. But rather there’s a ... Read the article →

The Simulation Argument has been getting a lot of attention since being referenced by the New York Times. Writing for the Daily Galaxy, Rebecca Sato asks, could our lives be a cosmic computer simulation? She concludes with these words: “… our designer might be another virtual being living inside the ... Read the article →

Kurzweil’s Law (generalizing from Moore’s Law) observes that technology changes exponentially as new technologies contribute toward increasing the rate of change. In addition to being exponential, however, the exponent itself may increase exponentially, such that we may observe accelerating exponential change or meta-exponential change. One of many examples of exponential ... Read the article →

Jared, a guest blogger at By Common Consent, wonders what “Faithful Science” would look like and how it would be useful. Of course, Mormon Transhumanists have some opinions about that. To begin with, all science is faithful to the extent it is actually adhering to the scientific method. The method ... Read the article →

Ronald Schwendiman is the coordinator for the worldwide Internet activities of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. He presented today at Brigham Young University’s Education Week on the topic of using technology for the good of humanity. Although I was not able to attend the session, I was ... Read the article →

I’ve been wondering how many independent Mormon Transhumanists are out there, unaware of or uninterested in groups like the Mormon Transhumanist Association. The earliest references to Mormon Transhumanism that I’ve been able to find on the Internet come from 2004, a year and a half before the Mormon Transhumanist Association ... Read the article →

Put another way, why would neohumans run detailed world simulations? Not being neohumans ourselves, we can only speculate. However, it is interesting to extrapolate from the reasons we run (relatively low-detail) simulations today. Flight and automobile simulators have been available both to the military and for entertainment for many years. ... Read the article →

James Hughes posted to the TransSpirit board a message on “Non-materialist neuroscience as a crypto-theist conspiracy.” In the message, James explains that neuroscience is quickly approaching materialistic explanations of human thought that are both necessary and sufficient. He goes on to mention that once we attain such explanations, we should ... Read the article →

Gary Shapiro is an apologist for the decreasing segment of Mormonism that is hostile to evolution theory. He recently posed on his blog a question to Mormons like me: “Where and when has the Church published an apostolic statement endorsing the idea that organic evolution explains the origin of man?” ... Read the article →

Is Mormonism a form of Transhumanism? Michael Anissimov recently posted seven definitions of “Transhumanism” on his blog. Let’s see how Mormonism fares according to each definition. 1) “Transhumanism is a philosophy that humanity can, and should, strive to higher levels, both physically, mentally and socially. It encourages research into such ... Read the article →

An LDS Science Review post on “Disbelief and Silliness” directed my attention to an article in The Nation, entitled “Root and Branch,” by philosopher Ian Hacking. The article criticizes anti-Darwinism as dead or degenerate in contrast to the living science manifest in Darwinism. Interestingly, Hacking expounds on an allegorical interpretation ... Read the article →

Philosopher Dan Dennett argues that religions are like cows. We’ve been redesigning them for thousands of years, perhaps without doing so consciously until recently. He asserts that religions are brilliantly designed and powerful social institutions, resulting from a mixture of natural selection and intelligent design. The key to our domination ... Read the article →

Sam MB at By Common Consent has taken up the subject of enhancement technologies. He asks whether Mormonism offers any peculiar insights on these topics. He notes that he has never discussed this issue with Mormons before, and is curious to know what other Mormons think. I’m glad to see ... Read the article →

Today I attended the funeral of a friend’s father: a kind and hard-working man, now dead from heart problems at age 57. Family members expressed their feelings in words and music. I was particularly moved when the grandchildren sang “Families Can Be Together Forever,” while they cried freely. One of ... Read the article →

This morning I watched a clip from MSNBC in which Keith Olberman discusses the Simulation Argument. During the clip, my sons came over to the computer and listened. At the end, my sons asked a few questions about the clip. And I summarized my answers by saying, “God may have ... Read the article →

Gordon Hinckley, President of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, today announced the appointment of Henry B. Eyring to the First Presidency of the LDS Church. Henry B. Eyring has been an Apostle of the LDS Church since 1995. And he previously served as the LDS Church Commissioner ... Read the article →

Sam Harris, a well-known atheist (well, at least until now), recently spoke at an Atheist Alliance conference in Washington DC on “The Problem with Atheism.” In summary, he argued that identifying one’s self as “atheist” is counter-productive because it facilitates others’ attempts at marginalization. Instead, he suggests, atheists should drop ... Read the article →

