Transhumanist Hank Pellissier on Being an “Atheist Missionary”
Hank Pellissier is certainly an inimitable individual. As a transhumanist and humanitarian, he applies science and technology to inform his approach to alleviating suffering, such as through his efforts to supplement the diet of the Philippines’ Mangyan community with soylent to improve brain health and nutrition. Currently, his work as the director of the Brighter Brains Institute is focused in Uganda, where he spearheads projects to establish and support humanist schools, health clinics, and orphanages.
This past week, he agreed to answer some of my questions about his modus operandi and how humanism fits into his life stance and way of being.
Brighter Brains is engaged in the Rwenzori Mountains of Western Uganda (Photo by Dylan Waters)
By Hank Pellissier
The Humanist
Posted: Jul 25, 2016
Jessica Xiao: What is your theory of change and how did that lead to Brighter Brains?
Hank Pellissier: I believe responsible people should strive to create utopia, paradise on earth, equal opportunities for all and the annihilation of suffering. To be an ethical human is to care about and work deeply for others who are less fortunate, and strive in community for the greater social good. Change is putting vision into practice. Brighter Brains Institute (BBI) is a community that invites others to perform good deeds in the world.
Xiao: What does the Brighter Brains Institute do?
Pellissier: BBI is presently engaged in western Uganda, helping sixteen schools that we either built or financially support. Eleven of these are humanist schools. We provide food, shoes, clothes, books, reusable sanitary pads (provided by AFRIpads), school supplies, and medical care for the children. We build classrooms, we provide teacher salaries, and we launch businesses like motorcycle rental and chicken farms to earn income for the schools. We work with many women’s collectives, and we emphasize women’s equality. We promote humanism with Code for Global Ethics: Ten Humanist Principles by Rodrigue Tremblay as our main source material. Our most recent campaign is to distribute condoms to secondary schools and to teach sex education, family planning, and birth control. At our humanist schools, we forbid religious influence.
http://ieet.org/index.php/IEET/more/Pellissier20160725
http://brighterbrains.org/