Courage Assumption
The Courage Assumption (formerly known as the Faith Assumption and the Faith Position) is part of the New God Argument. It posits that humanity will not become extinct before evolving into superhumanity, which may be false. However, to the extent that we do not know it to be false, we may have practical or moral reasons to trust that we can make it true. In any case, the Faith Assumption is a common aspiration among secular advocates of technological evolution, such as Transhumanists, and may be consistent with the religious doctrine of theosis, also known as deification: the idea that humanity should become God.
This is a list of articles that Lincoln Cannon has written about the Courage Assumption of the New God Argument. 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.
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The Practical Power of Created Truth
Philosophers and scientists have pursued truth for at least millennia. Most seem to want something rigid that we might associate with “the whole truth and nothing but the truth.” But I contend that pursuit of truth, depending on how we conceive it, may be and often is less important than ... -
Cultivating Bias Toward More Right
There are at least two ways to be less wrong. You can decrease risk of being wrong, which also decreases opportunity for being right. Or you can increase opportunity for being right, which also increases risk of being wrong. Neither is necessarily proportionate. The surest way to be less wrong ... -
God Starts with Your Imagination of the Future
When we imagine better minds and bodies, better relationships, and a better world, we imagine God. When we trust in and work toward such, we have the most important kind of faith. It’s the kind that becomes God. Then we’ll know that God exists, whether or not we know that ... -
Compassion in the New God Argument (Version 3.4)
On Saturday 3 August, I presented the New God Argument at the Sunstone conference in Salt Lake City. As part of the presentation, I simplified the formulation of the Compassion Argument slightly. And I spent more time than usual elaborating on how the first assumption of the Compassion Argument arises ... -
New God Argument (Version 3.0)
Below is an experimental formulation (version 3.0) of the New God Argument. Those familiar with previous formulations of the argument will note the following changes. First, I combined all assumptions about human futurity into the Faith Assumption. Second, I dropped the Angel Argument because its conclusion is redundant with that ... -
Dynamic Faith in Pancritical Rationalism
In the comments on an H+ Magazine article on “Why Christianity and Transhumanism are not Enemies,” Max More disagreed with my assessment of the inevitability of faith. Here’s the exchange, including an opening comment from someone named “Ben.” Ben: “Christianity is based on FAITH. Transhumanism is based on SCIENCE. What ... -
Trust in Posthumanity and the New God Argument
Here is a transcript of my speech on the New God Argument at the Transhumanism and Spirituality Conference 2010. If we will not go extinct before becoming posthumans then, given assumptions consistent with contemporary science and technological trends, posthumans probably already exist that are more benevolent than us and that ... -
Theological Implications of the New God Argument
Below is a transcript of my presentation of the New God Argument today at the annual meeting of the Society for Mormon Philosophy and Theology. I hope to follow up later with a recording, when it becomes available. Thank you to all who attended for the thought-provoking questions and conversation. ... -
New God Argument (Version 2.0)
Below is the revised summary of the New God Argument, as presented today 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 ... -
Cannon's Wager: Bet on Better Works
Will works save you? Some Christians enjoy debating whether good works are necessary for salvation, with responses ranging from the extremes of Calvinism (we can make absolutely no effort, spiritual or physical, toward salvation) to the extremes of Pelagianism (salvation depends almost entirely on our efforts, spiritual and physical). Most ... -
New God Argument (Version 1.0)
Abstract: If basic life forms are probable then we should trust that advanced civilizations are probable. If any advanced civilization probably has increased in destructive capacity faster than defensive capacity, and if any advanced civilization probably creates many worlds like those in its past, then we should trust that an ... -
Transhumanist Faith
Some have wondered whether Singularitarianism, with which a subset of Transhumanists identify, is the true religion. Their point, with which I readily agree, is that, whether we think of Transhumanism as a religion or not, what matters is whether it will deliver on the future it advocates. In reaction, some ...