Archive 2015

This is an archive of articles that Lincoln Cannon published in 2015. Monthly archives for January 2015, February 2015, March 2015, April 2015, May 2015, June 2015, July 2015, August 2015, September 2015, October 2015, November 2015, and December 2015 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's available on any of Lincoln's websites, including social media.

The End of Religion Misrecognized

So much anti-religious dogmatism, so much misrecognized religiosity, so little time. It’s a wonder to me that some clearly sophisticated ... Read more →
Quantifying Reputation at The World Table

I’m excited to announce that I’ve accepted the position of Senior Vice President and Chief Product Officer at The World ... Read more →
Mormon Ontology of God and Synthesis in Superhumanity

Stop a Mormon on the street, and ask her to describe God. She might say something like, “God is our ... Read more →
Richard Dawkins Advocates Cultural Bigotry

Richard Dawkins is at it again, misapplying his extraordinary biological brilliance to religion with altogether sophomoric results. He’s worried that ... Read more →
God is Superintelligent Posthumanity

I often position Mormon theology in terms of “superintelligent posthumanity”. This provides a bridge of understanding between Transhumanism and Mormonism. ... Read more →
The Semi-Orthogonality Thesis

In his Orthogonality Thesis, Nick Bostrom proposes that “intelligence and final goals are orthogonal: more or less any level of ... Read more →
Exploring the Mormon Mandate to Transhumanism

A friend recently shared with me some questions about Mormon Transhumanism. The questions arose in response to a recording of ... Read more →
Controversial Topics in Mormonism

Several friends have asked for my opinion on a set of controversial topics in Mormonism that The Church of Jesus ... Read more →
Myths and Visions of Mormon Transhumanists

This is a transcript of my talk at the 2015 Conference of the Mormon Transhumanist Association, held yesterday in the ... Read more →
Quality for Animal Life, a Proto Mormon Transhumanist Movement

Quality for Animal Life: what’s the first thing that comes to mind when you read that? Animal rights or something ... Read more →
New God Argument (Version 3.1)

Below is version 3.1 of the New God Argument, as it appears in “What is Mormon Transhumanism?”, published today in ... Read more →
The Reputation Web

Technological change is accelerating and transforming our world. Assuming trends persist, we will soon experience an evolutionary shift in the ... Read more →
Reputation Is the Identity We Need

Information systems have long relied on identity to facilitate security and other forms of decision-making. In its most basic sense, ... Read more →
Christianity Is in Our Transformation, Not My Dogmatism

Words may say I’m Christian. Actions too often show I’m not. I’ve conspired to heap up sanctioned fears and privileged ... Read more →
7 Reasons Cryonics Is Compatible with Mormonism

Occasionally I hear (or hear of) Mormons contending that cryonics (low-temperature preservation of a legally-dead body for resuscitation when new ... Read more →
From Dust to Christ

One of my favorite passages of The Book of Mormon is the speech of King Benjamin in Mosiah 2-5. In ... Read more →
New God Argument (Version 3.2)

Here is version 3.2 of the New God Argument, as it appears on the new website I published last week. ... Read more →
Who wrote the Bible? Who is writing the next one?

As I think about the future of humanity and the forces that shape our ongoing evolution, I’m often drawn to ... Read more →
Mormon Bodies and Mind Uploading

Mormonism is relatively unique among world religions in its regard for bodies. Where most major religions consider bodies to be ... Read more →
Sabbaths of Burden and Delight

This is a transcript of a talk I gave in my local Mormon congregation today. The leadership asked three of ... Read more →
Free Accepted Manuscript of "What Is Mormon Transhumanism?"

In April 2015, the journal of Theology and Science published my paper on “What Is Mormon Transhumanism?” Access to the ... Read more →
Symbolism of the Logo of the Mormon Transhumanist Association

I’m often asked about the logo of the Mormon Transhumanist Association, the winged wheel above the name of the association. ... Read more →
Desire Entices Us to Embrace Ethics

What is good? Is it good because God says so? Or does God say so because it’s good? If it’s ... Read more →
Religion and Superintelligence

Writing for the Daily Dot, Dylan Love recently put together a good piece on religion and superintelligence. The title has ... Read more →
Joy Is the Purpose of Life

Why not gather your family and friends for a group overdose on morphine? Expressed less provocatively, why live? Why maintain ... Read more →
Joy Is Fulfillment of Desires

I’ve written about joy being the purpose of life, using the Mormon authoritative tradition as an example of that idea. ... Read more →
Should I pity PZ Myers?

Some laud the relative respectability of New Atheism and its adherents compared to the various explicitly religious fundamentalisms of our ... Read more →
Transhumanists Should Disavow Zoltan Istvan's Candidacy

Zoltan Istvan is running for President of the United States as the candidate for the party he founded, Transhumanist Party ... Read more →
124 Thoughts from LDS Church General Conference (October 2015)

Each year in the spring and fall, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints holds its annual general conference. ... Read more →
Top 10 Posts from 10 Years of Blogging

Today is the tenth anniversary of my blog! Thank you so much for reading, reasoning, feeling, imagining, commenting, agreeing, disagreeing, ... Read more →
What do imaginary sky masters have to do with Transhumanism?

Sometimes atheist Transhumanists ask me, “What do imaginary sky masters have to do with Transhumanism?” Of course there’s an appeal ... Read more →
Love Is the Duty of Life

Like Christianity generally, Mormonism stresses that our duty is love, particularly because love enables joy. Echoing the central themes of ... Read more →
My Mormon Perspective on Blessing Children

I learned this morning that leadership of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (the largest Mormon denomination and ... Read more →
Love Is Reconciliation of Desires

The Mormon authoritative tradition clearly and repeatedly advocates the kind of love that would reconcile desires. As usual, Jesus sets ... Read more →
Ethics as Dimensions of Desire

You and I begin with desires, physical and spiritual, that we seek to fulfill as the purpose of our respective ... Read more →
Only From the Wilderness Comes Such Grace

Some of the most spiritual places in the world, for me, are found in the rugged red rock deserts and ... Read more →