pagiven@drutx.UUCP (GivenP) (04/19/85)
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Being new to this newsgroup, I beg your indulgence if the following
covers old material.
Being a Sci-Fi buff for some 30 years and having seen the "tran-
sporter" in many a guise, I have often thought of the philosophical
implications.
In particular just suppose: the transporter malfunctions (they do
that, don't they!) by creating the new you elsewhere but fails to
dissolve the old you here. The transporter operator recognizes what
has happened, puts his phaser on "kill," and completes the job on
the old you (for the sake of an orderly universe, of course). Is
he guilty of murder? Do you die? Of course, you say? Well then,
would you voluntarily step into a transporter that routinely kills
any more than you would sit down in an electric chair to relax?
I think I first thought of this when I saw the movie: "The Fly."
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Paul Given {ihnp4, houxe, stcvax!ihnp4}!drutx!pagiven
AT&T Information Systems Laboratories
11900 N. Pecos, Rm 1B04, Denver 80234 (303)-538-4058
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"help me, help me."----> squishedtking@uw-june (Ewan Tempero) (04/20/85)
>Being a Sci-Fi buff for some 30 years and having seen the "tran- >sporter" in many a guise, I have often thought of the philosophical >implications. This comment reminds me of an episode involving a planet run ( populated? ) by amazons ( actually, I think sirens is a better description, I seem to remember Enterprize being lured to the planet via some music or is that another one? ). During the usual run of events ( Kirk, and Co beam down, are set upon by the natives, redshirts are killed off etc etc ) Kirk, McCoy and maybe Spock become very old due to the fact that the ladies want their life force. Anyway, once the planet had been brought under control, the Oldies are restored by using the patterns the transporter stored when they beamed down to reconstruct them to their normal selves. As I recall, they couldn't remember anything that happened ( they had been restored to themselves *before* the event! ). This leads to some interesting questions. If someone is injured, instead of Bones waving his wand over the person concerned, into the transporter and hey presto! Brand new! If they store the patterns for a long period of time ( say 10 years ) - instant rejuvenation ( of course they won't remember those 10 years.... ). What is it they need to "reconstruct"? Just matter? Get some dirt, throw it through the transporter and intant clone! One needn't worry about dieing, just put the body through and instant life ( sure would save on extras for the red shirts ). Do you have a pattern of gold handy? Instant riches.....I could get more rediculous. The point is, where does it really stop? Comments? Ewan ------------ Ewan Tempero "Oh no, not again" UUCP: ...!uw-beaver!uw-june!edtking ARPA: edtking@washington.ARPA Please check all nuclear arms at the door.
andrew@alberta.UUCP (Andrew Folkins) (05/14/85)
In article <16000003@hpfclm.UUCP> don@hpfclm.UUCP (don) writes: >I've always thought that the transporter operates according to the laws of >physics. It transforms matter into energy and from energy back into matter. >Therefore it would be impossible to clone someone from a clump of dirt unless >the atomic composition of the dirt is the same as that of the person being >cloned, . . . Why is that? Matter and energy are freely interchangeable, once a given atom has been converted into energy you can, with the appropriate technology, convert it back into any other atom. There is no way to retain the individual identity of the atoms once they have been converted into energy. All you can hope is that you have 100% efficient coversion (if you don't, a transporter is a very fast way to lose weight). This implies that the transporter beam consists of more than just the energy, it also has to contain information on how to reconstruct what is being transported. I still have a bad feeling about transportation by matter-energy conversion, it seems to me that the person who comes out the other end is not the same one who went in. He is only a copy, and the original person (his soul, id, whatever you what to call it) is destroyed. (Do you think you could survive being converted into energy?) -- Andrew Folkins Why doesn't Kirk ever say "Beam me ihnp4!alberta!andrew down, Scotty"?
don@hpfclm.UUCP (don) (05/19/85)
I've always thought that the transporter operates according to the laws of
physics. It transforms matter into energy and from energy back into matter.
Therefore it would be impossible to clone someone from a clump of dirt unless
the atomic composition of the dirt is the same as that of the person being
cloned, assuming that transporter is not capable of altering the structure
of atoms. If this were the case then I'm sure that by the 23rd century
the galatic economy would be a shambles since anyone with a transporter
would be turning anything worthless he/she/it got its/her/his hands/appendicle
on to something of value like gold or diamonds or dilithium or cherry Coke.
db