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Top 10 Posts from 10 Years of Blogging

15 October 2015 (updated 10 July 2020)

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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, and supporting my work over the years. In celebration, below is a list of my top 10 most viewed posts, followed by a list of the top posts for each year. I’d also really love to hear from you. If there’s a post I’ve written that you’ve particularly liked, will you please tell me about it in the comments, along with a link to it? Thanks again!

10) Sabbaths of burden and delight

(1,839 views since 26 July 2015)

This is a transcript of a talk I gave in my local Mormon congregation. The leadership asked three of us to speak on the subject of the Sabbath, how we might cultivate positive feelings toward it, and how we severally try to do so in our own homes. Read the article →

9) Free accepted manuscript of “What Is Mormon Transhumanism?”

(1,900 views since 29 July 2015)

In April 2015, the journal of Theology and Science published my paper on “What Is Mormon Transhumanism?” Access to the version of record requires a fee. However, I’ve made the accepted manuscript available for free. Read the article →

8) Shelly Kagan on the nature of persons: dualism and physicalism

(2,153 views since 7 May 2009)

In this lecture, Shelly Kagan talks about life and death, as well as persons, in black and white terms. However, are there degrees of life and death? Are there degrees of consciousness? Are there degrees of identity? Read the article →

7) Letter to my son’s seminary teacher on the Gospel and human evolution

(2,588 views since 5 December 2012)

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 share some of them with the students in your class so that they may know Mormons have differing perspectives on human evolution, and yet despite those differences we affirm our common trust in the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Read the article →

6) 100 thoughts from October 2012 General Conference

(2,648 views since 7 October 2012)

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 conference. The thoughts range from affirmations to criticisms, and from questions to assertions. Hopefully they’ll provoke reflection, questions and comments. Read the article →

5) New God Argument (Version 2.0)

(3,411 views since 26 March 2010)

This is a revised summary of the New God Argument, as presented at the annual meeting of the Society for Mormon Philosophy and Theology. Those who are familiar with the argument will recognize that we renamed the Charity Arguments to “the Benevolence Argument” and focused in on one of the original arguments – which is not to say there is not merit in the others, but this one lends itself best to the formal argument. We also revised some of the syntax, most notably using “posthumans” now rather than “advanced civilizations”, which serves to clarify some areas. Read the article →

4) 145 highlights from FutureMed Singularity University

(4,529 views since 17 May 2011)

The Singularity University FutureMed executive program was a fun and fast-paced opportunity to refresh knowledge and connect with some of the best minds in emerging medical technology. The program was held at the NASA Ames research park in California. Topics ranged from exponential technology generally to its specific manifestations in data-driven health, personalized health, regenerative medicine, intervention and neuromedicine. Daniel Kraft led the program, and the faculty included renowned inventor Ray Kurzweil, Xprize founder Peter Diamandis, and an impressive group of physicians, entrepreneurs, scientists and engineers leading their respective fields. Read the article →

3) Post-secularism and the resurrecting God

(6,589 views since 30 June 2012)

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 anti-religious voices in pop culture, is showing its age. In its place, a new hypothesis is rising: post-secularization. Read the article →

2) Purpose of the Mormon Transhumanist Association

(5,968 views since 6 April 2013)

This is a transcript of my opening presentation at the 2013 Conference of the Mormon Transhumanist Association yesterday, 5 April 2013, in the Salt Lake City Public Library. The conference room filled beyond capacity this year with around 80 in-person attendees and more participating online via the live video stream. Read the article →

1) Sanctimony desecrates excommunication

(9,215 views since 24 June 2014)

This has been an emotional day for Mormonism. As reported in national headlines, Kate Kelly of Ordain Women has been excommunicated from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints for “conduct contrary to the laws and order of the Church”. While I do not have a strong opinion for or against ordination of women to priesthood in the Church, I do strongly support open constructive discussion of the question. While I recognize the Church’s concern appears not to have been the question itself, but rather how Kate Kelly has approached the question, I am alarmed by the sanctimonious manner in which some members of the Church have responded to news of the excommunication. Read the article →

Words from Top 10 Posts of Lincoln Cannon

That’s the top 10 list for all time. Now, here’s the top post for each calendar year since launching my blog in 2005. From 2009 onward, the top posts also appear in the top 10 list for all time, reflecting the growing audience. Thank you for that!

