Notes from the Religion and Transhumanism conference, 10 May 2014

A couple of weekends ago I attended one of the IEET's conferences in California on the topic of Religion and Transhumanism. While I was there I took notes during the speakers' presentations, and I promised some people that I'd put them online at my earliest convenience. Here they are, in the best order I can conceive of and with whatever links I can dig up to elucidate my somewhat cryptic chickenscratch. Please note that I took notes on things I don't necessarily agree with, and that I advise you to follow some of the links before jumping to conclusions. Some of the ideas in there are my own and aren't from any of the speakers. There are keywords in this text that no doubt draw the attention of the NSA, DHS, and FBI. As always, take everything with a grain of salt and don't be afraid to ask questions or do your own research. You're responsible for your own mind.

• Center for Theology and the Natural Sciences - GVU
• Ted Chu's book comes highly recommended
• Evolution as a fundamental power. Almost mystic in nature.
• A call to serve evolution in a self-sacrificial way.
• Transhumanism has no axis mundi - no single identity that bridges Here and There.
• Progress is not a measurable scientific concept. Not in evolution.
• Incompatible with the reproductive fitness aspect of evolution.
• Futurum vs. adventus.
• Interesting that Urantia is openly non-PC.
• Has a "weird factor" which could be used for publicity.
• Thinking as a route to the divine.
• From an editorial perspective it's gramatically quite good ("sparkling").
• Jimi Hendrix and Jerry Garcia were fans of the Urantia Book. Carlos Santana. Bill Clinton.
• Interestingly, some science seems to support some of the claims made in the Urantia Book, though it was written in 1955.ev.
• There is no single way to express transhumanism. No hook.
• Need for religious expression in transhumanism - Terasem.
• Recently covered in Time.
• Rather than people adhering to the maxims of their faith, Mormonism reflects faith in adhering to their maxims. Interesting!
• Substance materialism, naturalistic. Embodied.
• Grace, but works are encouraged.
• Covertly Gnostic theology.
• Optimize for the potential to thrive/optimize to minimize the potential for suffering.
• One perspective on Eschatological prophecy is that we are supposed to work against bad ends.
• Interactive perspective of prophecy.
• Prophecy failing to come true is largely acceptible.
• Diversity of heavens.
• Acceleration of change is explicitly assumed - "God's works increase."
• "Why can't (the) Christ return as an AI?"
• Christ consciousness.
• Derrida modeling through geneological reconstruction?
• Creation myth == generalization of the simulation argument.
• Endorsed by Richard Dawkins and Sam Harris?!
• Mormon atheists?!?
• Mormonism: Everything is material and embodied.
• Moderate stance on bioethics for being so conservative.
• Government control of disruptive technologies like artificial intelligence and life extension.
• Cooperation between disparate, divided groups will be essential for success.
• Satisficing - consdiering alternatives until a threshold of acceptibility is reached.
• Meliorism - progress leading to an improved world through human effort.
• Relative truth/absolute truth - Buddhist Two Truths.
• Paradise an experience of enhanced experience. Messed up that sentence, I guess.
• Pepper Lewis