How close are we to the homo deus – the human god? Transhumanism is the transformation of the human condition through sophisticated technologies that modify our physiology and intellect. This episode, we continue our conversation about Artificial Intelligence and the Homo Deus with Professor John Lennox, and Dr.s Vicky Lorrimar and Grenville Kent.
This episode is brought to you by series sponsor Zondervan Academic, publishers of How to talk about Jesus without being THAT guy by Sam Chan.
LINKS
- Meet Professor John Lennox
- Get Professor Lennox’s book 2084: Artificial intelligence and the future of humanity
- Say hi to episode guests Dr Grenville Kent and Dr Vicky Lorrimar
- Watch this primer on ‘Transhumanism’ from BBC Ideas.
- Read The Age of Spiritual Machines by Ray Kurzweil (Lennox called him one of the most insightful people on this topic last episode)
- Watch this Ted Talk on how close we are to be able to ‘upload our minds’
- This is the article on The Washington Post in which Elon Musk talks about AI as summoning the demon (as mentioned by Lennox)
- Here’s a useful explainer on Utilitarianism from University of Texas
- Read this profile on Peter Singer from 1999 in The Guardian: The most dangerous man in the world
- Dig deeper into Peter Singer’s utilitarianism views, critiqued by John Lennox here.
- More on Naturalism.
- Read CS Lewis’ essay ‘On living in an atomic age’ in his book of essays ‘Present Concerns’
- Learn more about quantum mechanics in 60 seconds on BBC with Brian Cox
- Read ‘The strange link between the human mind and quantum physics’, BBC
Movie and Television referenced in this episode:
Meet our guests
John Lennox is Professor of Mathematics at Oxford University (emeritus) and Emeritus Fellow in mathematics and the philosophy of science at Green Templeton College, a graduate community also at Oxford. He is also an adjunct professor at the Oxford Centre for Christian Apologetics. Prof. Lennox studied at the Royal School Armagh, Northern Ireland, and went on to Cambridge University from which he took his MA, MMath, and PhD. He worked for many years in the Mathematics Institute at the University of Wales in Cardiff, which awarded him a DSc for his research. He also holds a DPhil from Oxford University (by incorporation) and an MA in bioethics from the University of Surrey. Lennox is the author of over 70 published mathematical papers and several books on the interface between science, philosophy and theology including God’s Undertaker: Has Science Buried God?, Gunning for God, God and Stephen Hawking and Can Science Explain Everything.
Grenville Kent is an Australian academic, film producer, author, and Christian communicator. He is the producer of Big Questions, a forthcoming documentary series examining faith, and the “10 Questions for God” series of booklets. He has earned a PhD from the University of Manchester, England, and a D.Min from the Australian College of Theology, and taught Cultural Apologetics (Arts/Theology) and Old Testament at the Wesley Institute (now Excelsia College) in Sydney.
Victoria Lorrimar began her academic journey started out in the sciences, with an undergraduate degree in genetics and biochemistry. After a little time in the lab, she completed a Master of Divinity through the Australian College of Theology. Lorrimar’s PhD combined both her interests in theology and science at the University of Oxford. Researching how a theological understanding of what it means to be human can engage the prospect of technologies that promise to enhance human characteristics and abilities.
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Undeceptions is part of the Eternity Podcast Network, an audio collection showcasing the seriously good news of faith today.
