Archive 2012
This is an archive of articles that Lincoln Cannon published in 2012. Monthly archives for January 2012, February 2012, March 2012, April 2012, May 2012, June 2012, July 2012, August 2012, September 2012, October 2012, November 2012, and December 2012 are available. And a full archive of all articles that Lincoln has published since 2005 is also available. You may also search for articles and other content that Lincoln has published on any of his websites.
-
Deification Banned "By Common Consent"
[3 January 2012 11:48pm - If I were to write this post again now, it would be titled and focused differently. As I’ve reviewed and discussed with others the posts and comments exchanged between BCC and me, and as I’ve considered subsequent claims by BCC, I’ve become persuaded that BCC ... -
John 3:16 from a Mormon Perspective
Sports news media and google searchers are presently giving the Biblical passage at John 3:16 a lot of attention because Tim Tebow, an American football player known for advocating Christianity by displaying references to “John 3:16”, recently led the Denver Broncos to victory over the Pittsburgh Steelers by passing for ... -
Turn Back the Doomsday Clock
The Doomsday Clock has moved a minute closer to midnight. It’s managed by the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, who have since 1947 used the clock to communicate their assessment of the degree of global catastrophic risk facing humanity. Humanity faces a broad set of extinction risks, both natural and ... -
Dyson Spheres, Von Neumann Probes, and Fermi Paradox
Scientists Anders Sandberg and Stuart Armstrong are working on a paper that explores the relation between theoretical engineering capacities and colonization of the universe. Of course, this is not a new topic. For decades, scientists and philosophers have analyzed what has come to be known as the “Fermi paradox,” named ... -
From Following Christ to Being Christ
In conversation with a friend today, he commented that Paul in the New Testament seems to tell us to leave behind Christ (Hebrews 6: 1). I don’t think that’s an accurate interpretation of the passage. But I do think Paul invites us to leave behind the infancy of following Christ ... -
Parallels and Convergences
I’m pleased to announce that Parallels and Convergences: Mormon Thought and Engineering Vision is now available for purchase. In 2009, the Claremont School of Religion, the LDS Council on Mormon Studies and the Mormon Scholars Foundation sponsored the Mormonism and Engineering conference. Richard Bushman (Claremont College Howard W Hunter Chair ... -
Teaching Teenagers to Value Sex without Sexism
I have three sons that I love dearly, and I care about their education in all areas, including sexuality. I want them to understand that sex is beautiful and fun, when accompanied with love, respect and responsibility. I also want them to understand that sex can be abused, potentially harming ... -
A Strenuous Mood for Transhumanism on Mormon Matters
This week, I was a guest on the Mormon Matters podcast, hosted by my friend Dan Wotherspoon. I joined Dan, Chris Bradford, and Tyson Jacobsen in a discussion about Mormonism and Transhumanism. We recorded the podcast in two parts. Here are links: Mormonism and Transhumanism on Mormon Matters Podcast (Part ... -
Thoughts for a Mormon Friend in Religious Crisis
A friend (who knows I’m writing this, but whose name will remain undisclosed) approached me today with a list of questions, reflecting a crisis of religious disillusionment. Like me, my friend is a Mormon, which brought us together. And his questions were related to common controversies in Mormonism. I explained ... -
92 Thoughts on April 2012 General Conference
Over the last couple days, I watched an online stream of the April 2012 General Conference of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. I enjoyed the conference, and particularly the opportunity to engage in discussion of the ideas with others online. Below are 92 thoughts, from me and ... -
Information Technology for the Work of God
Mormons typically understand the work of God to be that of bringing about human immortality and eternal life, reflecting words from a thought provoking passage from the first chapter of the Book of Moses. Since most Mormons also trust that we should become like God, the implication is that the ... -
Becoming God Can Be Cruel and Irrational
“God is cruel,” says Hank Pellissier, managing director of the Institute for Ethics and Emerging Technology. Here are my thoughts in response. Hank, there’s considerable irony in your post. The charge that theism is illogical presents significant practical and logical challenges for a Transhumanist. You trust in humanity’s posthuman potential. ... -
Imagine a 1970 Journal Entry on Blacks and Priesthood
In 1978, the LDS Church extended priesthood to blacks. Prior to that time, some Mormons doubted the divinity of the priesthood ban. Subsequent to that time, some Mormons doubted the divinity of the priesthood extension. This evening, I was imagining what it might have been like in the early 1970s ... -
How strong are constraints on intelligent purpose?
In “The Superintelligent Will: Motivations and Instrumental Rationality in Advanced Artificial Agents,” Nick Bostrom argues briefly for the idea that the intelligence and the purpose of an agent are mostly independent. He calls this the “orthogonality thesis.” I’m not persuaded by his reasoning. He acknowledges three constraints on the relation ... -
Should You Persuade Me of Your Ideology?
