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  • Pope Leo Flatters Sister Death

    Pope Leo Flatters Sister Death
    2026/01/02
    A few weeks ago, Pope Leo XIV of the Catholic Church criticized Transhumanism during a speech in St. Peter’s Square. Predictably, I disagree with his criticism. Below are some relevant portions of his speech, in quotes, followed by my thoughts. “Death seems to be a sort of taboo, an event to keep at a distance; something to be spoken of in hushed tones, to avoid disturbing our sensibilities and our tranquillity. This is often why we avoid visiting cemeteries, where those who have gone before us rest as they await resurrection.” This may be true of some or even many people. But it’s certainly not true of all or perhaps even most Transhumanists. Some Transhumanists, particularly cryonicists, actually choose to work in locations that function as high tech cemeteries, such as Alcor. And cemeteries, both of the cryonicist and traditional varieties (where I took a film crew to visit my father’s grave), figure prominently in a major recent documentary on Transhumanism. “… one might then think that we are paradoxical, unhappy creatures, not only because we die, but also because we are certain that this event will happen, even though we do not know how or when. We find ourselves aware and at the same time powerless. This is probably where the frequent repressions and existential flights from the question of death originate.” We certainly don’t seem to have much power over death. And maybe we’ll prove to have none at all. But Jesus plainly tells us the opposite, commanding his disciples to raise the dead. This seems like something that all of us, especially the Pope, should take more seriously, trusting that we may actually prove to have increasing power over death. “Praying, in order to understand what is beneficial in view of the kingdom of heaven, and letting go of the superfluous that instead binds us to ephemeral things, is the secret to living authentically, in the awareness that our passage on earth prepares us for eternity.” Surely life itself isn’t one of those superfluous things that we should let go, even if it seems ephemeral at times. Surely life is beneficial in the view of the kingdom of heaven. How could we possibly live authentically, in any coherent way, while characterizing life itself as superfluous or merely ephemeral? I trust that our passage on Earth is indeed preparing us for eternity. But take care not to mistake that as a euphemism for death, an “eternity” in name only. The eternity of which scripture speaks is as real as light and as warm as love. Judging from the resurrected body of Jesus Christ, immortality must be as tangible and embodied as flesh and bone. “Yet many current anthropological views promise immanent immortality …” Jesus called his disciples to raise the dead, imminently. His disciples, notably Paul, prophesied of resurrection to immortality, immanently. Perhaps a couple thousand years has made it too difficult for most of us to trust in such a calling and vision. Maybe we need new prophets, misrecognized as anthropologists, to remind us. “… theorize the prolongation of earthly life through technology. This is the transhuman scenario, which is making its way into the horizon of the challenges of our time.” Humanity has been prolonging Earthly life through technology for thousands of years. Our capacity to do so has been improving, with increasing rapidity. And there’s every reason to trust, actively and cautiously, that we can yet perpetuate this trend. If this is “the transhuman scenario” then humanity has been transhuman since the first tool we used. “Could death really be defeated by science?” Why not? Science is formalized shared knowledge. Presumably God already has such knowledge to defeat death. Why could we not possibly gain the same knowledge? We aren’t God. Sure. But we’re children of God, according to Jesus, invited to become joint heirs with him in the glory of God. So while we don’t yet have such knowledge, there’s practical reason to trust that we may gain it. Faith without works is dead, says the Bible. If we don’t trust in a way that actively expresses itself in action, then our professed “faith” amounts to nothing. If we actually have faith in the prophecies of eventual transfiguration and resurrection to immortality, as the Bible teaches, we ought to pursue them in the actively expressed action of works. Technology is just that. It’s a formalized extension of human works, made possible by the grace of God. We find ourselves in a world that we didn’t create and cannot sustain on our own. But we’ve managed to understand it and apply our knowledge of it in wondrous ways, empowering ways, and life-affirming ways through technology. Of course we can also do evil, even great evil, with the power of technology. All kinds of work, technological and otherwise, can do evil. But that doesn’t make works or their technological extensions evil in themselves. They are just works, to be used one...
