Shannon Avana

Shannon Avana shares her personal journey from confident atheism through agnosticism to theism, using it as a lens to explore how beliefs shape reality. She demonstrates through research on optimism and her own coaching practice that one’s point of view functions as a self-fulfilling prophecy—what we focus on, we nurture and create more of. Avana challenges transhumanists to consider whether focusing on differences and judgments or on shared goals of improving the human experience will better serve the movement. She concludes that meaningful change requires choosing a unified focus, suggesting that the voices in our heads are not divine commands but choices we can redirect toward what truly matters.

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.