Brief Remarks from Several MTA Officers

Connie Packer

Hi, I’m Connie Packer. I’m a registered dietitian by profession. One thing that’s interesting about being a dietician is that in some settings, we don’t have a lot of authority per se. We make recommendations. And then other people decide if they’re going to put those recommendations into action.

Connie Packer

And there were times when I joined the MTA, I was working in a job where I would make recommendations and then Once a year, surveyors would come into a nursing home and decide, well, they would look through the records and stuff, and sometimes they found that My recommendations may be, well, they they were good and that they were glad that they were instituted, you know, pat on the back. Other times, they’d wished that they’d followed the recommendations.

Connie Packer

When I came to the MTA, I was asked about my experiences and my thoughts. That was kind of new. And then I had people, well, and some polite challenging. Of thoughts, which was very new to me to see the respectful banter and debating that can happen in the MTA I also had people from all genders that encouraged me to develop my thoughts, to share them, to participate in leadership. Very grateful for that. It’s been growing. It’s been a growing experience, and I’m grateful for that enlightenment and that encouragement.

Speaker 2

Thank you, Dallin Bradford.

Dallin Bradford

I said that the last time I got up here, I am a second generation Mormon transhumanist. I was raised, I think my first meetup was probably when I was about 13 or 14 years old. But in the home, my dad, who just presented, He and my mom raised me with Mormon transhumanist ideals. And it has blessed my life immeasurably.

Dallin Bradford

My relationship to religion has been very scientific. My relationship to science has been very religious. And it has given me, I think, a very good nuanced perspective. I value the MTA for a couple of reasons. The community, I really value the banter. My dad sometimes will describe things like you can see someone’s mind expanding, and I’ve seen that quite a bit. Here at MTA conferences and then also at our meetups, and even just in discussions on social media and Discord.

Dallin Bradford

Two days ago, my wife and I were carpooling with a couple of our castmates. We both are theater performers. And we were driving from Salt Lake down to Orem for rehearsals. And as we were driving back, I showed a couple of my friends another example of AI-generated music. And they had really negative feelings about it. A lot of people that I know are artists and performers, musicians, actors, dancers. And they were really, really scared of what AI might bring to their careers, what might happen to them. And across about another 45 minutes, including just being parked at the Maverick where we all met, for about 20 minutes to half an hour, we kind of turned the conversation around.

Dallin Bradford

And it wasn’t to say that we should just be optimistic about the possible implementation of AI or all the good that it could do. That was certainly a talking point. But one of our friends in particular articulated this fear of a dystopian future, right? Kind of like you see in all of the sci-fi movies. And I said, one of the reasons that I really value being a transhumanist and a religious transhumanist and a Mormon transhumanist Is because I am given a sense of personal responsibility for my spirituality and for creating and contributing to the kind of future that I would like to see brought about.

Dallin Bradford

And so I’m not an escapist. I think that we can build a beautiful future. I think we can build Zion together. And I think not only can we. But I think that we are called to do those things. We are called to raise one another up, to make the world more equitable, safer, smarter, kinder, more loving. And I think that we can do that with tools and with each other.

Speaker 2

Thank you, Dallin. Joseph West.

Joseph West

Hi, um, I am the uh MTA treasurer. Um I met Lincoln and Chris Bradford and a couple other people in the year 2000 on a website called BeliefNet. Oh my gosh, I know I. When I’m talking about personal history stuff, it’s just like impossible. When I think about myself at that time and just like where I was going, like The questions that I had. I mean, it’s unquestionable that the MTA and these ideas have just been at the foundation of my intellectual sense of self and the way that I’ve Engage the world.

Joseph West

And I think also is that on a really deep level, I am a believer in the grand fundamental principles of Mormonism. And I desire to live my life authentically in accord with those principles. I think that the MTA has enabled me to do that.