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  • Predicting Future Church Presidents

    Predicting Future Church Presidents
    2025/12/30
    Jeffrey R. Holland, president of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, died early in the morning on Saturday 27 December 2025. Those who follow my occasional thoughts on general conference may recognize that he was among my favorite Church leaders. I’m sad to see him go. But some things, some sufferings, are worse than death. Before he died, President Holland was in line to become the next president of the Church. Succession is highly predictable. When a president dies, the most senior living apostle, based on date of ordination, becomes the next president. He was the senior member. Since President Holland died, the most senior living apostle is now Henry B. Eyring, who also serves as the first counselor in the First Presidency of the Church. Assuming he lives longer than the current president, Dallin H. Oaks, President Eyring would become the next president. Who would be after that? And how long would they serve? These questions are usually answered with vibes and rumors. But we can do better. In this article, I present two forecasts for future presidents of the Church. The first forecast, based strictly on actuarial tables from the Social Security Administration of the U.S. Government, is skeptical about the possibility of accelerating technological evolution. The second forecast is optimistic about the possibility of accelerating technological evolution, facilitating mortality escape velocity by 2065. Not included are what I would characterize as pessimistic and conservative forecasts, the former implying practical annihilation of human civilization, and the latter implying something between the skeptical and optimistic forecasts. Briefly, achieving mortality escape velocity wouldn’t mean that people stop dying immediately or completely. And it wouldn’t entail an eventual superlative immortality. It would just mean that progressive technological interventions begin to make it more likely than not that most people will live long enough to benefit from emerging technologies that facilitate indefinite life extension and, as needed, life restoration. And it would only entail an eventual practical immortality, when it becomes harder to stay dead than alive, at least for those who desire to stay alive. For each forecast, I performed Monte Carlo simulations with 200,000 trials. In each trial, I simulated death times for all fourteen apostles based on their ages and the mortality assumptions of the forecast. I then determined presidency succession by identifying who outlived whom, with the most senior surviving apostle becoming president upon the death of the previous president. From these simulations, I calculated the probability that each apostle becomes president, along with median start years, durations, and end years of service, conditional on becoming president. Skeptical Forecast Below are the results for the first forecast, the skeptical forecast based only on the actuarial tables. The first three columns show order of seniority, name, and age in 2025. The fourth column, P(P), shows the fraction of simulations where the apostle becomes president. The subsequent columns show median start year, median duration, and median end year of service, conditional on becoming president. [ Visit the webpage to view the table. ] Reflections On moral grounds, I reject a pessimistic forecast of technological change. We must survive the changes that are coming. For similar reasons, I also reject a skeptical forecast. We must continue to apply available technologies to improve our world, our relations, and our bodies – not merely to survive, but to thrive. These are practical and moral imperatives. On the other hand, there are considerable moral hazards with the optimistic forecast of technological change. It’s actually only optimistic if we manage to navigate it without destroying ourselves or worse – perhaps becoming enslaved to artificial superintelligence, for example. These hazards would also apply to conservative forecasts to some extent. It’s not enough to imagine optimistic outcomes. We must work, intelligently and cooperatively and strenuously, toward optimistic outcomes, which requires maintaining our agency throughout the process. So, given my technological and moral views, while acknowledging real risks, I expect the future of Church governance to look something like the optimistic scenario presented above. In my mind, there’s a real and significant possibility that Elder Bednar, in particular, may become practically immortal while serving as president of the Church. But others might, if technological evolution is slower or faster. I also think there’s a real and significant possibility, particularly if mortality escape velocity becomes obvious, that Church leaders will choose to modify or altogether discontinue succession by seniority. Emeritus status is already assigned to general authorities of the Church below the apostleship tier. And ...
