The Future of Religions/Religions of the Future is a two-day conference (4-5 June) examining how two of the 21st Century's driving forces, religion and technology, will continue to re-shape each other and, in the process, re-cast our understanding of "humanity" in the Third Millennium. Centered on, but not limited to, virtual worlds and social networking technologies, speakers and panelists will also examine changes precipitated by the biotechnology revolution, cognitive science, information technologies and robotics.
As part of the conference, Giulio Prisco, member of the Mormon Transhumanist Association, will present on "Transhumanist Religions" at 9:45AM Second Life time (Pacific Time) on Thursday, 5 June. Here is an abstract for Giulio's presentation:
"Description and analysis of new spiritual and 'religious' (brackets required) movements that can be broadly described as outlines of 'transhumanist religions' compatible with, and based on, the scientific worldview. Key issues: May sentient life evolve toward Godhead? May future technologies resurrect the dead? May we someday create VR universes that contain sentient life? May we _be_ sentient life in such a VR universe? Can complements or alternatives to traditional religions be based on these wild scientific speculations? What can be the impact of 'transhumanist religions' on traditional religions, culture, society and politics? And the most important question: Why should this matter to you?"
The conference will be held in the central nexus of the Transhumanist island, Extropia:
http://slurl.com/secondlife/Extropia%20Core/128/128/25/?title=Extropia%20Core
For more information, see the announcement on the Extropia Core web site:
http://zones.extropiacore.net/religion/index.html
