| Type | Transhumanist and transreligious institutional family |
|---|---|
| Associated figures | Martine and Bina Rothblatt |
| Principal artifacts | Mindfiles, LifeNaut and the social robot BINA48 |
| Religious question | Whether future technology could preserve or restore personal life |
Terasem Movement connects life-extension research with a religious hope for personal continuity through future technology. Its institutional family includes organizations preserving personal information, the LifeNaut project, the social robot BINA48 and transreligious publishing. Mindfiles are central to this connection: ordinary acts of recording memories become preparation for an envisioned future restoration.[1][2][5][7]
Institutions and projects
The name encompasses related organizations and artifacts with different functions. Their published activities should be attributed to the responsible entity rather than treated as evidence that every branch performs the same work.
| Entity or project | Documented function |
|---|---|
| Terasem Movement Foundation | A Vermont operating foundation, founded in 2004, whose stated mission combines life-extension education, research and stewardship of mindfiles.[2] |
| LifeNaut and BINA48 | The Foundation identifies LifeNaut as a project; LifeNaut presents BINA48 as a social-robot demonstration using biographical information.[2][5][6] |
| Terasem Movement Inc. | Roy's 2014 report locates the CyBeRev information-preservation project and an educational nonprofit in Florida.[7] |
| Terasem Movement Transreligion Inc. | Named publisher of Terasem Journals and its dated 2026 issue and colloquium pages.[8][9] |
Foundation mission
The Foundation describes its purpose in terms of “geoethical” technology: applying life-extension technologies with attention to their wider effects and access. Its mission connects cryogenics, biotechnology and cyberconsciousness. The science and philosophy pages collect arguments about preserving information and possible future embodiments; they document a research program and its hypotheses.[2][3][4]
Mindfiles and personal continuity
LifeNaut describes a mindfile as a collection of information about a person, including memories, values, attitudes and ways of behaving. Text, photographs, recordings and other material are assembled for possible use by future software. The Foundation presents this as testing whether sufficiently detailed information could support a conscious analogue of a person.[2][5][6]
The proposal separates two stages: preserving information now and interpreting or embodying it with a future technology. The second does not follow automatically from the first. Within Terasem's religious outlook, however, the present archive can express commitment to a future in which personal relationships survive bodily death.[4][7]
BINA48
LifeNaut presents BINA48 as an ambassador for the project and an early illustration of the mindfile hypothesis. Its account describes a composite based on information from several people, including Bina Aspen, using interviews and recognition and conversational technologies. The artifact makes a proposed relationship between biographical data and artificial embodiment available for public interaction.[6]
BINA48's ability to converse is distinct from proving that a person's consciousness has been transferred. The relevant documented machine role is a social robot drawing on human-supplied material; the broader claim about conscious analogues remains the project's hypothesis.[6]
Transreligion and technological hope
Jessica Roy's 2014 Time report gives the four tenets as “life is purposeful, death is optional, God is technological and love is essential.” It describes transreligion as compatible with other religious affiliations. Her account connects mindfile practice with hopes of reunion and technological immortality.[7]
Publishing and discussion in 2026
Terasem Journals posted Journal of Personal Cyberconsciousness, Volume 14, Issue 1, on 19 July 2026. Its contents describe a summary of the December 2025 colloquium as AI-generated and edited by Giulio Prisco. The page attributes production without supplying a model identity or generation history.[8]
A 21 September page presents a recording of the 20 July 2026 spaceflight colloquium. These dated publications document activity in the Transreligion branch. They do not establish the current operations of every organization in the family.[9]
Relation to other projects
Terasem's distinctive contribution to the AI–religion record is the connection between preserved personal information, artificial embodiment and transreligious expectations. It overlaps with Turing Church in technological-resurrection themes, while LifeNaut and BINA48 give it a different set of practices and artifacts. Shared participants do not establish common governance.
See also
- Machine hierology
- Machine-mediated religion
- Machine-originated religion
- Turing Church
- Church of Perpetual Life
References
- Terasem Movement Foundation homepage.
- Terasem Movement Foundation About / Mission page.
- Terasem Movement Foundation, “Science Supporting Terasem.”
- Terasem Movement Foundation, philosophical writings on mind uploading / downloading.
- LifeNaut homepage.
- LifeNaut BINA48 page.
- Jessica Roy, “The Rapture of the Nerds.” Time, 17 April 2014.
- Giulio Prisco, “Journal of Personal Cyberconsciousness, Volume 14, Issue 1 – 2026.” Terasem Journals, July 19, 2026. Contents page consulted October 3, 2026.
- Giulio Prisco, “VIDEO: Terasem Colloquium, July 20, 2026.” Terasem Journals, September 21, 2026. Recording page consulted October 3, 2026.
Foundation, project and journal pages supply affiliated accounts; Roy provides one independent reporting family. The sources document particular organizations, artifacts and teachings, without establishing present membership totals, a uniform ritual calendar, transferred consciousness or achieved technological immortality.