Frequently Asked Questions
What is the Mormon Transhumanist Association?
The Mormon Transhumanist Association is an international nonprofit organization that promotes practical faith in human exaltation through charitable use of science and technology, as outlined in the Mormon Transhumanist Affirmation. We are affiliated with the World Transhumanist Association and support the Transhumanist Declaration. Although we are neither a religious organization nor affiliated with any religious organization, we support our members in their personal religious affiliations, and encourage them to adapt Transhumanism to their unique situations.
What is the relationship between Mormonism and Transhumanism?
Increasingly, persons are recognizing the relationship between Mormonism and Transhumanism. On the one hand, Mormonism is a spiritual ideology of the Judeo-Christian tradition that advocates faith in God leading to salvation. On the other hand, Transhumanism is a mostly secular ideology that advocates ethical use of technology to extend human capabilities. However, Mormonism and Transhumanism advocate remarkably similar views of human nature and its future: material beings organized according to law, rapidly advancing knowledge and power, imminent fundamental changes to our anatomy and environment, and ultimate transcendence of our current limitations.
Documents and presentations available on this site provide more details on the relationship between Mormonism and Transhumanism. "Parallels and Complements between Mormonism and Transhumanism", originally presented at the Sunstone Symposium in Salt Lake City on 11 August 2006, compares Mormon and Transhumanist views of the future. Alternatively, for persons already familiar with Mormonism, we recommend "Transfiguration", published in March 2007 as the cover article of Sunstone magazine. For persons already familiar with Transhumanism, we recommend "Syncretization", originally presented at the Seminar on Transhumanism and Religion in Second Life on 29 April 2007.
How can I learn more about Mormonism?
General information about Mormonism is available from numerous sources on the Internet. Mormonism News provides the latest news, and Mormonism Search enables you to search Mormon web sites.
How can I learn more about Transhumanism?
General information about Transhumanism is available from the World Transhumanist Association and other sources on the Internet. Transhumanism News provides the latest news, and Transhumanism Search enables you to search Transhumanist web sites.
When was the Mormon Transhumanist Association organized?
The Mormon Transhumanist Association was founded on 3 March 2006 by a group of friends who had long discussed a common interest in active expression of their faith in physical salvation. We adopted the Constitution of the Mormon Transhumanist Association, including the Mormon Transhumanist Affirmation, on 13 May 2006; incorporated in Utah of the United States on 4 August 2006; and are now working on 501c3 nonprofit status in the United States. We formally affiliated with the World Transhumanist Association on 6 July 2006.
Who are members of the Mormon Transhumanist Association?
At the end of 2006, the Mormon Transhumanist Association had 40 members located throughout the world. Most are also members of Mormon religious organizations; however, some are not, yet identify as Mormon or associate with Mormonism for various reasons. All voting members of the Mormon Transhumanist Association are voting members of the World Transhumanist Association, and some are also members of other Transhumanist organizations.
What does the Mormon Transhumanist Association do?
The Mormon Transhumanist Association promotes practical faith in human exaltation through charitable use of science and technology, as outlined in the Mormon Transhumanist Affirmation. Here are a few of the things we accomplished in our first year:
1) We contributed to scientific research for improving the human condition by participating in the Rosetta@home Project, rising to position 261 of 4711 in the world.
2) We reached out to the broader Transhumanist community by affiliating with the World Transhumanist Association, and served the Mormon and Transhumanist communities by creating and hosting Mormonism Search, Mormonism News, Transhumanism Search and Transhumanism News.
3) We educated each other on the opportunities and responsibilities of the near future by publishing blogs, engaging in discussion, presenting the Parallels and Complements between Mormonism and Transhumanism, and increasing site visits to over 20,000 per month.
How can I contact the Mormon Transhumanist Association?
You may contact us by email:
admin@transfigurism.org
You may also contact us by mail:
Mormon Transhumanist Association
Post Office Box 58191
Salt Lake City, Utah 84158-0191
United States of America
How can I help the Mormon Transhumanist Association?
The Mormon Transhumanist Association invites you to help us promote practical faith in human exaltation through charitable use of science and technology. Join the association, engage in discussion, volunteer your skills and make a donation. Talk to your family and friends about the value of science and technology, how they complement and empower faith, and what we can do to ensure we use them responsibly and charitably. Consider education and careers in scientific and engineering fields. Leverage technology in your religious and humanitarian efforts to facilitate and expedite the work.
Why should I join the Mormon Transhumanist Association?
Through technological advancement in recent centuries, humans now navigate depths of the sea that sunlight does not reach and rocket through the sky at speeds greater than that of sound. For more than a half century now, humans have had the technological power to destroy themselves and a significant portion of the planet. Within just the past quarter century, we’ve seen the emergence of the personal computer, which now provides as much power in a handheld device as once filled entire rooms. Humans have visited the moon, space tourists are currently orbiting the Earth, and robots are scouting Mars. The human genome has been entirely sequenced. Worldwide data, text, audio, and video communications via the Internet are inexpensive and commonplace. We regularly read in the news of advances toward cures for cancer. This is today!
Whether tomorrow is wonderful or horrible may depend on the extent to which persons with good minds and loving hearts become actively involved in shaping the future. We cannot prove that God will prevent us from misusing the power with which we have been endowed, nor can we prove that God will ensure human immortality despite our efforts or lack thereof. It may be that we can avoid the prophesied horrors of the last days just as Nineveh avoided its prophesied destruction (Jonah 3). It may be that the transfiguration and resurrection to immortality will happen no faster than we do the work, as with the preaching of the gospel to all persons. More generally, it may be that charitable and working faith, leveraging all the inspiration and endowments we have received, is essential to the realization of prophetic visions of the future. With such risks and opportunities at hand, what shall we do? Where do wisdom and inspiration guide us? As Captain Moroni asked in the Book of Mormon, "Do ye suppose that the Lord will still deliver us, while we sit upon our thrones and do not make use of the means which the Lord has provided for us?" (Alma 60: 21). In response to these questions, we quote the words of Brigham Young: "You are in just as good a kingdom as you will ever attain to, from now to all eternity, unless you make it yourselves by the grace of God, by the will of God, which is a code of laws perfectly calculated to govern and control eternal matter." (Journal of Discourses 3: 336)
Join the Mormon Transhumanist Association! You might make the difference.