Should we attempt to persuade each other of our ideologies? Some of us avoid proselyting. Others, such as Mormons, heartily embrace proselyting. While I don’t think all forms of proselyting are good, and I don’t think all ideologies (or all interpretations of any ideology) are worthy of proselyting, here are ... -
A Mormon View of the Judeo-Christian Creation Story
I recently read news of a creationist museum using billboards featuring cartoon dinosaurs. Yes. That’s religious dinosaurs using cartoon dinosaurs to preach fictional dinosaurs. It prompted an interesting discussion on my Google+ page regarding interpretation of the Judeo-Christian creation story. The claim was made that the LDS Church (the largest ... -
Post-Secularism and the Resurrecting God
God is dead, proclaimed Nietzsche. He was right and wrong. Following their God, traditional forms of religion have been dying, particularly in many technologically advanced, specialized, and prosperous countries. Consequently, many have embraced the secularization hypothesis: religion itself is dying. That hypothesis, however, now embraced less by experts than by ... -
Humanistic Mormonism
Several friends have asked for my opinion on Humanistic Mormonism, consequent to hearing about the Society for Humanistic Mormonism. As most readers of my blog know, I’m one of the founders of the Mormon Transhumanist Association and currently serving as president of that organization. So it won’t come as a ... -
The Consolation
At the recent 2012 Conference of the Mormon Transhumanist Association, I presented a paper entitled “The Consolation: An Adaptation of the King Follett Sermon of Joseph Smith.” Some who are well acquainted with my thoughts and writings have remarked to me that this may be the best paper that I’ve ... -
Evolving Gods and Richard Dawkins
As mentioned before, I’ve repeatedly found inspiration in Richard Dawkins, despite an important difference between us. He’s a devout atheist. And I’m a devout theist. He argues cogently that complex life must have simpler antecedents. And he vigorously attacks contrary theist positions. I agree with him. Interestingly, however, to illustrate ... -
100 Thoughts on October 2012 General Conference
This weekend, I watched an online stream of the October 2012 General Conference of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. I enjoyed the conference, and particularly the opportunity to engage in discussion of the ideas with others online. Below are 100 thoughts, from me and others, about the ... -
Mormonism Mandates Transhumanism
If you’re a Mormon, you should be a Transhumanist. That’s my contention. I’ve suggested before that “Mormon Transhumanist” is not redundant. But “Transhumanist Mormon” is redundant because Mormonism mandates Transhumanism. In other words, you can be a Transhumanist without being a Mormon. But you can’t be a Mormon without being ... -
The Altruist God of an Egoist Atheist
Think of an egoist atheist. What comes to mind? Here’s what doesn’t come to mind: trust in an altruistic god-like extraterrestrial. That, however, is only because you don’t know this egoist atheist: Forbidden Truth (“FT”). Now, some will think that I’m intending “egoist” as an external judgment or insult, but ... -
Merit Medical in InformationWeek Top Tech Innovators
As the Director of Sales & Marketing Technology at Merit, I’m proud to announce that Merit Medical was ranked 195 out of 500 companies on the InformationWeek 500 Top Technology Innovators. This annual list identifies the nation’s most innovative users of business technology. InformationWeek tracks the technology, strategies, investments, and ... -
Letter to a Seminary Teacher on Human Evolution
Dear brother, I’m the father of one of your seminary students. He mentioned to me that a student asked about human evolution yesterday, and that you do not have a favorable opinion of it. I’m writing to share with you my thoughts and feelings on the subject, hoping that you’ll ... -
As One that Hath a Familiar Spirit
If you are familiar with the Book of Mormon and the King James translation of the Bible then you know they contain many textual similarities. Nephi extensively quotes Isaiah. Jesus repeats to the Nephites many of his words recorded in the Gospels. Moroni teaches of charity with words nearly identical ... -
Comparison of the First Book of Nephi to the Bible
Available now is my computed comparison of the First Book of Nephi to the Bible. It consists of 58 pages of side-by-side text comparisons. This is part of the second edition of As One that Hath a Familiar Spirit. Here are some highlights from and observations about this comparison of ... -
Comparison of the Second Book of Nephi to the Bible
Available now is my computed comparison of the Second Book of Nephi to the Bible. It consists of 157 pages of side-by-side text comparisons. This is part of the second edition of As One that Hath a Familiar Spirit. Here are some highlights from and observations about this comparison of ... -
Would It Be Moral to Create a World Like Ours?
I trust our world was created by God, a radically compassionate posthumanity. After expressing this trust recently on the Singularity 1 on 1 podcast, a commenter asked how I justify the morality of creating worlds like the one we’re now living in. Or, put differently and in traditional terms: how ...