Would you use a transporter beam?

Umbran · Jul 7, 2015

delericho said:
Though that would be rather better if we could restore just a part of a person from backup, rather than generating a clone and then killing him/her to harvest organs.)

Why is it better? You materialize the duplicate, take the organs, and then dematerialize the remains. What's the problem?

If need be - take the original scan while you, yourself, are under sedation. So, when you materialize the duplicate for harvesting, it is under sedation, and never regains consciousness.

Morrus · Jul 7, 2015

Janx said:
The prestige was a good movie. Better than the book. And that story was not about errors in copying. It was about the very question Morrus is asking.

Would you be ok with killing your original, when you get rebuilt at the other pad?

That is, indeed, the question!

Raunalyn · Jul 7, 2015

This is an interesting discussion.

I think the main thing to consider is this;

From your viewpoint, are you actually dead? Or, does your POV somehow pick up from where the "clone" materialized.

Personally, I think it's the former...you cease to exist. So, from your viewpoint...that's it. That's a different person over there, not you.

Then again, you'd be dead...you wouldn't necessarily care, would you?

Morrus · Jul 7, 2015

Raunalyn said:
This is an interesting discussion.

I think the main thing to consider is this;

From your viewpoint, are you actually dead? Or, does your POV somehow pick up from where the "clone" materialized.

Personally, I think it's the former...you cease to exist. So, from your viewpoint...that's it. That's a different person over there, not you.

Then again, you'd be dead...you wouldn't necessarily care, would you?

That's why I included the situation where there's a slight delay. Does it alter anything if both exist simultaneously for a moment?

Raunalyn · Jul 7, 2015

Morrus said:
That's why I included the situation where there's a slight delay. Does it alter anything if both exist simultaneously for a moment?

If we rule out the metaphysical and assume that the "soul" or "spirit" does not travel with you (as a recovering Catholic, I tend to do this...I'm not sure I believe in the soul, favoring the convention that cogito ergo sum defines us), then you are essentially committing suicide. For me, knowing that I have a clone that will "continue" my life in my place is not really an incentive to over-ride my sense of self preservation.

Ryujin · Jul 7, 2015

Yes.

There was an episode of either the new "Outer Limits" or the new "Twilight Zone", in which they dealt with a similar issue. Humans were either subjugated by, or junior members of, an alien empire with teleportation capabilities. Humans were moved back and forth to do rather menial jobs. The system 'deleted' the original, by order of the overlords, except when it didn't (the subject of this particular episode).

Morrus · Jul 7, 2015

Raunalyn said:
If we rule out the metaphysical and assume that the "soul" or "spirit" does not travel with you (as a recovering Catholic, I tend to do this...I'm not sure I believe in the soul, favoring the convention that cogito ergo sum defines us), then you are essentially committing suicide. For me, knowing that I have a clone that will "continue" my life in my place is not really an incentive to over-ride my sense of self preservation.

I'm 100% in agreement with you. That's exactly how I feel about it. So my answer is no, I would not use a transporter beam.

Cor Azer · Jul 7, 2015

I honestly can't say at the moment if I'd be able to or not. I'd love to be able to, but as said, turning off the self-preservative is not an easy thing.

In the delayed scenario, I wonder if some of the research done with people who suffer from problems recognizing others would be useful (imposter syndrome, etc)? Either helping the teleportee overcome the disjoint sense of seeing themself, or sync their sense of continuity?

Bullgrit · Jul 7, 2015

[video=youtube;Ro_QpDJX-Sk]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ro_QpDJX-Sk[/video]

Bullgrit

Janx · Jul 7, 2015

Raunalyn said:
If we rule out the metaphysical and assume that the "soul" or "spirit" does not travel with you (as a recovering Catholic, I tend to do this...I'm not sure I believe in the soul, favoring the convention that cogito ergo sum defines us), then you are essentially committing suicide. For me, knowing that I have a clone that will "continue" my life in my place is not really an incentive to over-ride my sense of self preservation.

I think the complication isn't about you starting on Pad A and ending on Pad B looking at you still on Pad A for an extra second.

The problem is that you started on Pad A, look at a flash of light on Pad B and see yourself over there before you feel yourself being dismantled.

There are 2 of you at stake here.

For the soul part, my non-spiritual view on the matter is this. Each person is unique primarily because of the distinct formation of their neural network. That neural network has been forming since before they were born and continues to grow and adjust. The neural networks for 2 twins may be similar, but because those twins do not occupy the exact same coordinates in space, they see and experience the world from different perspectives and thus develop differences. Your soul is effectively the current state of that neural network. To copy you would require capturing that state (which in computer science terms, may be energy, not matter).

Thus, the moment there are two of you (one on Pad A and one on Pad B), there are two souls in existance, initially very similar but immediately diverging (like forks in realities). And the MorrusPort is about to kill one of them.

Would you use a transporter beam?

Umbran

Mod Squad

Morrus

Well, that was fun

Raunalyn

Hero

Morrus

Well, that was fun

Raunalyn

Hero

Ryujin

Legend

Morrus

Well, that was fun

Cor Azer

First Post

Bullgrit

Adventurer

Janx

Hero

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