To toot my own horn, one of my favorite talks in recent memory was one I gave to the Templeton folks on the compatibility of religion and transhumanism. Andres put it up on Thoughtware.tv, and he wrote to let me know that it has been their top-rated talk there. Listen to it here. The slides associated with that talk are here, and the paper is here.
James, I really enjoyed this recording -- even better than the paper or my memory of its presentation in Second Life, although I enjoyed them, too. Your sense of humor adds a lot.
By the way, your presentation of Mormon eschatological beliefs sounds crazy to me, too.
This kind of thing worries me. Whilst I have no problem with moderate religionists (and indeed regularly attend Buddhist meditation sessions), it seems that a lot of people are actively looking for arguments as to why advanced technology, accelerating change and the possibilities that they open up support their particular religious beliefs. "Oh, look, a piece of advanced technology. How can I find an argument to make that support my existing religious belief?"
If you have already decided what you want to argue in favor of, i.e. if you have already written the bottom line, then you are wasting your time rationalizing it.
Whilst I support peoples' right to their own opinions, I must note that in my opinion, being religious is not compatible with being rational, and being rational is something that transhumanists ought to value above all else.
Roko, few (if any) religious persons identify with your characterization of religious persons, which should be recognized as a critical weakness in your perspective.
You should write a book on this James.
I would like to clarify that it was Arlind, a community member, that contributed this on Thoughtware.TV and lastly that Kurzweil dated the singularity for 2045, rather than 2029 as it is stated.
This is definitely one of my favorite talks, I look forward to seeing much more at Thoughtware.TV
- Andres
Armin, so far as I know, you know little about my reasons for any idea, religious or otherwise. If I'm incorrect, I welcome from you evidence that you know something about my reasons and their weaknesses. Appeals to anti-religious sentiment, if evidence for anything at all, are only evidence of weaknesses in your reasoning.
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