A common conundrum with science-fiction teleporters is that they’re often described as breaking down, and then recreating, matter.
With a human being (or other sentient life form), this brings up the philosophical question of whether the ‘recreated’ you is really you? If you were taken apart in chunks, and then someone put an exact copy of you back together from those chunks, would it still be the same ‘you’ that was taken apart? Or would it be a new ‘you’, some copy or clone with all of your memories?
ok, so the question is actually “would you use a teleporter to save someone’s life not knowing if you would still be you afterwards”. i was thrown off by the train tracks because usually it implies sending someone else to certain death. thanks for clearing that up.
so i guess my answer would be of course. if transporters have become so ubiqitous that they are installed in seemingly random locations and with no fee or safety measures before using them i guess they are safe to use :)
It depends on how it works. The most popular form of transporter works by scanning your body down to the subatomic level, deconstructing the original body, and creating a perfect replica somewhere else. Imagine for a moment that it didn’t deconstruct the original body (as seen in Star Trek: The Next Generation episode Second Chances). The original and the copy are two separate entities.
A transporter doesn’t move you, it kills and reincarnates you. Unless it uses some kinda space bending wormhole tech to physically move the atoms from one spot to another, of course—then it doesn’t kill you, and you’re safe to pull the lever
ok, i’m too stupid for this picture…why are commenters implying you die when you use the transporter? it’s next to the rails isn’t it?
A common conundrum with science-fiction teleporters is that they’re often described as breaking down, and then recreating, matter.
With a human being (or other sentient life form), this brings up the philosophical question of whether the ‘recreated’ you is really you? If you were taken apart in chunks, and then someone put an exact copy of you back together from those chunks, would it still be the same ‘you’ that was taken apart? Or would it be a new ‘you’, some copy or clone with all of your memories?
A fun little thing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KUXKUcsvhQc
Can confirm, was a fun little thing. Thanks for that!
ok, so the question is actually “would you use a teleporter to save someone’s life not knowing if you would still be you afterwards”. i was thrown off by the train tracks because usually it implies sending someone else to certain death. thanks for clearing that up.
so i guess my answer would be of course. if transporters have become so ubiqitous that they are installed in seemingly random locations and with no fee or safety measures before using them i guess they are safe to use :)
I suggest watching CGP grey’s video on teleporters.
It depends on how it works. The most popular form of transporter works by scanning your body down to the subatomic level, deconstructing the original body, and creating a perfect replica somewhere else. Imagine for a moment that it didn’t deconstruct the original body (as seen in Star Trek: The Next Generation episode Second Chances). The original and the copy are two separate entities.
A transporter doesn’t move you, it kills and reincarnates you. Unless it uses some kinda space bending wormhole tech to physically move the atoms from one spot to another, of course—then it doesn’t kill you, and you’re safe to pull the lever
well, as someone with a buddhist mindset that is not a problem for me :D
Theseus’ ship
Is it still the same ship if all of its parts have been replaced?
Have you seen “the prestiege”? I think that movie explains the problem perfectly.
It’s also a really good movie so enjoy.