# Cheer

Discover how the Mormon Transhumanist Association embraces cheer—exploring the intersection of faith, technology, and the joyful pursuit of human flourishing.

[Image: The concept of cheer, rooted in “face” and “countenance,” aligns an outward disposition with a scriptural hope that God will “make his face shine” upon those who wait on Him.]

**Cheer** is, at its root, a word about the disposition. English received it from Old French *chiere*, "face" or "countenance." The etymology recalls one of the oldest blessings in scripture found in Numbers 6:24–26, in which the Lord is asked to make his face shine upon Israel and to lift up his countenance upon them. In the New Testament, "be of good cheer" most often renders the Greek *tharseō*, "take courage," spoken by Jesus to those who were ill, frightened, or in peril (Matthew 9:2; 14:27; John 16:33). Read together, these passages frame cheer as an active hope we cultivate from within that allows us to face the challenges of life with an open, untroubled gaze.

## Cheer in Restoration Scripture

[Image: Nephi’s instruction to “lift up your head” portrays cheer as radical optimism in the face of adversity.]

In 3 Nephi 1, unbelievers had fixed a day on which those awaiting the sign of Christ's birth were to be put to death. Nephi "cried mightily to his God" through that day, and the voice of the Lord came to him: "Lift up your head and be of good cheer" (3 Nephi 1:12–13). The instruction to lift the head carries an old meaning. When Joseph interpreted the butler's dream, the promise that Pharaoh would "lift up thine head" meant restoration to his former place (Genesis 40:13), and the psalmist calls the Lord "the lifter up of mine head" (Psalm 3:3). Jacob, for his part, ties cheer to agency: "cheer up your hearts, and remember that ye are free to act for yourselves" (2 Nephi 10:23).

In the Doctrine and Covenants, every injunction to be of good cheer is directly linked to the assurance of God's presence: "I am in your midst" (61:36), "I the Lord am with you" (68:6), "I will lead you along" (78:18). The Liberty Jail letter orders the matter with care. The Saints are to "cheerfully do all things that lie in our power," and only then to "stand still, with the utmost assurance, to see the salvation of God" (D&C 123:17). The language echoes Moses at the Red Sea: "Fear ye not, stand still, and see the salvation of the Lord" (Exodus 14:13).

## Cheer as a State of Mind

Writers outside scripture have drawn a comparable distinction between cheer as an enduring disposition and cheer as a fleeting mood. Joseph Addison, in *The Spectator*, preferred cheerfulness to mirth, regarding mirth as an act and cheerfulness as a state of mind. A cautionary note is in order. Timothy Hampton's *Cheerfulness: A Literary and Cultural History* traces how the virtue migrated from religious life into psychology and style. He observes that American culture has often used buoyant spirits to reconcile people to drudgery. The scriptural command guards against that use. It is never issued without a reason, and the reason offered is always the presence, victory, or guidance of the Lord.

## A Mormon Transhumanist Reading

Mormon Transhumanists have found in D&C 123:17 a charter for active hope. On their reading, God's purposes move forward through human labor in medicine, technology, and community, and cheer is the settled posture of those who expect such labor to count. Lincoln Cannon, co-founder of the Mormon Transhumanist Association, argues in "Don't Die Can Be Good But Thriving Is Always Better" (2025) against a program aimed only at postponing death. He commends instead a pragmatic technological optimism joined to a resilient spirituality. His New God Argument gives that optimism a reasoned basis in trust toward humanity's future.

Carl Youngblood approaches the subject from a different angle. His blog takes its title, *From the Depths*, from Psalm 130, one of the Songs of Ascents associated with pilgrims going up to the temple in Jerusalem. His *Wayfare* essay "Algorithmic Advent" considers the existential risks of artificial general intelligence in the light of Mormon theology. Youngblood has named a tension between passive faith in future redemption and the active work transhumanism requires. The Liberty Jail letter holds the two together. The Saints do all within their power, and then wait on God with quiet confidence.

## A modern Hack for Mood States

[Image: Closed-loop brain stimulation is a modern approach to changing mood states by monitoring neural activity and responding accordingly in a bid to alleviate suffering.]

Recent neuroscience has made it possible to ask whether cheer might be produced directly. Closed-loop brain implants that monitor and respond to neural activity have been tested in small numbers of people, and some commentators foresee a day when unwanted mental states could be removed at will. David Pearce, in *The Hedonistic Imperative*, argues that biotechnology should abolish suffering entirely.

Latter-day Saint teaching gives grounds for welcoming the treatment of depression and other mood disorders. Proverbs 17:22 already speaks of a merry heart as "a medicine," and modern revelation declares that "the spirit and the body are the soul of man" (D&C 88:15). Lehi also taught that "there must needs be an opposition in all things" (2 Nephi 2:11), and scripture consistently ties cheer to the Lord's presence and to human agency. A useful distinction may therefore be drawn between restoring a person's capacity for gladness and supplying gladness apart from its grounds. The first follows the pattern of Christ's healing ministry. The latter leaves a crucial question unresolved—one that the scriptures invariably address—namely, the underlying reason for being of good cheer.

*See also*: [Charity](/topical-guide/charity), [Comfort](/topical-guide/comfort), [Compassion](/topical-guide/compassion), [Grace](/topical-guide/grace), [Happiness](/topical-guide/happiness), [Healing](/topical-guide/healing), [Hope](/topical-guide/hope), [Inspire](/topical-guide/inspire), [Joy](/topical-guide/joy), [Love](/topical-guide/love), [Peace](/topical-guide/peace), [Rejoice](/topical-guide/rejoice)