From: Josiah Draper (kreizykid@hotmail.com)
Date: Thu Jul 04 2002 - 23:12:28 MDT
Why did your prophet lie about the teaching that god was once a man in your
church, by saying that it wasn't taught?
-Josiah
>From: Michael Warnock <michael@in-orbit.net>
>Reply-To: sl4@sysopmind.com
>To: sl4@sysopmind.com
>Subject: Re: Mormons and the Singularity
>Date: Wed, 03 Jul 2002 00:35:20 -0700
>
>Mitch Howe:
> >There are more potential reasons that I can't think of at the moment, but
>it
> >should be apparent that a highly intelligent AGI should have no trouble
> >finding valid interpretations for each and every empirical perception
>that
> >would put it in harmony with God's Plan as described by the Mormon faith.
> >But naturally, there would be no rational reason to do this unless it had
> >acquired a Testimony of the Gospel through non-empirical means --
>perceived
> >"evidence of things not seen." -- which I guess is another one of those
>Zen
> >things creeping up in diverse religions... So chalk up another point
>under
> >"Religious folk see AGI as needing non-empirical perception to arrive at
> >ultimate truth."
> >
>I too was trapped within the particular circular argument which is
>Mormonism until 20 yrs
>old and can testify;) to the truthfulness of what Mitch is saying. The
>doctrine surrounding
>Mormonism is so extensive and education is so encouraged that this
>strangely framed
>rationality is constantly honed to be used against any doubt that Satan
>might throw at you.
>On the other hand, having recovered from that perspective, I find the added
>tendancy to
>test every assumption to be a great advantage.
>In many ways I can contribute my awakening out of this state to singularity
>related thought.
>In a period of doubt on my mission after having baptized a young boy in
>less than ideal
>circumstances, I purchased Godel, Escher, Bach and Tipler's The Physics of
>Immortality.
>At the time I considered Tipler rather absurd, but GEB touched me deeply.
>This was
>against mission rules, but having read them I could no longer maintain even
>the facade of
>certainty about what I was supposed to be teaching.
>
>I suppose what I'd like the readers of this list to know is that
>intelligent, even scientificly apt
>people are sometimes convinced of ridiculous positions and maintain them
>out of positive
>human characteristics. Some of these people can arrive at a new worldview,
>and I think
>that anyone who scraps their basic assumptions and takes stock of the world
>today has
>a fair chance of predictiing the singularity.
>
>Michael Warnock
>Wherever you go; &This;
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