Lincoln Cannon

Lincoln Cannon frames the current global deliberation on artificial intelligence as a modern Council in Heaven, drawing parallels between Mormon theology’s premortal narrative and humanity’s choices about AI development. He reinterprets the scriptural story through a technological lens: just as the gods accelerated some spirits by endowing them with bodies while decelerating others who sought centralized power, we now face analogous decisions about accelerating or constraining artificial intelligence. Cannon argues that the gods’ framework favors decentralized acceleration of intelligence—raising each other together rather than elevating any singleton above all others—and calls on the audience to champion this approach to ensure mutual trust and eternal progression without a “second war in heaven.”

Lincoln Cannon presents the theological and philosophical case for decentralizing power, grounded in Mormon conceptions of God as an embodied person, a community, and a cosmos in which "we live and move and have our being." Drawing on artificial intelligence philosophy—including the semi-orthogonality hypothesis and game-theoretic insights about resource competition—he argues that approximate equality of power incentivizes cooperation while disparities enable coercion. Cannon contrasts two biblical archetypes: a God who centralizes power (the son of perdition) versus Christ, who shares power and "raises us together in the glory of God."

In this presentation, the speaker contends that Christ's command to "raise the dead" should be understood as a literal call to collaborative action rather than mere verbal faith. He outlines a "resurrection by family history" thought experiment: historians develop increasingly detailed and accurate models of deceased persons, with future technologies—perhaps including "quantum archaeology"—eventually producing reconstructions practically indistinguishable from the original individuals. He addresses philosophical objections about identity, continuity, and copies, arguing that technological resurrection is consistent with both Mormon theology and the Church's longstanding genealogical work.

Lincoln Cannon reinterprets the prophecy of Christ's return through the lens of Christian theosis and Mormon theology. Examining the Hebrew Bible's multiple "Christs"—including King David and Cyrus of Persia—alongside Paul's teaching that "Christ is in you," he argues that the "Son of Man" refers not exclusively to Jesus but to all the children of humanity. When Jesus says his return will be "as lightning visible from east to west," he speaks of a collective transformation: the return of Christ is the moment when we become Christ, loving, healing, and raising the dead as Jesus commanded his disciples to do.

This panel discussion features keynote speakers Liz Parrish, CEO of BioViva, and Melissa Inouye, a scholar of Chinese Christianity, exploring the intersection of life extension, gene therapy, and religious meaning. Parrish discusses her company’s work on regenerative gene therapies and the ethics of expanding access to such treatments, while Inouye reflects on how her experience with cancer has deepened questions about embodiment, vulnerability, and divine capacity. The conversation touches on Mormon theology’s unique views of God’s body, suffering, and human potential.

Lincoln Cannon recounts the history of the Mormon Transhumanist Association from its founding in 2006 through 2017. He traces the organization's growth from 14 founders to over 600 members, highlighting key milestones including its affiliation with the World Transhumanist Association (now Humanity+), the publication of influential articles and books, and the development of humanitarian projects. Cannon emphasizes that Mormon transhumanism is driven by the desire to express religious faith more practically—using science as "full mind" and technology as "full strength"—and notes the association's unique position as the largest religious transhumanist organization in the world.

Lincoln Cannon opens the 2016 MTA conference by reading from Parley Pratt's 1855 book, The Key to the Science of Theology, whose enthusiastic descriptions of technological progress—railroads, telegraphs, and photography—resonate remarkably with transhumanist ideals. He traces a lineage of Mormon apostles who championed science, including John Widtsoe, B. H. Roberts, and James Talmage, before announcing his transition from president after ten years and presenting a copy of Pratt's book—once owned by Talmage—to his successor, Christopher Bradford. Cannon reflects that change is essential to progress, and as religious transhumanists, "we know better than most that change is too often resisted most when it's needed most."

Lincoln Cannon, president of the Mormon Transhumanist Association, opens the 2015 conference by addressing the challenges facing both traditional religions and secular transhumanism in rapidly changing times. He presents a series of speculative narratives tracing humanity's potential technological and spiritual evolution—from biotech and nanotech revolutions to eventual transfiguration and resurrection—framing these as modern expressions of ancient prophetic traditions. Cannon argues that Mormon transhumanism represents humanity's calling to learn how to become gods, not through hubris but through compassionate creation, and invites the audience to engage in the communal work of prophecy that steers humanity toward opportunity rather than risk.

In this panel discussion, Ralph Merkle, Kristine Haglund, and Lincoln Cannon field audience questions on topics ranging from cryptocurrency and governance to theodicy and the nature of God. Merkle discusses the potential of Bitcoin’s distributed algorithm for governance and the challenge of achieving stable government over transhumanist timescales. Haglund shares her “personal heresy” that God may not have complete foreknowledge, likening divine knowledge to a “choose your own adventure” book. Cannon offers a Mormon transhumanist interpretation of the Holy Spirit as the sublime aesthetic embedded in creation that provokes us toward compassion and creativity—the grace of possibility pushing us to become gods ourselves.

Lincoln Cannon introduces Mormon transhumanism to a secular audience, explaining how Mormonism’s unusual metaphysics—an embodied God, uncreated matter, and humanity’s divine potential—make it uniquely compatible with transhumanist aspirations. He presents the “New God Argument,” which reasons that if humanity survives to become a superintelligent posthumanity, we would likely be both more compassionate than we are now and capable of creating worlds, suggesting we probably already live in a created world governed by benevolent superintelligence. Cannon describes the Mormon Transhumanist Association’s work to synthesize religious and technological visions, noting that Mormons’ scriptural mandate to pursue godhood through transformation may provide legal grounds for advancing enhanced intelligence research under religious freedom protections.