During the LDS Church general conference last weekend, Elder Richard G Scott of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles gave a speech on “Truth: The Foundation of Correct Decisions”. The focus of his speech was on two ways to find truth: the scientific method and inspiration. They are “both useful, ... Read the article →

In a blog entry entitled “Here Come the Warlocks,” Wesley Smith suggests that “transhumanism would probably result in stultifying sameness rather than the wild differences for which most adherents yearn.” I disagree with Wesley for two reasons. First, I don’t think it’s obvious that most Transhumanists yearn for wild differences ... Read the article →

I recently read The God Delusion by Richard Dawkins, who I respect as an excellent (and, dare I say, inspiring) evolutionary biologist. Dawkins has become a prominent atheist in the popular media, selling over a million copies of his book and galvanizing an intellectual crusade against religion. In this and ... Read the article →

Aubrey de Grey is a Transhumanist and biomedical gerontologist that is working hard to promote funding of research to end aging. He has become increasingly visible in popular media, and recently released a book entitled, Ending Aging. I just noticed a few minutes ago that Aubrey de Grey has jumped ... Read the article →

This is my second post reviewing the book, The God Delusion, by Richard Dawkins. I should repeat some things mentioned at the beginning of my first post. I respect Dawkins as an excellent and inspiring evolutionary biologist. Although he misrepresents and misunderstands religion as a whole, he justifiably expresses anger ... Read the article →

This is my third post reviewing Richard Dawkins’ book, The God Delusion. For emphasis, I will repeat some things mentioned at the beginning of my first post. I respect Dawkins as an excellent and inspiring evolutionary biologist. Although he misrepresents and misunderstands religion as a whole, he justifiably expresses anger ... Read the article →

While surfing the net this evening, I came across an interesting web page that lists various Mormon inventors and their inventions. Of course, the inventors benefitted from and worked with others who contributed to their inventions, directly or indirectly. I was aware of some of the items in the list, ... Read the article →

I recently responded to a Mormon blogger, Jettboy, who expressed concerns with Mormon Transhumanism. I’m going to post my response here, too, for additional readers. Jettboy, I’m happy that you consider the intent of the Mormon Transhumanist Association to be noble, even though you have concerns with its theological grounds. ... Read the article →

Today at the “By Common Consent” blog, participants were polled in response to the MTA article in Sunstone magazine. The poll question was: “If humans developed the technology to download their ‘minds’ to a computer and live forever as part of a machine, God would intervene to stop it?” As ... Read the article →

Big news today from biotech scientists: researchers have successfully converted human skin cells into stem cells. This process can be used to produce almost any other type of cell and thereby fix numerous problems in the human body. This advance is particularly important because it should help resolve the ethical ... Read the article →

Today at the Mormon blog, New Cool Thang, one of the contributors asked, “What if we didn’t die from old age?” As part of his thoughts in response to his own question, he linked to a video of Aubrey de Grey. Subsequently, he and others made various comments about death ... Read the article →

In discussions with friends recently, the subject of death came up and comments were made about it being inevitable and that we should accept that inevitability as something good. I responded that, depending on your definition of “death”, trends suggest that it is not inevitable for some of us. Death ... Read the article →

I recently watched videos of speeches given by United States presidential candidates Mitt Romney and Barack Obama on the subject of reconciling faith and politics. Each speech, for a different reason, reminded me of the challenging (and rewarding) situation faced by the Mormon Transhumanist Association. Like Romney, we are Mormons. ... Read the article →

Erik Davis, a Transhumanist and author of Techgnosis, writes that “Mormons are cool” for at least the following reasons: #1 “The temples are totally great looking.” Yes. They are beautiful. The LDS Church publishes a website with pictures of and information about all its temples. #2 “Harold Bloom digs the ... Read the article →

So claims Paul Davies in a New York Times editorial, entitled “Taking Science on Faith.” He rightly points out that science relies (faithfully) on premises such as uniformity. And he touches on some influence Christian theology has had on the development of the scientific method. At the end of the ... Read the article →

These days, if you ask a university-educated faithful Mormon whether she believes God may have used biological evolution as a mechanism in the creation of humanity, you have (estimating roughly from my experience) about a 50/50 chance of receiving a response in the affirmative. Some Mormons are particularly supportive of ... Read the article →

Today, we celebrate the birth of Jesus, recognized among Christians as Christ, as messiah and savior. I join in the celebration and recognition not because I consider Jesus to be the only savior, but rather because I consider him to be the best example of characteristics that, as we work ... Read the article →