Brief History of the Mormon Transhumanist Association
Lincoln Cannon is an American philosopher and technologist who co-founded the Mormon Transhumanist Association in 2006, serving as its president from 2006 to 2016. He is a leading advocate of technological evolution and postsecular religion, combining software engineering expertise with degrees in philosophy and business. ¶ Cannon is also a founder and board member of the Christian Transhumanist Association. He formulated the New God Argument, a logical argument for faith in God that has become popular among religious transhumanists. His academic work includes “Mormonism Mandates Transhumanism” published in Religion and Human Enhancement: Death, Values, and Morality (Palgrave Macmillan, 2017) and “Transfigurism: A Future of Religion as Exemplified by Religious Transhumanists” published in The Transhumanism Handbook (Springer Verlag, 2019). ¶ Mormon transhumanism, as articulated by Cannon, holds that humanity should learn how to be compassionate creators. This idea is central to the Mormon theological tradition, which provides a religious framework consistent with naturalism and supportive of human transformation. Cannon’s work bridges religious faith with scientific advancement, advocating for the ethical use of technology to extend human abilities in ways consistent with a religious worldview.
At the 2017 Conference of the Mormon Transhumanist Association (MTA), I presented a brief history of the association. Below is an outline of the events I mentioned, beginning with the founding of the association on 3 March 2006 and ending in 2016, when we changed the leadership of the association. And at the end is a recording of the presentation.
Of necessity, this history doesn’t include everything the association and its members have done or experienced over the years. But it does call out what I consider to be particularly noteworthy events. In most cases, this reflects my assessment of their relative magnitude of effect over time.
“Yes, by transhumanist standards the Mormon Transhumanist Association is an ancient institution.” - Anders Sandberg, prominent Transhumanist, computational neuroscientist, and co-author of the Transhumanist Declaration
2006 (29 members)
- Launched the Transfigurism.org website in March 2006.
- Adopted the Constitution, containing the Transhumanist Declaration and Mormon Transhumanist Affirmation, in May 2006 (14 members).
- Affiliated with the World Transhumanist Association in July 2006.
- Presented Mormon Transhumanism to Mormons at Sunstone in August 2006.
- Organized a Rosetta@Home team for medical research in November 2006.
2007 (48 members)
- Featured “Transfiguration” in the March 2007 edition of Sunstone magazine.
- Presented Mormon Transhumanism to Transhumanists in Second Life in April 2007.
- Launched Facebook group in December 2007.
2008 (67 members)
- Organized monthly meetups beginning in January 2008.
- Rented and evicted from space on Mormon island in Second Life, in May and July 2008.
- Presented the New God Argument at Sunstone in August 2008.
2009 (83 members)
- Sponsored Parallels and Convergences Conference with Terryl Givens in March 2009.
2010 (104 members)
- Terminated and renewed affiliation with Humanity+ in April and October 2010.
- Hosted James Hughes and Max More at Transhumanism and Spirituality Conference.
2011 (133 members)
- External: Sam Harris appears to respond to the New God Argument in April 2011.
2012 (241 members)
- Published essays in Parallels and Convergences: Mormon Thought and Engineering Vision book in February 2012.
- Featured Lincoln Cannon and Giulio Prisco at first association conference in April 2012.
- Launched YouTube channel in April 2012.
2013 (365 members)
- Organized Kiva microlending team in January 2013.
- Hosted Richard Bushman and Aubrey de Grey at second association conference in April 2013.
- Sponsored Amit Goswami lecture at University of Utah in November 2013.
2014 (478 members)
- Hosted Adam Miller and Natasha Vita-More at third association conference in April 2014.
- Sponsored Atheists and Mormons panel discussion in April 2014.
- Sponsored Religion and Transhumanism Conference with Ted Peters in May 2014.
- Published “Reconcile the Members of the Body of Christ” in June 2014.
- Organized a humanitarian team, with first projects beginning in September 2014.
2015 (562 members)
- Hosted Kristine Haglund and Ralph Merkle at fourth association conference in April 2015.
- Published “What Is Mormon Transhumanism?” in the journal of Theology and Science.
- Presented Mormon Transhumanism at Samford in September 2015.
2016 (631 members)
- Amended the Mormon Transhumanist Affirmation in February 2016.
- Appointed Christopher Bradford as association president in March 2016.
- Hosted Rosalynde Welch and Eric Steinhart at fifth association conference in April 2016.
- External: The New Yorker features Mormon Transhumanism on 20 April 2016.
- Appointed Blaire Ostler as association CEO in November 2016.
“I have always told the press that the MTA is the best organized and most thoughtful of the world’s transhumanist groups. The attempt to interrogate the relationship between transhumanism, emerging technologies and Mormon prophecy holds a special fascination for me as a spiritual transhumanist and sociologist who has studied the history of religious millennialism. I think the MTA is a harbinger of a broader engagement with transhumanism by religious scholars that will broaden from the current ill-informed condemnation to selective adoption and endorsement of enhancement technologies and eschatological possibilities. Hopefully there will be a proliferation of groups like the MTA and the Christian Transhumanist Association to pursue this important dialogue. Being more open to this form of dialogue offers much to both sides. Transhumanism has a big problem with questions around the good life and the ends of human existence, and transhumanists often end up proposing ideas that have a long history as religious ideas, without ever realizing those continuities.” - James Hughes, prominent Transhumanist, sociologist and bioethicist, and principal of the Institute for Ethics and Emerging Technology
Syndicated from Lincoln Cannon.