Archive 2021
This is an archive of articles that Lincoln Cannon published in 2021. Monthly archives for January 2021, April 2021, July 2021, September 2021, and October 2021 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.
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I Interviewed GPT-3 About Mormon Transhumanism
If you’re tuned in to news about AI research and machine learning, you’ve surely heard about GPT-3. It’s a natural language model that uses deep learning to produce human-like text. The model is based on a neural network that optimized for 175 billion parameters. That was much more complex than ... -
Facebook Disabled My Account After I Criticized Them
Facebook unfriended me. Why? So far as I can tell, it’s because I’ve been using Facebook to advocate for decentralization of social media. And apparently the algorithm didn’t like that. This morning, sometime between 8:54am and 9:06am Mountain, Facebook disabled my account. Just after 8:54am, I copy-pasted the content of ... -
Why Decentralization Is Essential to Human Thriving
Decentralization of power, whether we characterize that power as technological or otherwise, is essential to increasing the probability of a thriving human (or superhuman) future. There’s a line of reasoning that persuaded me of this conclusion. It consists of three steps. Before I share the three steps, I should explain ... -
Redeeming (Most of) the Seven Deadly Heresies
On 1 June 1980, Bruce R. McConkie delivered a sermon entitled “The Seven Deadly Heresies.” For a long time, I’ve been meaning to share my thoughts about this sermon. And recently, while writing another article, I found myself bumping up against this sermon again. So now is probably a good ... -
NFT Memorial to Mormon Transhumanist Leaders
In April of this year, I completed my fifth and final term as a board member of the Mormon Transhumanist Association. During those fifteen years, it was my privilege and pleasure to share in service on the board with 24 of the finest people that I know personally: Andrew West ... -
The Apotheosis of Pity
Pulled from the crowd into the light, I stumbled blindly. But my friends supported me by both arms. They guided me some distance, whispering comfort to my ears. And they lowered me carefully to the ground. As soon as they had released my left arm and before I could thank ... -
As We, in Turn, Become the Limits of Humanity
Our living ancestors are shelter from the limits of humanity. Within their walls, much is well lit. Much is visible. Much is familiar. But there’s an outside. Beyond their lives, none of us has yet ventured. But we know it’s there, if “there” is the right word to describe it. ... -
The Economy of Godhood
Godhood is the ultimate conceptualization of power. From many Gods through one God, human minds evolved. We knew many. We knew one. Now the apocalypse is here: whether there’s one God or many Gods, all are being revealed. And as they appear, we are seeing that we are like them. ...