Teleportation or dead & copied?

Forums: Philosophy, Sci-Fi, Not Philosophy, Teleportation
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I've always thought that if teleportation where possible, what would actually happen would be that "you" would die and an exact copy of you would be created elsewhere.

It seems teleportation requires that the original subject be destroyed (disassembled, transfered and reassembled). If that where not the case you could have the original subject remain where it is and a "perfect" copy of it at the destination. Which is what I believe would happen, only the original would cease to exist.

People often say that the copy would actually be you but they can say that because the original is gone. If somehow an exact copy of me (quantum sate captured, even if thats impossible) where created and I had it beside me, I would still be the original, not both. Objectively there may be no difference at all (at least at the very second its created) but subjectively I would put my wellbeing (the original) over his.

Does this seem right? Or would a teleportation really take "me" elsewhere. In the case of a copy standing right next to me, I dont see how he and I can be one and the same. Not subjectively.

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@lnm,

lnm wrote:

It seems teleportation requires that the original subject be destroyed (disassembled, transfered and reassembled). If that where not the case you could have the original subject remain where it is and a "perfect" copy of it at the destination. Which is what I believe would happen, only the original would cease to exist.

Actually it does not seem that way at all.
I do not know what idea of teleportation you have in mind but the the teleportation that is currently possible does not in any way require the original subject to be destroyed since only a copy is made of it. In the same way that photo copying a piece of paper need not imply that the original subject be destroyed since we are merely making a copy of it. In fact much in the same way in which a photo copier operates, for teleportation all that need be done is to take all of the information of the subject at hand, every single bit (or rather quibit, in the currently possible example), and then recreate an exact copy of it by using the information to assemble to an exact degree the same order of the arrangement of particles using an peripherally provided source of particles. Although in reality, we currently only perform this with a single photon.

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@Soul Brother,

Fair enough. What I really wanted to hear, are different view points on "personal identity". Is the copy me? Are one and the same? Is it clear that we are different people, ect.

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You are describing a system like the "Star Trek" transporter. I suppose it would depend on how it worked, whether you were doing a "move" or a "copy and delete."

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@Brandon9000,

Yea, I think that the inevitable implication in Star Treck is that the original dies and you get a copy. I think thats the case in all of those sci-fi teleportations in which the original is scanned (disassembled) and then the information is transfered (through a wormhole) and used to reconstruct the person again.

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Teleportation or dead & copied?

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