How to Change the World: From Self Improvement to Transhumanist Movement Creation

Speaker 1

I’m coming up, so you gotta get this party started. I’m coming up, so you better spotted.

Speaker 2

Thank you.

Shannon Avana

So please notice all the expectations you have that may have just arose. Please notice all the expectations that may have been violated. And please notice any judgments and assumptions you may have just made. Made. Please raise your hand if you’d like to briefly share an expectation or a judgment. No take.

Speaker 4

Oh, there’s one.

Speaker 5

I was pleasantly surprised that you chose to use music.

Speaker 4

Thank you. Cool. Any others? Oh, there’s one. Um, I’m gonna explain that there’s a big difference between atheists and our business.

Speaker 2

Okay, cool. How about you? Thank you.

Shannon Avana

Great, thank you. So, what matters? What truly matters? Um oh, what matters is me having this. As I composed my talk, I found myself confused. I was trying to compose about five different talks for about 500 different reasons. and it wasn’t making a whole lot of sense. What is the highest good I can do with this time with this group of people? Why do you care about my journey? You could and my talk is about my journey from atheism to agnosticism. So you could want to be convinced, you could want to convince others, or you could want to prove me wrong. I don’t find those objectives to be deep and meaningful. So, what truly matters? The title of this conference, which Brings us together here is religion and transhumanism: the future of faith, ethics, and philosophy.

Shannon Avana

What is transhumanism? This term has many definitions. This is the part of transhumanism that resonates with me. improving the life experience as we know and observe it, and sharing those improvements with others.

Shannon Avana

What is the best use of this time? Do we want to look at the possibility space of what the future of faith in ethics and philosophy will be? Or do we want to look at how to form the faith, ethics, and philosophy of the future? This talk is about how do we form the future of faith, ethics, and philosophy. Because that’s what I do, is help people form their lives the way they want. So rather than looking at the question of religious or spiritual faith, let’s look at forms of faith and belief in consensus reality that most of us share as a starting point. Um this is not matching up. Let’s say the next one. Okay.

Shannon Avana

Well, does what I believe impact my everyday life? Yes. I’m going to start by giving some demonstrations of how what you believe matters. Your beliefs inform your point of view, which impacts the reality of your day-to-day life. The Luck Factor and Learned Optimism are two popular books that opened my mind to the idea that my point of view could change my life. Both studies show explain how optimism and pessimism are self-fulfilling prophecies.

Shannon Avana

In my personal practice, I help anxious and depressed people who are stuck in their professional lives become happy and productive. This is a role play I do during consultations to demonstrate for them my understanding of what their lives are like and when they come to me what the alternative can be. In this situation, I have been procrastinating a project at work, and I managed to get it done right before the deadline. So in this first scenario, that’s the scenario, and I’m someone who’s anxious and depressed. Well, I got it done, but all these other things built up, but I’m just going to have to do it again next week, and I don’t even know why I’m here. And I think I want to go home. And check Facebook and hit reload a few times and then go to bed and sleep as long as I possibly can.

Shannon Avana

So, for those who have had problems with anxiety and depression, that will be very familiar. So same scenario, situation is I’ve been procrastinating a deadline at work and I made it, and now I’m an optimistic, happy person. I’m so relieved that I got it done. That was really hard for me and it challenged me, but I did it. So now I’m going to take a little break, maybe reward myself, and then I’m going to get back at it and I’m going to get the rest of that stuff done, because I know if I did that, I could do anything. So you can really hear the difference in what you believe, how it impacts your life right away.

Shannon Avana

So let’s go with another more recent example. Me with my outfit and music walking up on stage. Do you think that my making the choice to present like that impacted my reality? Here’s some questions to ponder. Are you more likely to remember me now than you would have if I had walked up in a suit? Are you paying more or less attention than you would have if I had dressed more normally and not played music? Did my presentation have an impact on how seriously you took me? And did it increase or decrease your opinion of me before I spoke? As you answer all these questions in your head, I imagine there are very different answers for each person in the audience.

Shannon Avana

Do you think that my catching your attention this way changed my reality? Is it more or less likely that someone will notice me and give me another speaking gig than if I walked in wearing a suit? Is it possible that someone who prefers conservatism, who might have otherwise been very interested in what I had to say, has now dismissed me? Is it more or less likely that someone will remember me later and perhaps try to contact me if they’re looking for a coach? Regardless of whether you think my presentation helped or hurt, odds are that you believe that it impacted my future in at least some small way.

Shannon Avana

My choice to present as I did was based on faith and belief. I personally believe that dressing in this way would be more likely to have a positive impact in my life than negative. I knew I would have more fun and that the adrenaline I would feel from the exhilaration of doing something fun and daring would make my speaking style more interesting. I knew that violating the audience’s expectations would wake them up. I also knew that it’s a risk. And when I do something that is high variance, I am more likely to incur negative reactions as well as positive ones.

