[ExI] Today: Lincoln Cannon of the Mormon Transhumanist Association in Second Life, March 30

Giu1i0 Pri5c0 pgptag at gmail.com
Sun Mar 30 14:11:33 UTC 2008


This is a reminder.
Also don't forget that there has been a time change in EU. So the time
of the meeting is:

10am SLT
10am PST (LA, SF)
1pm EST (NYC)
7pm EU (Madrid, Paris)
6mp UK (London)

On Thu, Mar 27, 2008 at 2:40 PM, Giu1i0 Pri5c0 <pgptag at gmail.com> wrote:
> Lincoln Cannon of the Mormon Transhumanist Association in Second Life, March 30
>
>  Note: it is Lincoln Cannon and not Robert Geraci as it has been
>  announced to some lists. Robert (
>  http://transumanar.com/index.php/site/religion_spirituality_and_the_avatar/
>  ) will of course be invited to the talk and I hope he will come).
>
>  http://transumanar.com/index.php/site/lincoln_cannon_of_the_mormon_transhumanist_association_in_second_life_march/
>
>  Lincoln Cannon of the Mormon Transhumanist Association will give a
>  presentation and a Q/A session in Second Life, on March 30 at 10:00
>  PST, at the virtual headquarters of SL-Transhumanists.
>
>  Abstract: Transhumanism is compatible with at least some religious
>  forms, as illustrated by parallels between basic Transhumanist ideas
>  and an authentic interpretation of Mormon metaphysics, theodicy,
>  eschatology and soteriology. These parallels also provide a basis from
>  which to judge the relative compatibility of other religious forms,
>  such as Christianity, with Transhumanism.
>
>  SUNDAY - MARCH, 30
>
>  1000 AM - 1200 PM SLT
>
>  SL-Transhumanists @ extropia core
>
>  SLURL
>
>  The Mormon Transhumanist Association promotes practical faith in human
>  exaltation through charitable use of science and technology. The
>  association was founded on 3 March 2006 and affiliated with the World
>  Transhumanist Association on 6 July 2006. Read the Mormon
>  Transhumanist Affirmation: (1) We seek the spiritual and physical
>  exaltation of individuals and their anatomies, as well as communities
>  and their environments, according to their wills, desires and laws, to
>  the extent they are not oppressive. (2) We believe that scientific
>  knowledge and technological power are among the means ordained of God
>  to enable such exaltation, including realization of diverse prophetic
>  visions of transfiguration, immortality, resurrection, renewal of this
>  world, and the discovery and creation of worlds without end. (3) We
>  feel a duty to use science and technology according to wisdom and
>  inspiration, to identify and prepare for risks and responsibilities
>  associated with future advances, and to persuade others to do
>  likewise.
>
>  Lincoln gave a talk last year at the Seminar on H+ and Religion in SL.
>  His presentation is archived here. His conclusions: "We believe that
>  scientific knowledge and technological power are among the means
>  ordained of God to enable such exaltation, including realization of
>  diverse prophetic visions of transfiguration, immortality,
>  resurrection, renewal of this world, and the discovery and creation of
>  worlds without end". This is, I believe, a perfect explanation of why,
>  despite what fundamentalists may say, transhumanism is not at all
>  incompatible with religion but, on the contrary, each of the two sets
>  of sensibilities can boost the other in a positive feedback loop.
>
>  I did not know much (still don't) about Mormonism before meeting the
>  people of the Mormon Transhumanist Association. My mental image of
>  Mormons was (still is) derived from movies: people leaving in Utah,
>  always well dressed, very hardworking and much too serious (and men
>  with many wives). But my image of the MTA is that of a community of
>  smart and motivated transhumanists who see no conflict, but on the
>  contrary mutual reinforcement, between transhumanism and their faith.
>  And there must be something true in the images of Mormons as very
>  serious and hardworking people, because the MTA website is by far the
>  best transhumanist community site in terms of both IT implementation
>  and content. I consider the MTA as a transhumanist success story that
>  may be (I will ask Lincoln on Sunday) "exported" to other religions
>  and Christian denominations.
>



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