Moore’s Law

Moore’s Law is the observation that the number of transistors on an integrated circuit doubles at a regular interval, roughly every two years. Gordon Moore, then at Fairchild Semiconductor and later a cofounder of Intel, made the first version of the prediction in a 1965 article for Electronics magazine, projecting a doubling every year; in 1975 he revised the interval to two years. The trend held for half a century and became shorthand for accelerating technological change in general. Calling it a law borrows the sense of the Greek nomos, an established order, from nemein, “to allot.” Moore described an engineering regularity sustained by investment and ingenuity, and the semiconductor industry adopted it as a target to meet.

Line upon line

Restoration scripture describes spiritual growth in cumulative terms. “That which is of God is light; and he that receiveth light, and continueth in God, receiveth more light; and that light groweth brighter and brighter until the perfect day” (D&C 50:24). Each gain makes the next possible. Intelligence “cleaveth unto intelligence” (D&C 88:40), and the Lord gives “line upon line, precept upon precept” to those who receive what they are given (2 Nephi 28:30).

Compounding technological growth follows a similar pattern. Each generation of chips was designed with tools built on the generation before it, so progress fed on itself. Mormon Transhumanists see in this pattern a temporal image of eternal progression. Humanity’s capacity to organize matter has grown exponentially over the last century, and Restoration theology teaches that such growth has no final ceiling for those who continue in God.

Grace for grace

John’s record, as quoted in the Doctrine and Covenants, says that Christ “received not of the fulness at first, but continued from grace to grace, until he received a fulness” (D&C 93:13). Latter-day Saints are promised they may receive “grace for grace” in the same way (D&C 93:20). The process is cumulative and relational, since each grace received becomes a capacity extended to others. Technological progress has a comparable structure when it works well. Knowledge is shared, tools are improved by many hands, and the gains of one discipline become the foundation for another. Exponential growth belongs to networks of learners, which is part of why it fits a theology of shared exaltation.

The limits of silicon

Moore’s Law is slowing. Around 2005 the related trend known as Dennard scaling, which allowed smaller transistors to run faster without consuming more power, came to an end, and processor clock speeds stopped rising. Leading-edge features are now a few nanometers across, near the scale of individual atoms, where quantum effects and heat set hard constraints. The industry has responded with three-dimensional chip stacking and specialized processors for artificial intelligence, and researchers are pursuing quantum, optical, and biological computing. Deeper limits remain. Rolf Landauer showed that erasing information carries a minimum energy cost, and physicists have estimated the most computation any quantity of matter could perform. Those boundaries lie far beyond current technology, but they are real.

History offers some perspective. Ray Kurzweil has pointed out that exponential growth in computing predates the integrated circuit, running through electromechanical calculators, relays, vacuum tubes, and discrete transistors. When one technology reached its limits, another took its place. Whether that pattern continues is an empirical question, and Mormon Transhumanists hold it with appropriate uncertainty. The theological claim is more modest: whatever form computation takes, the capacity to learn and to organize matter can keep growing for those who seek it.

Some thinkers expect exponential growth to carry civilization to a technological singularity. Vernor Vinge introduced the idea in 1993 and Ray Kurzweil popularized it, describing a point after which machine intelligence improves itself faster than human institutions can follow. Whether or not that point arrives, the ethical problem is already here: power is scaling faster than the wisdom to govern it.

Exponential trends also lower costs. Computation that once required a national laboratory now runs on a phone, and tools for translation, medical diagnosis, and scientific modeling are reaching people who never had them. That diffusion matters theologically. Zion requires that capacity be shared, and cheap computation makes broad sharing possible.

The transfigurist imperative

Moore’s Law is a commercial and engineering fact, and Mormon Transhumanists also read it as a sign of something larger. The exponential growth of human capability is a temporal shadow of eternal progression, a glimpse of what it means to receive light until the perfect day. That reading carries responsibility. As human power grows, so must the ethical maturity and covenant stewardship that keep it directed toward the welfare of all.

See also: Apotheosis, Immortality, Industry, Labor, Longevity, Moore’s Law, Singularitarian, Technological Singularity, Toil