Shannon Avana

As an optimist, I’m someone who believes that if I’m bold and daring and I live as who I want to be without apology or shame, that my life will be the best it possibly can be. If I was a pessimist, I would assume, Annette, it would make my life worse to be here before you as I am. I might assume that you would laugh at me. I might assume that you’d be angry. I might talk myself out long before I tried, and if I did somehow manage to talk myself into it, I would have walked up with slumped shoulders and a mousy expression and kind of hint back here. So.

Shannon Avana

What you believe impacts the reality Now let’s look at one last example. My transition from atheism to agnosticism. And all the way to theism, actually. This is a graph that I’m going to use. I put I just learned the new word gnostic, the opposite of agnostic. So certainty and agnostic is up at the top as one axis, and then we’ve got. one point of view to the other, which in this case is atheist to theist, but I think this graph translates well to many viewpoint changes. That’s how that’s laid out right there. So here’s what my journey along this graph looks like. And now I’m going to break it down step by step. So here’s my starting point for this particular journey, of being someone who does identify as an atheist and had high confidence in my point of view. This parody reflects the smug attitude I had when I had this belief set.

Speaker 6

You want to open it up or do I just stop? What is it? Sorry, just second. Alright. Okay. Should I do it for real?

Speaker 7

I often debate evolutionists because I believe that they narrow-mindedly and dogmatically accept evolution without questioning it. I really don’t care how God did what He did. I know He did it. I can sum it up in three words: Evolution is a lie. You know, there’s a lot of things in life I’ve concluded to be wrong without studying them in depth. Evolution is one of them. You know, the fact that I know a thing about it doesn’t bother me in the least. Everyone knows that scientists insist on using complex terminology to make it harder for true Christians to refute their claims. Take deoxyribonucleic acid, for example. Sounds impressive, right? Have you ever seen what happens when you put something in acid? It dissolves. If our bodies were full of that acid, we’d all dissolve. So much for the theory of evolution.

Speaker 6

How can anyone believe that humans evolve from monkeys? Here’s a few questions for some of you who may believe that. If we did in fact evolve from monkeys, how come babies aren’t born monkeys? So you think that if no one believed in any religion, there’d be no wars or fighting? I think it’d be worse. I think it’d be way worse. I know if I didn’t have God’s judgment to fear, I would have killed many, many times.

Speaker 4

Thank you.

Shannon Avana

All right, thank you. So yeah, when I had the very high confidence and atheist point of view, I was not open to changing my mind. I kind of assumed that things other people said were, you know, like that was the parody of how I saw reality that wasn’t really that far off. And my point of view at that point said that evidence of other points of view would be explained away if I knew more. And I did not seek or examine evidence of other points of view. Sufficient evidence. If you ask an atheist what will cause them to change their minds, that will be their answer. So my experience was that for about four months, I had my model of the world repeatedly violated. And eventually, I decided it was time to start questioning the reasons for my confidence in the model that I had. And let’s say, yeah, we’ll go with this video. This video kind of encapsulates what the experience was like.

Shannon Avana

Change Maybe.

Speaker 4

Yeah, I could explain it too if it doesn’t play.

Speaker 8

There we go. So you know a lot of th things. And and and you’ve been making a lot of things happen, but but none of it seems godlike? Yeah, godlike. And what do you would be godlike? Uh. Change the weather. Ah, special effects, huh? What would you like? A little- a little earthquake? A small hurricane? No, no, I wouldn’t want anybody hurt. I was just thinking maybe. What about little rain? Little rain? Yeah, a a small shower. One small shower, you got it. Hey, hey, it’s raining. You made it rain! You didn’t even bat an eye. You didn’t have to lift a finger. Rain’s not that hot. It’s unbelievable. Would you like it to rain a little harder? No, no, this is fine. How about bigger drops? No, this is fine, fine. Would you care for a little snow? I don’t believe it. Hey! Hey, it’s not raining outside. See, it’s just in here. Why should I spoil everybody today? This is fantastic! Thank you. It’s just like Noah’s Ark! Same thing, without the smell. Thank you.

Shannon Avana

So yeah, the cumulative experience for me of having lots of things violating my model of reality happening for four months. felt quite a bit like that. So this is where I went after that experience. to, you know, on the graph I went from the certainty atheist point to uncertain of what was going on. So high uncertainty. My confidence had gone from high to low. I was without an opinion. And I was examining the evidence I had and was actively seeking a new model. So eventually I ended up at this last point here. And at my new point of view, I have an opinion. My new point of view is lower confidence. I am more interested in views that contradict my own, and I am more open to changing my mind.

Shannon Avana

So summary, your point of view impacts reality as you experience it. This is true whether we are looking at commonly held points of view or religious spiritual ones. So how does my point of view influence my reality? Your point of view determines your focus. What you focus on, you nurture. And what you focus on, you take deeper and create more of. How does this relate to our topic? How do we form the Future of faith in ethics and philosophy. Where we focus matters. We are all creating the reality in which we live right now. It is our choice as individuals and as a group what reality we are going to have going forward. Our thoughts matter, our focus matters, and these things are chosen by us as individuals.

