# A test of faith in science - would you use a teleporter? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [June 10, 2010, 3:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-test-of-faith-in-science-would-you-use-a-teleporter/542660 "2010-06-10T15:28:59Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2010, 6:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-test-of-faith-in-science-would-you-use-a-teleporter/542660/41 "2010-06-10T18:17:37Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > Sorry, but either one of them is a legal human being and can’t be killed, both are legal human beings and can’t be killed, or neither is legally a human being and _both_ can be killed. Just for fun, let’s put a different spin on it. Let’s say the teleporter not only duplicates your exact cell structure, but it has a feature that can make some slight tweaks. Not only will it send your data to Maui, but it’ll leave out the cancer cells that will kill You #1 in 6 months. Does that make a difference? ---
**Author:** ![Rand\_Rover](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/db5fbb/32.png) [@Rand\_Rover](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rand_Rover)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2010, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-test-of-faith-in-science-would-you-use-a-teleporter/542660/42 "2010-06-10T18:20:31Z")
> [@Gustav](#): > > It doesn’t matter, they’re both me. The only difference is physical location and few seconds worth of separate life experience. Pick one at random and it will be like nothing ever happened. I think you are using a different definition of “me” than I am. I think the nature of the human mind is that it can only inhabit one brain. I’m trying to think of an analogy for human consciousness and not coming up with much. How about: human consciousness is like the solid metal disk created by spinning helicopter blades (the individual blades are individual thoughts). ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2010, 6:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-test-of-faith-in-science-would-you-use-a-teleporter/542660/43 "2010-06-10T18:24:38Z")
> [@Rand\_Rover](#): > > I’m trying to think of an analogy for human consciousness and not coming up with much. How about the data on a hard drive? And how come a mind can’t be in two brains at once? If consciousness is just an emergent property of brain function, why can’t copies be made? In a way, it’s not terribly different than turning yourself into identical twins. ---
**Author:** ![Joanie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e95f7d/32.png) [@Joanie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joanie)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2010, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-test-of-faith-in-science-would-you-use-a-teleporter/542660/44 "2010-06-10T18:26:05Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > If I trusted it (designed and built it myself, maybe) I’d certainly use it. > > And the first time I went through, I’d bring a fly with me. Why not just send the fly through and if it comes back, you will know it loved you and you then won’t have to ever let it go. ---
**Author:** ![Gustav](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/919ad9/32.png) [@Gustav](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gustav)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2010, 6:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-test-of-faith-in-science-would-you-use-a-teleporter/542660/45 "2010-06-10T18:33:16Z")
> [@Rand\_Rover](#): > > I think you are using a different definition of “me” than I am. I think the nature of the human mind is that it can only inhabit one brain. The way I see it there would be one of you up until you step into the teleporter, and then there would be two of you (and two brains). One would step out of the teleporter and say “hey, I’m somewhere else!” and the other would step out and say “hey, what gives, this is the same pod I stepped into”, and from that point onward there are two people and two separate consciousnesses. Both are you, but from each his perspective the other is a new person. It’s a bit hard to get one’s head around obviously, since this kind of device has never existed, but it seems logical. If one is killed immediately after the copy then we are left with one “me” again (and one brain), and the only difference to you would be your location. That’s why I don’t think it matters which one is killed, but killing both would be murder, and keeping both would be… interesting… but something completely different altogether. I think a law would be passed against that pretty damn fast. ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2010, 6:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-test-of-faith-in-science-would-you-use-a-teleporter/542660/46 "2010-06-10T18:43:59Z")
> [@Gustav](#): > > One would step out of the teleporter and say “hey, I’m somewhere else!” and the other would step out and say “hey, what gives, this is the same pod I stepped into”, Another interesting point! How would (old) you verify that the process worked? Actually, the technology for this exists right now. I have such a device in my home. If you guys want to use it, I’d be happy to help you out. And old you doesn’t even have to die! Never mind that it looks like a closet and that the process looks like me flicking a light switch off and on a few times. The only catch is that you can’t bring a cell phone along so that new you can call old you to verify that he arrived safely. It’s, uh… a security thing. Yeah, that’s the ticket. $5,000. Step right up, folks. ---
**Author:** ![pravnik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/8edcca/32.png) [@pravnik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pravnik)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2010, 6:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-test-of-faith-in-science-would-you-use-a-teleporter/542660/47 "2010-06-10T18:48:54Z")
Not for all the latinum in the quadrant. ---
**Author:** ![Grumman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/43a26b/32.png) [@Grumman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grumman)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2010, 6:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-test-of-faith-in-science-would-you-use-a-teleporter/542660/48 "2010-06-10T18:56:49Z")
There are only two circumstances in which there is any possibility that I could be convinced to use a teleporter: [ul] [li]If it operated by transporting the user whole, rather than the destroy-and-refabricate system.[/li][li]If the use of the transporter to create a copy but not destroy the original was demonstrated to produce a “hive mind”, with the same consciousness controlling and accessing the sensory input of both bodies, as this would be the _only_ way to demonstrate that a destroy-and-refabricate system actually transported the user instead of just creating a changeling on the other end.[/li][/ul] ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2010, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-test-of-faith-in-science-would-you-use-a-teleporter/542660/49 "2010-06-10T18:58:28Z")