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  • Embody Christmas

    Embody Christmas
    2025/12/24
    When Christmas returns, I feel drawn to its Earthy images: a child swaddled and cradled in a manger; a stable crafted of stout wood; the lowing of animals; warmth pushing back against the depth of winter. These are more than speculative historical details. They are symbols that affirm the realization of our highest hopes, here in the dust and breath and hunger of embodied life. Doctrine and Covenants 93 illuminates these symbols. “The elements are eternal, and spirit and element, inseparably connected, receive a fulness of joy.” By this light, as we watch the sleeping child in the straw, we are invited to consent that God is not alien to nature, but thoroughly expressed therein. The Christmas story is most sublime in its pragmatism: matter as grace, and body as temple. The star above Bethlehem is a natural light – a fiery convergence of elemental processes that ultimately form our own flesh. The shepherds’ labors, Mary’s exhaustion, and Joseph’s worry: in all these, we glimpse that “man was also in the beginning with God.” We too participate in the story of life, of heaven and Earth. D&C 93 proceeds to tell us that Jesus “made flesh [his] tabernacle.” He “received not of the fulness at the first, but received grace for grace.” And he “continued from grace to grace, until he received a fullness.” Unexceptional, this progression is familiar. As Jesus progressed through embodied experience, so do we. Each small act of compassion given and received – a loaf of bread shared, a fire built against the cold, a child comforted, a neighbor welcomed – these are the graces by which we progress. Like Jesus, we receive grace for grace, and continue from grace to grace. And we do so not by escaping embodiment, but by embracing it more purposefully. Christmas is not about any escapist or nihilistic transcendence, but rather about a transcendence of escapism and nihilism. It’s about strenuous engagement with tangible purpose. Birthing pains, newborn cries, swaddling clothes: these welcome the messy beauty of nature as the substance of sublime creation. And every caring gesture, every earnest collaboration, whether enabled by ancient tradition or emerging technology, extends grace toward that light and truth, that intelligence, which is the glory of God. Honor with me, if you will, that which Christmas so beautifully presents and scripture so eloquently describes: spirit and element inseparably connected, embodied as individuals in community, progressing together from grace to grace toward a fulness of joy. Christmas is not an invitation to otherworldly heavens or incorporeal gods, but to the courage, compassion, and creation of Christ on Earth. This is our shared potential, symbolized by the baby in the manger. And this is true worship, emulation, which “receiveth truth and light, until he is glorified in truth and knoweth all things.” Merry Christmas! May your gifts, your embodied grace, progress now and always.
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  • Financial Nihilism Strengthens Crypto

    Financial Nihilism Strengthens Crypto
    2025/12/06
    Every few months, cryptocurrency cycles through yet another bout of financial nihilism. Tokens surge and collapse. New forms of leverage spawn like digital fungi. Degens perform their rituals of glorious self-immolation. Critics claim the entire ecosystem is a casino built on delusion and fraud. Insiders shrug and continue experimenting, as though volatility were simply the price of admission. It’s tempting to see this as a pathology unique to cryptocurrency. But financial nihilism is not new. In fact, financial nihilism is arguably the default state of frontier monetary systems. Even the early monetary system of the United States went through periods of speculation, fraud, and chaos. And rather than destroying the system, these periods strengthened it. They revealed what would fail, what would work, and what people could trust. In its financial nihilism, cryptocurrency is not an anomaly. It has evolved faster than ever before. But it’s still just the latest reenactment of an old economic ritual. The Continental Dollar During the Revolutionary War, the Continental Congress issued a paper currency, the Continental Dollar. It was essentially an experiment in blind faith. The notes were unbacked by anything other than hope. And they were printed relentlessly to satisfy short term needs, with little planning for long term consequences. Predictably, there was hyperinflation. Speculators traded the notes anyway, hoping to offload them onto each other for marginal gains. Eventually confidence evaporated. And the phrase “not worth a Continental” became a common insult. Independent Banking After independence, the United States Government defined the United States Dollar as a specific weight of silver, corresponding to that of Spanish silver dollars – effectively, a hard fork of the global financial network. But the new dollar wasn’t anything more than a legal definition. The actual cash that people used was basically private IOUs in the form of notes issued by random banks, analogous to crypto stablecoins. To redeem a note for silver, you had to physically travel to the bank. So notes from banks that were far away would trade for less than face value. And scammers would set up banks in the middle of nowhere (“wildcat” banks) so that no one would try to cash out their notes. When people inevitably lost trust in such notes, they would de-peg from the dollar and quickly become worthless – the old west version of a rug pull. The Greenback During the Civil War, the United States Government severed the dollar’s link to precious metals and issued a fiat currency, the Greenback – analogous to an unbacked algorithmic stablecoin issued by the state. But this effectively de-pegged the currency. It began to float freely relative to the value of hard assets. And it became highly volatile, fluctuating wildly based on military performance. The currency only stabilized years later when the government agreed, once again, to exchange Greenback notes for a specific weight of gold – like an algorithmic stablecoin pivoting to a collateralized model. This move successfully re-pegged the currency. Fluctuations subsided. And note discounts vanished. Familiar Patterns in Faster Times Frontier monetary systems exhibit phases of speculation, fraud, and chaos. This isn’t an accident. It’s inevitable. And the degeneracy of financial nihilism is a filter that ultimately separates monetary fantasies from monetary foundations. The early monetary system of the United States did not rise by avoiding financial nihilism. It rose by surviving. The dollar took a century to mature. In contrast, cryptocurrency compresses phases of financial nihilism into astonishingly short intervals. What once unfolded over a generation now unfolds in a year. The speed may be disorienting, but the pattern is the same. Financial nihilism is not evidence of cryptocurrency’s doom. It’s evidence that cryptocurrency is passing through the same filter that all frontier monetary systems, especially the most transformative, have faced. The question is not whether chaos will occur – it already has and will again. The question is which ideas survive that chaos long enough to become infrastructure. All values are forged, not in calm, but by fire. That’s as true of instrumental values as it is of final values. So it shouldn’t surprise us that money, the ultimate abstraction of instrumental values, must itself be forged by fire.
