Theology
Theology on this site is contemplation of God that may inform future understanding of superintelligence and posthuman divinity. Lincoln argues that ancient and modern theological discourse offers resources for ethical and existential questions raised by emerging technology. His articles explore Mormon theology in relation to science, too many gods, the Transhumanist Godhead, and theology becoming a science of superintelligence. The topic lists articles relevant to imagination of the future and decentralization of God.
This is a list of articles that Lincoln Cannon has written about theology. 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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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 ... -
Roko's Basilisk and Technological Theology
Have you heard of Roko’s Basilisk? Gulp. Too late.;) Today, I interviewed an artificial intelligence about Roko’s Basilisk. It seemed appropriate. You probably understand why, if you already know what it is. If you don’t yet know what it is, the artificial intelligence will soon change that. Below is the ... -
Decentralization of God
In the Apocalypse, we read that Christ offers us a crown, and invites us to sit together on the throne of God. We read that Christ would make us kings to God. These iron age signs and tokens of governance, Christ would decentralize. If we’re able to imagine that, we’re ... -
The New God Argument Evolves
The New God Argument has evolved over the years, as I’ve worked to simplify it and present it in more accessible ways. There’s still a lot of work to do. Too bad I can’t work on it for more than small amounts of time on an occasional basis! But I ... -
Theology May Become a Science of Superintelligence
Sometimes, perhaps more often than not, we forget origins. We forget where we came from and how we got here. We forget lessons learned along the way. And often, perhaps more often than not, we progress more slowly than we might otherwise because we don’t look back to learn. We ... -
Religion and Superintelligence
Writing for the Daily Dot, Dylan Love recently put together a good piece on religion and superintelligence. The title has changed since the original posting. The new one is, in my estimation, inaccurate, but it probably improved clicks. Here’s the original title: “Will we be able to convert robots to ... -
God is Superintelligent Posthumanity
I often position Mormon theology in terms of “superintelligent posthumanity.” This provides a bridge of understanding between Transhumanism and Mormonism. It can also provide a bridge of understanding between Transhumanism and broader Christianity, insofar as Mormonism illustrates an interpretive approach to Christian authoritative tradition. Recently, after reading one of my ... -
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 Heavenly Father, an embodied glorified being, who created our world and loves us immeasurably.” That’s an accurate account of Mormon theology, so far as it goes. And yet there’s more ... -
"Religion" and "God" and Fundamentalism
I’m sometimes criticized for using “religion” and “God” in unusual ways. Generally, this criticism comes from persons with fundamentalist inclinations of either the religious or antireligious sort, whose relatively rigid views of religion and God inform their opinion that I’m diverging from what these words really or generally mean. Of ... -
Transhumanist Godhead
“Why does the Holy Ghost not have a body?” Someone raised this question in my son’s class during church meetings. And the instructor asked the students to think about it at home during the week. Some of us are repulsed by such questions, either because we consider all theology to ... -
Looking for God in the Wrong Places
I recently came across an interesting blog post entitled “An Alien God,” by Eliezer Yudkowsky, who is a Transhumanist AI researcher. In the post, Eliezer describes biological evolution and compares it to various ideas of God. In the end, he concludes that evolution is much more like Azathoth, a blind ... -
Mormon Theology in Relation to Science and Technology
I often have the opportunity to present to groups interested in learning about parallels between Mormon and Transhumanist views of the future. Below is a summary of how I understand Mormon metaphysics, theodicy, eschatology and soteriology in relation to contemporary science and technology. Metaphysics Mormon metaphysics (a description of the ...