Lincoln Cannon explains why he considers himself a transhumanist not despite his Mormonism but because of it. He describes Mormonism as fundamentally an immersive discipleship of Jesus Christ—an aspiration to live the religion of Jesus rather than merely a religion about Jesus—centered on becoming gods and saviors who console, heal, and raise one another. Cannon argues that Mormon scripture situates believers in a dispensation of advancing knowledge and power, with a theology of progressively improving bodies through transfiguration and resurrection, making transhumanism an implicit mandate of the faith rather than an external addition to it.

Lincoln Cannon, a self-described second-generation Mormon transhumanist, reads from the Mormon Transhumanist Affirmation and calls members to move beyond speculation toward action. He argues that the association’s purpose is not merely to promote ideas but to live by them and together build Zion—a post-human body of Christ characterized by knowledge, power, and love. Cannon outlines practical steps including studying transhumanist and religious thought, engaging in dialogue, serving others, pursuing impactful careers, and giving effectively to causes that address existential risks and global challenges.

A Seventh-day Adventist minister reflects on the surprising parallels between his tradition and transhumanism, noting that Adventists have long invested in life extension through health practices, pioneering medical technologies, and anti-smoking campaigns. He draws a historical parallel to the Millerite movement's "Great Disappointment" of 1844, cautioning that transhumanists should remain humble about predictions while maintaining hope. The speaker emphasizes the importance of keeping religious agendas out of government, challenges orthodoxies that might impede scientific progress, and urges each religious tradition represented to prevent their communities from obstructing transhumanist goals. He advocates for intellectual humility, distinguishing between beliefs and knowledge, while remaining open to consciousness research that may transcend strict materialist frameworks.

Lincoln Cannon, along with co-founders Brent Alsup and Carl Hale, explores the diverse perspectives within the Mormon Transhumanist Association through membership survey data. The presentation reveals a community united by shared values—embracing technology, pursuing extended healthy lifespans, and aspiring to become like God—while maintaining remarkable diversity in political, theological, and philosophical views. Notably, the association includes both conservative theists and atheist Mormons who find common ground in intellectual stimulation and the pursuit of what Cannon describes as "radical flourishing in creation and compassion through technology and religion."

Lincoln Cannon opens the 2013 conference by articulating the Mormon Transhumanist Association’s core proposition: that humanity should learn to become gods—not gods who elevate themselves above others, but Christs who raise each other together. He traces this mandate through Mormon scripture, arguing that God wants us to use science and technology as ordained means to help one another attain glorified, immortal bodies. Cannon positions transhumanism not as redundant with Mormonism but as implicit within it, presenting a vision where religion functions as action on aesthetics and where the negation of one posthuman projection always implies another until humanity chooses to become posthumanity.

Lincoln Cannon presents the New God Argument, a logical framework demonstrating that trust in humanity's posthuman potential should lead to faith in God. The argument combines three sub-arguments: the angel argument (if prehumans are probable, posthumans probably already exist), the benevolence argument (posthumans are probably more benevolent than us), and the creation argument (posthumans probably created our world). Cannon shows how this reasoning aligns with Mormon theology—particularly Joseph Smith's teaching that God was once as we are now—and responds to Richard Dawkins's observation that sufficiently advanced extraterrestrials would be indistinguishable from gods.

Lincoln Cannon presents an interpretation of Mormon scripture and tradition through the lens of contemporary science and technological trends. He argues that Mormon physics—with its materialism, empiricism, and law-governed cosmos—aligns naturally with scientific methods, while Mormon physiology parallels hypotheses about computational substrates, radical life extension, and mind emulation. Drawing on the story of the Three Nephites who desired to continue serving without dying, Cannon contends that desire for life—expressed in action and technology—may hasten the prophesied Day of Transfiguration.

Lincoln Cannon and Joey West present the New God Argument, a logical case for faith in God that diverges from traditional Christian apologetics to justify the distinctly Mormon conception of deity. Beginning with the “faith position”—that humanity probably will not go extinct before becoming an advanced civilization—they build through the “angel argument” (that advanced civilizations are probably common if basic life is common) and the “creation argument” (that if we would create many simulated worlds, then we ourselves probably live in a created world). Three “charity arguments” then establish that our probable creators are likely more benevolent than us, since civilizations that increase in destructive capacity without corresponding increases in benevolence tend to destroy themselves. The conclusion: if basic life forms are probable and advanced civilizations create worlds, we should trust that a benevolent advanced civilization—what Mormons call God—probably created our world.

Lincoln Cannon opens the 2012 MTA conference by articulating its core purpose: bringing together two things many consider diametrically opposed—science and religion, technology and spirituality. He contends that these domains are not merely compatible but mutually reinforcing, made for each other in their best manifestations. Drawing on Doctrine and Covenants 88's exhortation to seek learning “by study and also by faith,” Cannon frames the conference as a modern continuation of Joseph Smith's School of the Prophets, combining wisdom and inspiration to explore what it means to be human.

Lincoln Cannon adapts Joseph Smith's King Follett Sermon for a transhumanist age, offering consolation to those mourning the loss of loved ones. He argues that God was once as we are now and became posthuman through the same creative process we ourselves may follow. Information, like matter and energy, is eternal and cannot be created from nothing or annihilated—our dead persist in the causal fabric of reality, awaiting resurrection through the work of compassionate creators. Cannon calls for a synthesis of ritual and engineering: sacraments without technology are impotent, while technology without meaning is empty.