2005) God is dead … again

(127 views since 16 October 2005)

Remember this scene from Monty Python and the Holy Grail? Read the article →

2006) Does active faith in physical salvation matter?

(170 views since 20 September 2006)

Mormons generally describe salvation as consisting of two parts: physical and spiritual. Simply put, physical salvation is immortality, and spiritual salvation is eternal life with God. A common modern view is that physical salvation is free through the grace of God, whereas spiritual salvation requires a combination of grace and human work. All humans, moral or otherwise, will eventually attain physical salvation: the living will be transfigured and the dead resurrected to immortality, without any work on our part. Almost all humans will eventually attain spiritual salvation, through the grace of God; however, the degree of our spiritual salvation depends on the morality of our works. Read the article →

2007) The accelerating exponent of Kurzweil’s Law

(271 views since 20 August 2007)

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. Read the article →

2008) When God remembers us

(188 views since 5 September 2008)

The New York Times reports that remembering may be like reliving, from the perspective of the neurons doing the remembering. Remembering neurons appear to behave like they did when first experiencing whatever is being remembered. Read the article →

2009) Shelly Kagan on the nature of persons: dualism and physicalism

(2,153 views since 7 May 2009)

In this lecture, Shelly Kagan talks about life and death, as well as persons, in black and white terms. However, are there degrees of life and death? Are there degrees of consciousness? Are there degrees of identity? Read the article →

2010) New God Argument (Version 2.0)

(3,411 views since 26 March 2010)

This is a revised summary of the New God Argument, as presented at the annual meeting of the Society for Mormon Philosophy and Theology. Those who are familiar with the argument will recognize that we renamed the Charity Arguments to “the Benevolence Argument” and focused in on one of the original arguments – which is not to say there is not merit in the others, but this one lends itself best to the formal argument. We also revised some of the syntax, most notably using “posthumans” now rather than “advanced civilizations”, which serves to clarify some areas. Read the article →

2011) 145 highlights from FutureMed Singularity University

(4,529 views since 17 May 2011)

The Singularity University FutureMed executive program was a fun and fast-paced opportunity to refresh knowledge and connect with some of the best minds in emerging medical technology. The program was held at the NASA Ames research park in California. Topics ranged from exponential technology generally to its specific manifestations in data-driven health, personalized health, regenerative medicine, intervention and neuromedicine. Daniel Kraft led the program, and the faculty included renowned inventor Ray Kurzweil, Xprize founder Peter Diamandis, and an impressive group of physicians, entrepreneurs, scientists and engineers leading their respective fields. Read the article →

2012) Post-secularism and the resurrecting God

(6,589 views since 30 June 2012)

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 anti-religious voices in pop culture, is showing its age. In its place, a new hypothesis is rising: post-secularization. Read the article →

2013) Purpose of the Mormon Transhumanist Association

(5,968 views since 6 April 2013)

This is a transcript of my opening presentation at the 2013 Conference of the Mormon Transhumanist Association yesterday, 5 April 2013, in the Salt Lake City Public Library. The conference room filled beyond capacity this year with around 80 in-person attendees and more participating online via the live video stream. Read the article →

2014) Sanctimony desecrates excommunication

(9,215 views since 24 June 2014)

This has been an emotional day for Mormonism. As reported in national headlines, Kate Kelly of Ordain Women has been excommunicated from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints for “conduct contrary to the laws and order of the Church”. While I do not have a strong opinion for or against ordination of women to priesthood in the Church, I do strongly support open constructive discussion of the question. While I recognize the Church’s concern appears not to have been the question itself, but rather how Kate Kelly has approached the question, I am alarmed by the sanctimonious manner in which some members of the Church have responded to news of the excommunication. Read the article →

2015) Free accepted manuscript of “What Is Mormon Transhumanism?”

(1,900 views since 29 July 2015)

In April 2015, the journal of Theology and Science published my paper on “What Is Mormon Transhumanism?” Access to the version of record requires a fee. However, I’ve made the accepted manuscript available for free. Read the article →

Thanks again for reading! And please, remember to share a link to your favorite post in the comments below. I look forward to sharing and discussing more with you.

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