Videos

In an age of seemingly endless possibilities for modifying our bodies, this presentation explores the value of limited embodiment, arguing that constraints and limitations may be prerequisites for cultivating joy, freedom, and connection rather than obstacles to overcome. Drawing on Brian Kershisnik’s painting "Dancing on a Very Small Island," the speaker examines how recent cognitive science has undergone an "embodied makeover," recognizing intelligence as embodied, embedded, enacted, and extended. The talk raises theological questions from the Latter-day Saint tradition—particularly Joseph Smith’s vision of resurrection as precise bodily restoration—suggesting that progress might paradoxically occur through condescension, sacrifice, and abnegation rather than purely through increasing autonomy and agency.

Jonathan Jardine, drawing on Clay Christensen’s strategic frameworks, examines how decentralization of church practice—not doctrine—can help build Zion. He traces LDS innovations like seminaries, the Primary, and the welfare program back to emergent strategies that bubbled up from local leaders solving real problems, later adopted and standardized by general authorities. Jardine contrasts this with recent decades’ shift toward deliberate, centrally planned initiatives, arguing that the church needs both approaches and should empower members to exercise their “spiritual muscles” through local innovation.

This presentation proposes that Joseph Smith believed his firstborn son Alvin held special rights to the golden plates because Joseph saw himself as fulfilling the biblical levirate law—raising up seed to his deceased brother Alvin, who had been present when Moroni first appeared and died shortly thereafter. The speaker uses abductive reasoning to argue that Joseph's marriage to Emma was itself an adaptation of this ancient practice, making their union spiritually polygamous from the start. This hypothesis offers explanatory power for several puzzles in early Mormon history, including Joseph's outsized expectations for his firstborn son, his need to marry Emma before obtaining the plates, and the later development of proxy work for the dead and plural marriage.

Chris Bradford explores the tension between technological instrumentalism and genuine human relationship, drawing on Martin Buber's distinction between "I-It" and "I-Thou" encounters. He argues that a purely technological approach to the world risks reducing people and nature to mere objects, and that Mormon transhumanism must complement its technological aspirations with the cultivation of empathy, charity, and recognition of the divine in others. Bradford contends that the grace saturating the world—visible when our "eyes are opened"—calls disciples of Christ to see and serve God in every neighbor, making the transhumanist project a fundamentally religious endeavor.

This presentation examines how communal narratives function in religious communities, arguing that God consistently bursts self-assured narratives rather than confirming them—as seen in Moses’s life being repeatedly disrupted from Egyptian prince to fugitive to prophet. The speaker critiques both the LDS Church’s institutional narrative and ex-Mormon counter-narratives for missing the "sought goods" that justify any narrative, suggesting that disputes over historical and doctrinal claims miss the more essential question of whether these structures actually deliver salvation. Mormon transhumanism offers a framework where religious aspirations like immortality and eternal life need not remain abstract mysteries but can become serious goals with practical benchmarks, transforming narratives from self-justifying stories into accountable claims measured against real outcomes.

George Handley outlines ten distinctive LDS doctrines that provide theological resources for environmental stewardship, including the belief that Earth is humanity's intended eternal home rather than a mere way station, that bodies and sensory experience are to be treasured, and that all life forms were created spiritually before physically and are entitled to "multiply and replenish." He emphasizes that LDS teachings on creation from unorganized matter (rather than ex nihilo) imply reverence for natural processes, while scriptures like the Word of Wisdom and the Law of Consecration mandate eating locally, consuming sparingly, and redistributing resources to the poor. Handley argues that the Anthropocene demands Latter-day Saints bring together both scientific literacy and religious values to adequately respond to environmental challenges.

Carl Youngblood examines the crisis of faith in Mormonism's post-secular era, where widespread access to information has made it difficult for the LDS Church to control its narrative. Drawing on Paul Tillich's theology, he critiques common responses—apologetics, appeals to authority, fundamentalism, and secularism—as inadequate because they either mistake finite constructs for ultimate concern or abandon the symbols that give faith its vitality. Youngblood quotes B. H. Roberts's call for "disciples of the second sort" who bring personal contributions to received truth rather than merely repeating formulas, and he positions the Mormon Transhumanist Association as cultivating such disciples.

Jake Spurlock, a software engineer at Wired, examines how technology has historically disrupted religion—from the Gutenberg press enabling the Reformation to the internet challenging institutional control over information. He traces this pattern through Mormon history, from the printing of the Book of Mormon to the church's contemporary efforts to manage its online presence through search engine optimization. Spurlock argues that in an age when "information wants to be free," the church must embrace transparency and education rather than attempting to control the message, ultimately suggesting that truth emerges triumphant through open competition in the marketplace of ideas.

Don Bradley analyzes Alma 32 as a post-biblical, post-Enlightenment reformulation of faith that draws on Jesus's parables while transforming their meaning through scientific language. He argues that whereas the New Testament presents "taking no thought" favorably as trust in God's providence, the Book of Mormon redeploys this phrase negatively—faith requires actively "arousing faculties" and conducting "experiments" rather than passive belief. Bradley identifies distinctly scientific vocabulary throughout Alma's discourse (experiment, dormant, particle, discernible) and proposes a working definition: "faith is experimental hope that initiates and sustains the processes of discovery, achievement, and growth." He suggests Latter-day Saints should learn to engage scripture through midrash—the Jewish tradition of creatively rewriting narratives to apply them to contemporary life.

Kathy Wilson reports on her experiences traveling to India over twenty years, describing how the country's explosive population growth—from 800 million to over a billion—has intensified problems of poverty, corruption, and gender inequality while simultaneously expanding her understanding of what is possible on Earth. She shares observations from Delhi slums housing millions of people and discusses her work with NGOs supporting marginalized widows and children. Wilson connects these global humanitarian challenges to transhumanist themes, arguing that as the planet shrinks into a global society, those with technology and education have a responsibility to address problems in developing countries rather than ignore them.