If matter transporters really work like the way in Star Trek etc. (i.e. breaking him down into atoms and then rebuilding him from atoms at the other side), doesn't that mean the original person is actually killed and the person come out is really just a clone?
I mean even if he has the exact memory as the original, he'll believe he is the original, but the truth is the original is really killed during the process and he is really just a clone with the exact memory, isn't it?
No I'll never go through a transporter even when it becomes a reality, you're killing yourself!
2006-07-22 09:46:03 · 5 answers · asked by C1N2G8 1 in Science & Mathematics ➔ Physics
By the way I heard a rumor that someone has invented some form of transporter somewhere, is it true?
2006-07-22 09:47:26 · update #1
it depends
since there is no such thing, we can't test it
many would ask if the soul is matter, and if it is, perhaps it transports
there are many science fiction stories exploring this theme because it is interesting, dramatic, and fun
sadly, there is no mass transporter, there will be no mass transporter, so the question is moot
2006-07-22 09:51:18 · answer #1 · answered by enginerd 6 · 0⤊ 1⤋
Your atoms replace themselves all the time anyway, and you're definitely not killing yourself when you go about your daily business. Nearly all of the atoms that you have now are not the same ones you were born with (because your cells are constantly repairing themselves). It seems that going through a transporter would just be speeding up the process.
2006-07-22 17:43:58 · answer #2 · answered by Jacqueline Sherry 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
It is the patterns of thought and memories that make us who we are, not the actual atoms themselves. As other have pointed out, the atoms of our bodies are continuously being replaced throughout our lives so it makes no sense to call the actual matter that makes up our bodies the soul/spirit. If you could preserve the exact patterns and configuration of matter, it would be the same person. I would even go as far as to say if you could emulate exactly (in a computer) the patterns and behaviours that make up an individual that person would essentially be no different from his/her physical counterpart.
2006-07-22 18:10:33 · answer #3 · answered by dwmcloda 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
How did you come to the conclusion that you're killing yourself? All the transporter does is take the information contained in your body, disassemble it, transfer it and reassemble it on the other end. Only if you are already dead before transport will "dead" information be transmitted.
2006-07-22 16:56:49 · answer #4 · answered by ideogenetic 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
That depeds on if you believe that human beings are more than the sum of their parts or not...
Personally, you can count me in with the Dr. McCoy camp... there's no way that anyone's going to bounce my particles across the cosmos...
2006-07-22 17:09:59 · answer #5 · answered by hyperhealer3 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