4 ms·

The pinnacle of science fiction technology is not light sabers in my opinion, it’s teleportation. Beam me up!

ch4s3 6y ago
The idea of teleportation stirs up something like existential dread in me every time I think about it. The idea that your matter is disassembled, and then somewhere else it is reassembled from local atoms is at once fascinating and horrifying. You die ever time you are transported, and the copy of you has no memory of that event. It really hints at a lot of interesting philosophical questions.
- nottorp 6y ago
  It does if you go by that definition of teleportation. Since no one has actually done it, it may work in a completely different way.
- willismichael 6y ago
  In case you are not aware, the first episode of Existential Comics explores this very subject: https://existentialcomics.com/comic/1 https://existentialcomics.com/comic/1
  - marton78 6y ago
    This was a good read, thanks!
  - dbingham 6y ago
    Good read, but it still doesn't address the issue of what happens when there are two of you - the copy and the original from the same pattern. Does consciousness split at the moment the patterns diverge? Is it shared? The analogy to sleep really doesn't connect at all, at least not for me. Consciousness isn't fully interrupted by sleep. Your brain is still working and processing, even when you're not dreaming. Your physical self is continuous, it's not the same as it being disassembled and reassembled immediately out of different material. And sure, even if the substance of your is being changed over, it happens as a gradual refactoring, not an instance decomposition and recomposition miles from the original point. The electrical patterns that make up your brain are never interrupted - not by sleep nor the gradual replacement of your body. They would be by (star trek style) teleportation. They would be ended and a (presumably) identical pattern started up at a different location. Can you tell I've spent a lot of time thinking about this?
- mmastrac 6y ago
  You might also consider yourself as dying every time you sleep and waking up a different person. Any interruption of consciousness could be a mini-death.
  - Grazester 6y ago
    Not the same thing. When I fall asleep and wake up, I don't wake up a new copy of myself.
    - kthejoker2 6y ago
      As far as you know? Or rather: if someone invented real life transportation but it required you to be sedated, what would be different? It's only the conscious/unconscious aspect that's troubling. Imagine all of the yous that have ever woken up are in fact copies of yourself. Now imagine it happens every time you sneeze (again - why not?) Makes the concept seem fairly innocuous.
  - ch4s3 6y ago
    I think that's an interesting line of thought, especially if you replace sleep with anesthesia.
- wayneftw 6y ago
  It’s been said that you have a whole new body every seven years. Perhaps teleportation is just a matter of speeding that process up.
- bserge 6y ago
  Introducing the new "tele" feature. Tired of everything? You can now just tele. No port. Guaranteed to fix all of your problems! *terms and conditions apply

The idea of teleportation stirs up something like existential dread in me every time I think about it. The idea that your matter is disassembled, and then somewhere else it is reassembled from local atoms is at once fascinating and horrifying. You die ever time you are transported, and the copy of you has no memory of that event. It really hints at a lot of interesting philosophical questions.

nottorp 6y ago
It does if you go by that definition of teleportation. Since no one has actually done it, it may work in a completely different way.
willismichael 6y ago
In case you are not aware, the first episode of Existential Comics explores this very subject: https://existentialcomics.com/comic/1 https://existentialcomics.com/comic/1
- marton78 6y ago
  This was a good read, thanks!
- dbingham 6y ago
  Good read, but it still doesn't address the issue of what happens when there are two of you - the copy and the original from the same pattern. Does consciousness split at the moment the patterns diverge? Is it shared? The analogy to sleep really doesn't connect at all, at least not for me. Consciousness isn't fully interrupted by sleep. Your brain is still working and processing, even when you're not dreaming. Your physical self is continuous, it's not the same as it being disassembled and reassembled immediately out of different material. And sure, even if the substance of your is being changed over, it happens as a gradual refactoring, not an instance decomposition and recomposition miles from the original point. The electrical patterns that make up your brain are never interrupted - not by sleep nor the gradual replacement of your body. They would be by (star trek style) teleportation. They would be ended and a (presumably) identical pattern started up at a different location. Can you tell I've spent a lot of time thinking about this?
mmastrac 6y ago
You might also consider yourself as dying every time you sleep and waking up a different person. Any interruption of consciousness could be a mini-death.
- Grazester 6y ago
  Not the same thing. When I fall asleep and wake up, I don't wake up a new copy of myself.
  - kthejoker2 6y ago
    As far as you know? Or rather: if someone invented real life transportation but it required you to be sedated, what would be different? It's only the conscious/unconscious aspect that's troubling. Imagine all of the yous that have ever woken up are in fact copies of yourself. Now imagine it happens every time you sneeze (again - why not?) Makes the concept seem fairly innocuous.
- ch4s3 6y ago
  I think that's an interesting line of thought, especially if you replace sleep with anesthesia.
wayneftw 6y ago
It’s been said that you have a whole new body every seven years. Perhaps teleportation is just a matter of speeding that process up.
bserge 6y ago
Introducing the new "tele" feature. Tired of everything? You can now just tele. No port. Guaranteed to fix all of your problems! *terms and conditions apply