> [@pravnik](#): > > Not for all the latinum in the quadrant. What, you don’t trust me? Tell you what, I’ll knock 10% off for you. Why wouldn’t you want to go on the best vacation of your life? Old you can have peace of mind knowing that new you is somewhere out there, partying it up with the Maui Bikini Team. I can even make sure that new you sends old you a postcard every now and then. Unless, of course, he’s too busy partying it up with the Maui Bikini Team. Cash only, please. ---
**Author:** ![Grumman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/43a26b/32.png) [@Grumman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grumman)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2010, 7:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-test-of-faith-in-science-would-you-use-a-teleporter/542660/50 "2010-06-10T19:05:48Z")
> [@tdn](#): > > Another interesting point! How would (old) you verify that the process worked? It’s not really interesting, as the answer is trivially easy: at the absolute worst, you use the same technology that you used to send your copy there. Think of a number between one and a trillion, step into the tele-copier, then get your doppelganger to write down the number on a piece of paper and copy it back to Earth. ---
**Author:** ![Nobody](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/94ad74/32.png) [@Nobody](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nobody)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2010, 7:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-test-of-faith-in-science-would-you-use-a-teleporter/542660/51 "2010-06-10T19:06:18Z")
If you have 10 minutes, the Canadians did a pretty good job of tackling this in a cartoon. [To Be](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pdxucpPq6Lc&feature=player_embedded#!) ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2010, 7:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-test-of-faith-in-science-would-you-use-a-teleporter/542660/52 "2010-06-10T19:20:22Z")
> [@Grumman](#): > > It’s not really interesting, as the answer is trivially easy: at the absolute worst, you use the same technology that you used to send your copy there. Think of a number between one and a trillion, step into the tele-copier, then get your doppelganger to write down the number on a piece of paper and copy it back to Earth. Even easier, he could e-mail it back to me. If I didn’t go through the dying process first. Thinking about this more, new me very much wants this to happen, but I can see how old me would be reluctant: Let’s see if I’ve got this straight. I pay you a huge sum of money, I step into that little booth there, where I’m going to die, and all so that some other guy gets a great vacation? Let me get my checkbook. ---
**Author:** ![Gustav](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/919ad9/32.png) [@Gustav](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gustav)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2010, 7:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-test-of-faith-in-science-would-you-use-a-teleporter/542660/53 "2010-06-10T19:31:58Z")
> [@tdn](#): > > Let’s see if I’ve got this straight. I pay you a huge sum of money, I step into that little booth there, where I’m going to die, and all so that some other guy gets a great vacation? Well it won’t be that great a vacation, if you just spent all his money. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2010, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-test-of-faith-in-science-would-you-use-a-teleporter/542660/54 "2010-06-10T19:38:12Z")
> [@tdn](#): > > How about the data on a hard drive? > > And how come a mind can’t be in two brains at once? If consciousness is just an emergent property of brain function, why can’t copies be made? In a way, it’s not terribly different than turning yourself into identical twins. Ask a twin if he thinks that he exists in two places at once. > [@Gustav](#): > > That’s why I don’t think it matters which one is killed, but killing both would be murder This isn’t logical. If killing both is murder, then killing just one is murder too. It’s a conscious, aware, complete human being with his or own perspective and point of view who is being terminated. ---
**Author:** ![silk1976](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/8edcca/32.png) [@silk1976](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silk1976)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2010, 7:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-test-of-faith-in-science-would-you-use-a-teleporter/542660/55 "2010-06-10T19:43:21Z")
> [@tdn](#): > > Let’s see if I’ve got this straight. I pay you a huge sum of money, I step into that little booth there, where I’m going to die, and all so that some other guy gets a great vacation? Let me get my checkbook. But its not some other guy.. it’s you! 😛 Yeah, thats essentially it. Lemme give you a ton of money, and I’ll die in the process. Since I’ve been through this before, I know ‘I’ll’ just reappear at my desired destination and be on about ‘my’ business. The existance of this incarnation of me, however, is going to be at an end. ---
**Author:** ![Nobody](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/94ad74/32.png) [@Nobody](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nobody)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2010, 7:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-test-of-faith-in-science-would-you-use-a-teleporter/542660/56 "2010-06-10T19:44:12Z")
Seriously, watch the cartoon. Except for the singing at the beginning and end it’s pretty good. ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2010, 7:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-test-of-faith-in-science-would-you-use-a-teleporter/542660/57 "2010-06-10T19:55:28Z")
> [@Gustav](#): > > Well it won’t be that great a vacation, if you just spent all his money. Serves him right, the bastard. ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2010, 7:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-test-of-faith-in-science-would-you-use-a-teleporter/542660/58 "2010-06-10T19:57:31Z")
> [@acsenray](#): > > Ask a twin if he thinks that he exists in two places at once. That’s just the thing, of course, that this mind would exist in two places at once only during the initial splitting process. It would diverge as two separate minds in the very next instant. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2010, 8:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-test-of-faith-in-science-would-you-use-a-teleporter/542660/59 "2010-06-10T20:00:28Z")
> [@tdn](#): > > That’s just the thing, of course, that this mind would exist in two places at once only during the initial splitting process. It would diverge as two separate minds in the very next instant. And you know that how? As opposed to there being two minds from the beginning? ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2010, 8:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-test-of-faith-in-science-would-you-use-a-teleporter/542660/60 "2010-06-10T20:03:50Z")
> [@acsenray](#): > > And you know that how? As opposed to there being two minds from the beginning? I’m not sure I understand the question. I know I sometimes feel that I’m of two minds about something, but I’m pretty sure I have only one brain. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-test-of-faith-in-science-would-you-use-a-teleporter/542660.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-test-of-faith-in-science-would-you-use-a-teleporter/542660.md?page=4)