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  • Sankofa Futurism

    Sankofa Futurism
    2025/11/28
    When we think about the origin of Transhumanism, we often think about Europe and America: from Enlightenment humanism, through the industrial revolution, and onward to Silicon Valley. That conception is true enough, if we’re thinking about Transhumanism in name. But if we’re thinking about Transhumanism in function, there’s much more to the story. And that story is as old and diverse as humanity itself. Modern use of the word “transhumanism” may come from Julian Huxley, an evolutionary biologist in the 1950s. His younger brother, Aldous Huxley, popularized the concept known as “perennial philosophy.” It’s basically the idea that all the world’s major religions, cultural traditions, and ancient myths have common core elements. Prominent among them is humanity’s shared aspiration for transcendence, both physical and cognitive, reflecting a much older theological use of “transhumanize” in Dante’s Paradiso. A contemporary of the Huxley brothers, Joseph Campbell mapped perennial philosophy onto a concept that he called “monomyth.” His insight was that we express perennial philosophy through perennial narrative. In other words, all our cultural traditions tell stories with common core elements. And Campbell focused, in particular, on what he described as the “hero’s journey” – or what we might understand as humanity’s shared story of transcendence. Perennial philosophy and monomyth don’t originate in Europe or America, at least not uniquely. Humanity’s shared aspirations and stories of physical and cognitive transcendence – that is to say, stories that function as Transhumanism – stretch back through time to the dawn of history. And, of course, that includes Africa. So today, as we imagine how best to express Transhumanism in persuasive and helpful ways – in ways that will actually prove transformative – I commend to you an idea that comes from the Akan people in West Africa. That idea is Sankofa, or what we might call “Sankofa futurism.” It’s symbolized by a mythical bird that’s moving forward while reaching back for an egg. And it literally means, “go back and get it,” or use wisdom from the past to make the future better. In that spirit, I’ve collected some traditional stories from Africa. They represent the ancient and enduring human aspiration to transcendence, across the spectrum of physical and cognitive capacity. In function, they’re Transhumanist stories. Or at least they can be, if we choose to interpret them in light of modern science and emerging technology, as I’ll illustrate. Anansi and the Singularity Akan people tell of the trickster Anansi, who attempts to centralize the world’s data into a single proprietary database, intending to become the sole administrator of knowledge. He successfully scrapes wisdom from every corner of the globe, but he finds the server too heavy to carry up the tree of life alone. When a glitch in his user interface causes him to drop the container, the data is decentralized into the winds. Anansi’s story foreshadows the Transhumanist debate about technological singularity, and the risks of a singleton superintelligence. Isis and Immortalism In the sacred texts of Egypt, Isis refuses to accept the annihilation of Osiris after his brother hacks his body into scattered pieces. She initiates a forensic search across the cosmos, retrieving fragments of information and painstakingly reassembling the pattern of his body. Ultimately, her project succeeds: his body reboots and his mind returns, surviving the destruction of its former physical substrate. Isis’ story anticipates the Transhumanist narrative of immortalism: that with sufficient data, death is curable rather than final. Modjadji and Paradise Engineering Balobedu people describe Modjadji, a matriarch who possesses biotech that can control local weather patterns. She uses secret codes to regulate precipitation, ending droughts or summoning storms as a defense mechanism. Her dynasty passes an encryption key genetically, from mother to daughter, maintaining a civilization that actively solves problems of scarcity and environmental threat. Modjadji’s story suggests the Transhumanist narrative of paradise engineering: that we have a moral obligation to mitigate involuntary risk of suffering. Nana Miriam and Nanotechnology Songhai people tell of the sorceress Nana Miriam, who confronts a shape-shifting beast that instantly adapts its physical form to shatter any conventional weapon. She defeats this rapidly evolving threat not with brute force, but by using a specialized powder to reconfigure molecular structures in real-time. When the beast transforms into a wall of raging fire, she deploys the substance to transmute the flames into water, neutralizing the attack instantly. Nana Miriam’s story prefigures the Transhumanist ambition of nanotech, with programmable matter. Nommo and Cosmic Expansion Dogon elders describe the arrival of Nommo, ...
