A Primer Primer
Ben Blair holds a PhD in philosophy and education from Teachers College, Columbia University. He is the co-founder of Newlane University—a platform focused on deinstitutionalizing education. ¶ An active member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Blair’s work and perspective explore the intersection of religious community and secular ideals. He is particularly interested in how religious and post-religious communities can work towards shared goals, and he questions the equation of any particular organization with the broader concept of the 'kingdom of God'. ¶ Blair, along with his wife, Gabrielle Blair, resides in France and they are the parents of six children. He presented at Sunstone West and is an attendee and speaker at Mormon Transhumanist Association conferences, where he explores the philosophical implications of faith, community, and progress.
Guest Post: Ben Blair, Chief of Special Projects
A primer turns big hopes into words a community can share.
If you have been to the transfigurism site in the last few months, you may have noticed a link to the Primers. Are/were you confused by these? Well, here’s your primer on these primers!
The primers are short introductions to important ideas for Mormon Transhumanism. They came about as a tool to give structure to in-person meetups, and as a simple way to introduce basic ideas of Mormon Transhumanism. The primers are written at around a 6th grade level, and are typically 3-5 short paragraphs in length. One way to think of them is as a way to talk about Mormon Transhumanism to your child or parent.
The structure of the primers is quite simple. Each primer includes one or more learning objective, a summary, easy-to-understand content, definitions for key terms, discussion questions, a call to action, and resources for further study/engagement.
You can find them all here, or by title:
The Basics of Mormon Transhumanism The Purpose of the Mormon Transhumanist Association Humanity+ and the Transhumanist Declaration Exponential Change Implications of Exponential Technological Trends for Humanity
We will be publishing additional primers every 2-3 months to the MTA website, and also sharing them through the Transfigurist.
Now that they are in circulation, we are especially interested in hearing how people find them useful, or what would make them more helpful--in terms of design, format, content, etc. Tell us what you think! (Or what your child/parent thinks.) Are there uses for these besides those we have mentioned?