Shannon Avana

Will the transhumanist community make a difference? The degree of difference will be the degree that the community can focus on a single objective. For efforts to bear fruit, a simple guiding objective must be established and work as a point of orientation for the group. Do we want to focus on our differences and judgments? Or do we want to focus on improving the life experience as we know and observe it? And in sharing those improvements? With others. It is a choice.

Shannon Avana

The voices in your head are not God speaking, at least most of the time. You can choose which of your thoughts you pay attention to and focus on. When the judgments and differences come to your attention, you can redirect your focus to what truly matters. This is a practice that one gets better at over time. This is my focus. May all beings be freed of disease, ailments, and anxieties, and may they live happily.

Shannon Avana

A little about my spiritual beliefs and influences. I feel that I’m just beginning my spiritual journey, and I will refer to two sources which I have been highly influenced by. White Tara Living. The resident grandmaster has a PhD in quantum physics from Oxford and Cornell University. She’s a master’s in business experience as a business consultant. She’s also a Buddhist priest and has been teaching sacred geometry for 25 years. I highly recommend her teleclasses. And Abraham Hicks. The authors of The Law of Attraction. popular selling book, have a lot to say about how to be intentional about your focus as a way of creating the reality you desire. You can find hundreds of videos of Esther Hicks on YouTube. as well as her website there.

Shannon Avana

So this is what I’m up to. I’m writing a book. I have a group that I give talks with, Anxiety at Ameta, which is actually with my friend who’s the grandmaster. And I also have my personal practice. I’ll tell you a little about those. So this is the anxiety tomato, where a group of professionals whose focus is to assist you to gain mastery over anxiety and other unproductive mind states. That occur in genetically driven need arenas. Those are the pictures that represent each of us. It’s myself and a therapist with 27 years experience and the Grand Master with her sacred geometry on the side there.

Shannon Avana

And of course, my private practice. I help you if you are in need of my services, I help you overcome your anxiety and thrive professionally. And you can visit my website for a free consultation. And the thing that makes my practice unique is that I get great results, I measure them, and you can actually read about them on my site. In the industry of psychology, an individual who offers statistics about their work in this field is quite rare, and I’m thrilled to be able to do this. I hope to start a trend in the field. I also would like to note that I work almost entirely over the phone in Skype and that about half of my clients are overseas.

Shannon Avana

All right, one last review before we go. How do we form the future of faith, ethics, and philosophy? We pick our focus. Let’s get the party started. Thank you.

Speaker 7

Yes. One second.

Speaker 5

Shannon, you mentioned that you had some experiences that changed your worldview from the certainty of atheism to the un Uncertain agnostic. Yes. If you’re comfortable sharing any, because I understand these are not always comfortable experiences to share. If you are, I would be, and I imagine others here would be. Be interested in hearing maybe one of them.

Shannon Avana

Yes, that is always the first question. Thank you. So I was working with a coach who’s very spiritual. And basically, she knew things she shouldn’t know. She predicted problems before I had them and gave me the solution. had a better read of people I would talk to her about than I did. Like she’d tell me what would happen and it would happen two or three months later. A series of lots of different things like that over the course of about four months. and you know attributing it to spiritual reasons which I’m not going to go into her methodologies but yeah so eventually I I know some very, very smart people, very, very good at figuring things out, and this woman just blew them all away. And eventually I just started wondering and had to really look at my Assumptions. So I know different people come to atheism differently, but for me, when I really started digging into what my assumptions were, they just weren’t very grounded. Thank you.

Speaker 9

Yeah, maybe more of a comment than a question, but I really like what you’re doing here. A bunch of years ago, I saw a presentation by somebody, and I’ve long since forgot who it was. I wish I had it. They were doing this personality analysis of atheists in particular thereafter. And they said that it seemed to divide up into these two Really broad categories, clusters. One of them had a personality that was extremely similar to religious fundamentalists. They had, some of them were real dogmatic and they were almost They were very uncertain and trying to convince themselves and each other and other people, you know, of something, you know, real forceful and aggressive about it. And then there was this other huge cluster that were this They were atheists because basically they were just extremely honest people who were extremely honest with other people and With themselves and not trying to convince themselves that they had something figured out when it was just a theory and that kind of thing. And it just seems like you’re what you said here just kind of took me back to that.

Shannon Avana

There’s a lot to Yeah, as part of preparing for this talk, I there’s an atheist discussion group I’m on and I started a thread on it and it just went wild. There are like 200 comments on it. So we got into that a little bit. There’s definitely a spectrum among like, as someone said, there really aren’t truly atheists. Like any atheist will say, well, show me sufficient evidence and I will change my beliefs. It’s just what constitutes sufficient evidence. And for different people, that’s definitely different.

Speaker 4

Any other questions? Good. Thank you.