Mormon Transhumanist Association

The Mormon Transhumanist Association announces a monthly Transfigurism Meetup Online the second Wednesday of each month at 7PM Pacific Time in the virtual world of Second Life. Everyone is invited. If you're a member of the Mormon Transhumanist Association and would like to get to know other members, this is your chance. If you're not a member of the association and would just like to ask some questions, we'd be happy to help. Everyone is welcome. Bring a friend. The Mormon Transhumanist Association...

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 idiot God from H P Lovecraft's fiction, than like the traditional monotheistic God from Judeo-Christian theology. He notes, too, that Azathoth is quite alien in comparison to humans, whose foresight...

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. Mormon metaphysics (a description of the basis of reality) does not rely on the immaterial or supernatural. Spirit is fine matter or light. Miracles do not contravene law. God organized the world...

In response to an article by transhumanist philosopher Nick Bostrom, I wrote recently about the significance of finding basic life forms on another planet, such as Mars. In summary, if basic life forms are probable in the universe then advanced life forms must also be probable or we're probably doomed. So if we discover basic life forms on another planet, given the alternatives, we should trust, for practical reasons, that advanced life forms are out there somewhere, too. Just yesterday, the Phoenix...

Thanks to David Frischknecht at LDS Media Talk, we have news that the next issue of the LDS Church magazine, "The Ensign", will feature on its cover an article entitled "Sharing the Gospel Using the Internet". It is an adaptation of a talk given by Elder M Russell Ballard, who has been encouraging Mormon involvement in Internet discussion and promotion of our religion. I'm excited to see the LDS Church focusing this level of attention on the use of technology as a means for pursuing a Mormon vision...

The Book of Mormon contains an intriguing story about a man named Lehi, who in ancient times sought guidance from God while journeying in the desert with his family to find a new home. One morning, upon opening the door of his tent, he discovered on the ground a fine brass ball of “curious workmanship”. On inspecting the ball, Lehi saw that it contained two spindles, and soon learned that one of the spindles would move to guide him through the more fertile parts of the desert. From time to time,...

The Mormon Transhumanist Association will be hosting the next in their series of monthly round table discussions on 21 June 2008. This month's discussion will be focused on "Ensoulment: Stem Cells, Human Cloning, and the Beginning of Life", an article by Rick Jepson featured in a recent addition of Sunstone Magazine. The article can be downloaded for free here. Optionally, you may also purchase an mp3 of a Sunstone presentation of the same topic given by Rick Jepson here.Joseph West, Director of...

On the Mormon blog, By Common Consent, in a post entitled "Towards a Mormon Darwinism", Steven P asked how readers reconcile evolution with various aspects of Mormonism, and wondered whether we could do so while preserving notions of God's creation, Adam's fall and Christ's atonement. Of course, I think we can, and that we should without appeals to anything supernatural. Below are my thoughts. Adam and Eve are archetypes of humanity. This is clearly suggested by the wording of a passage from...

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...

Many of us perceive a certain morality in allowing primitive humans to live without interaction with the broader human civilization. Some of us even go so far as to work to protect such persons from incursions, including basic communication. The concern, of course, is that interaction with us may hurt them, even if we do not intend harm. There are an estimated 100 uncontacted tribes living around the world. Brazil's National Indian Foundation recently sighted and photographed one of them. Our relation...