Archive February 2008

The Holy Spirit is an esthetic that emerges from our environment through our anatomy and into us as individuals and communities. As we resonate with it, it informs our ethics, which in turn directs our works as we seek to shape the world. Faith, trust in, and will toward this ... Read the article →

For family home evening, we watched the movie, “NeverEnding Story.” It’s the one from the ’80s with a boy who discovers, while reading a book, that he’s creating a wondrous fantasy world. I remember enjoying the movie as a child. But did not recognize at the time how the story ... Read the article →

It’s time to get back to my review of Richard Dawkins’ book, The God Delusion. In this post, I’ll be sharing my thoughts on chapter four, entitled “Why there Almost Certainly is No God.” As before, I feel it is important to begin by expressing my opinion that Dawkins is ... Read the article →

Some of you requested more information about the Sorenson Molecular Genealogy Foundation. According to its web site, it is the foremost collection of genetic genealogy data in the world. The data will enable genealogists to trace the deep ancestry of humanity, and, as articulated by founder James Sorenson prior to ... Read the article →

How predictable are we? When God or a neohuman (choose your favorite word) looks at a group of persons like us, how much does she see? Already, with our presumably-primitive technology, we are creating computer models to provide better intelligence for the military, enabling improved prediction of trends in (apparently) ... Read the article →

According to CNN, the gunman who shot 21 and killed six students at Northern Illinois University was “‘an outstanding student’ who reportedly stopped taking medication recently”. If it has not become obvious already, we should allow this latest example to persuade us that our good and evil behaviors have anatomical ... Read the article →

Nanotechnology or molecular engineering (precision manufacturing at the atomic level) will enable us to produce dirt-cheap supercomputers, ubiquitous 100% pure water, highly cost-efficient solar energy collectors, and myriads of other world-changing technologies that we probably have not even imagined. Most of us are not aware of advances in miniaturization technology ... Read the article →

At the IEET, a Transhumanist think tank, Russell Blackford has posted on “Religion and Nanotechnology”. He notes that support for nanotechnology correlates in western countries with secularism, and the United States comes in much lower than other western countries both in support for nanotechnology and secularism. He then advocates “a ... Read the article →

Although there may be a general positive correlation between education and secularism, among Mormons there appears to be a positive correlation between education and religiosity. This observation was perhaps first made formally by Richard Wootton in the 1950s. Wootton’s study, updated in recent years to be based on sixty years ... Read the article →

Tired of the mouse? Get ready to control your computer with your thoughts! Later this year, you should be able to buy an EEG headset for only $299. This is, most likely, just the beginning of generally-available brain-computer interfacing technology. In time, we should be able not only to output ... Read the article →

I wrote recently about the positive correlation between Mormonism and education. As it turns out, not only are Mormons interested in education, but educators are becoming increasingly interested in Mormons. The Boston Globe and various blogs have reported in recent days that Harvard has introduced a course on Mormonism. And ... Read the article →