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  • A Christian Renaissance to Sanctify Transhumanism

    A Christian Renaissance to Sanctify Transhumanism
    2024/07/30
    Christopher VanDusen wrote a thoughtful article on “ The Need for a Christian Renaissance to Oppose Today’s Transhumanist Renaissance.” I appreciate his work to foster deeper devotion and understanding among Christians. It’s important for the faithful to engage with contemporary cultural and technological movements critically. Christopher argues that Transhumanism is like Renaissance Humanism, both movements that excessively emphasize human reason and capability apart from divine guidance. However, as a founder of the Christian Transhumanist Association, I’d like to offer a different perspective. Historical and Theological Context First, it’s important to understand that Transhumanism, like any ideology, has a diverse range of adherents and interpretations. The historical comparison to Renaissance Humanism is insightful but incomplete. Renaissance Humanism indeed championed human potential. But it also laid the groundwork for modern science and contributed significantly to spiritual and theological developments within Christianity itself. Many Renaissance Humanists were deeply religious, seeking to integrate their newfound knowledge with their faith. Similarly, Transhumanism does not inherently reject God. Many Transhumanists, myself included, advocate for the ethical use of technology to enhance human abilities, including that of addressing the challenges of disease, poverty, and even mortality. Our efforts are not about idolizing humanity, but about fulfilling divine mandates to heal the sick, feed the hungry, and raise the dead, as exemplified and invited by Jesus Christ. Purpose and Direction of Transhumanism Christopher mentions that Transhumanism seeks to transform humans into a new race of part-human, part-computer creatures. While some ideas within the Transhumanist discourse can seem radical, they also push boundaries in ways that can align with Christian eschatology. For example, the Christian doctrines of transfiguration and theosis – the transformative process of becoming one with God – resonate with the Transhumanist aim to transcend current human limitations in ethical and compassionate ways. Christopher expresses concern that Transhumanism dehumanizes, making people more obsessed with themselves and distant from God. This is a valid critique if technology is pursued without ethical concern. However, it’s a misconception to think that all Transhumanists are unreflective technophiles. Many of us, particularly within the religious Transhumanist communities, emphasize ethical considerations and the spiritual ramifications of technological advancements. Our objective is, of course, not to create a dystopia. Rather, our objective is to work toward a future where technology serves the betterment of all humanity. This is consistent with a discipleship of Jesus Christ, enlivening our faith through work. Call to Christian Transhumanism Rather than opposing Transhumanism with a revival of exclusively pre-modern Christian thought, I advocate for an integrated approach. This wouldn’t be the first time that Christians reconcile with the science of their day. As Christians, we can yet again engage with and even lead in the development of technology, ensuring that advancements are aligned with values of love, justice, and mercy. This ambition is the essence of Christian Transhumanism, where faith and technology work hand in hand for the greater good. Christopher VanDusen’s call for a return to scripture is valuable. No technological or intellectual advancement should ever overshadow the wisdom preserved from our past. The Bible and the Gospel of Jesus Christ still have much to teach us. However, technological and intellectual advancements can and should be seen as tools, provided to us by God so that we may participate in the divine work. A Christian Renaissance in our time should not be about rejecting new ideas. Our Christian Renaissance should be about sanctifying them – aligning them with the plan and work of God to bring about human immortality and eternal life.
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