• ArgumentativeMonotheist@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    11
    arrow-down
    3
    ·
    19 hours ago

    I think it’s mostly a semantic argument: nothing is being “teleported”, it’s a copy. That copy will surely be a perfect copy of me at time T, and after T we’ll drift and become different folks, but a copy of me is not me, and if you punch the copy it doesn’t hurt me. SOMA showcases it pretty well! Anything else cannot even be conceived, right? And even if matter could be “transported” FTL into a different place, wouldn’t the “zipping” process destroy me? The silver cord would be cut, and even if the person on the other side wakes up feeling like me, I would already be gone. It’s consciousness and the vessel for consciousness, not one or the other.

    • ComradePenguin@lemmy.ml
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      1
      ·
      8 hours ago

      Well the person being teleported would cease to exist. If life is deterministic then there is no consciousness, just a predetermined path. So my argument is basically that you don’t exist anyways, and by that extension teleportation is not a problem, because the copy is not alive either.

    • otacon239@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      11
      ·
      edit-2
      19 hours ago

      This is the same reason I feel like peoples ideas of being “uploaded to the Matrix” are just as flawed. All of the same talking points but with a digital output. Being uploaded means death because my consciousness will cease to exist and simply be emulated by a computer after.

      The only one who gain the benefit of me uploading is everyone but myself.

      • Kühlschrank@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        8
        ·
        18 hours ago

        That one I can almost see happening but not full ‘upload’ style. It would have to be gradual in like a Ship of Theseus’ style where the parts that make you ‘you’ are gradually replaced with digital equivalents.

    • jaybone@lemmy.zip
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      3
      ·
      16 hours ago

      I like your time T example. Kind of a ship of Theseus theme. If your own body is constantly replacing your cells, are you still the same you from last month? So what’s the difference if the cells are replaced by your own biological mechanisms or this teleporter machine?

      Also, if this is a copy, why destroy the original in the first place? I could use a second me. Just the they would be located elsewhere for some time. Maybe they could also develop some kind of merge process where we re-integrate back together and our common experiences become part of the same memory.

      Still I prefer the concept of some kind of wormhole or space warp type of teleportation, where you can bend space to move from location a to location b and no matter is destroyed or recreated.

    • ferrule@sh.itjust.works
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      3
      arrow-down
      1
      ·
      edit-2
      16 hours ago

      i think the big question is continuity of consciousness. when you sleep or especially when getting surgery and dont dream you just sort of accept that you now are the same you that existed before the disconnect. if when you went under and we tossed you into a teleporter would you know?