Joseph West

If not for the MTA, I think I would be a much more garden variety, kind of like Boring post-Mormon intellectual in the way that The MTA has made my religion into a resource for me, whereas I think that if not for being introduced to these ideas at a young enough age, that I would have gone down a more stereotypical course of like My relationship with my religion would have been much more filled with conflict and something almost to overcome, and that’s not the case. I’m so happy about my religion, my religious identity, and my heritage. That’s another reason why I’m here: is to honor my ancestors and to carry this work forward. And so I’m grateful for that opportunity. Thank you.

Speaker 2

Thank you, Joseph. Spencer Cannon.

Spencer Cannon

Good morning. I’m Spencer. Along with Dallin, I am also a second generation Mormon transhumanist. My father, Lincoln, back in the day, what I would call my dad’s nerd group, which my friends Would meet in my living room while I was asleep in bed, and I would hear laughters while all the snacks from the Bradfords were upstairs. And I would just sit there in my bed being, wow, what are they talking about? Until I was deemed old enough to participate in the conversations.

Spencer Cannon

Ultimately, the biggest thing that I admire and very grateful for from the Morgan Transmus Association is number one, The friendships and community, like Down was saying as well, but specifically to my father and my mother, Lincoln and Dorothy. Your influence on them therefore has influenced me. So, thank you to everyone in this room who has. positively impacted my parents.

Spencer Cannon

For me on a personal note, often people will ask me like, okay, what does it mean to be a Mormon transhumanist for you? And How does that relate to your beliefs as a member of the Church of Jesus Christ, the Latter-day Saints? Well, that’s kind of a complicated answer for me because a lot of that is one in the same for me. My gospel is taught in both environments here and at church. And it’s the MTA has become a lens for my faith. It’s a way to understand things, whether it’s AI or it’s compassion or if it’s. different ideas.

Spencer Cannon

In this room, I’ve met people that have different views on their faith. And sometimes some of my favorite things to do with my friends is say, hey, Did you know there’s such thing as Mormon atheists? And they look at me and are like, What’s a Mormon atheist? Or have you ever heard of the simulation argument? My father believes that he lives in the computer. And they and their eyes just open up, and they’re just like, what the heck is this? And ultimately, it’s all fun and games, but what it’s done for me is Granted me an open mind. It’s given me reassurance that these ideas, as fun as they can be, they’re Important to a lot of people. I think we know many people that have endured dark periods of their life where they didn’t know what they believed in. And this association has become a safe haven for a lot of people. Another thing, Dal and I often talk about this.

Spencer Cannon

Neither of us are techies like our fathers. We don’t program. And so we often feel like what is our role as MTA members. For me personally, I studied social sciences growing up, PolySci, languages and people were important. I did sales in college. And for me, systems and people have always been essential. And a big portion of how our systems succeed are at the individual level and how we personally compose ourselves. And something that I’ve always valued and the MTA has helped emphasize a lot of my father’s teachings.

Spencer Cannon

Is there’s three things that there’s three qualities that embody godliness in our life that I value. And those three are creation, compassion, and courage. We today are talking about a big creation, AI. We have a responsibility towards that. We have a lot of opportunities to learn and to expand the world that we live in and to go on into new worlds. And I think that’s a beautiful idea. And that takes a lot of courage. We have to stand bravely and we have to take the haters, the doomsdayers. or the people that say, no, we can’t, because that is not our role as humans.

Spencer Cannon

But at the end of the day, too, our compassion is what ultimately is the most important. As we ourselves, whether if you’re a computer programmer or a political scientist, financial analyst like me or something like that, your compassion goes further than you might think. Because as you change yourself, you will also make changes in the systems and the science that we as a community support.

Spencer Cannon

There was a quote in our last general conference for the LDS Church that stood out to me from Jeffrey R. Holland. And he said, Brothers and sisters, as we repent of our sins and come boldly to the throne of grace, leaving before him there our alms and our heartfelt supplications we will find mercy and compassion and forgiveness at the benevolent hands of our Eternal Father and His obedient, perfectly pure Son. Then, with Job and all the refined faithful, we will behold a world too wonderful to understand. Now, maybe it’s too wonderful to understand now, but what I value from people like you is I can maybe have a glimpse of it with people like you.

Speaker 2

So thank you for that. Thank you, Spencer.