# Teleportation question **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [February 13, 2023, 3:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/teleportation-question/979694 "2023-02-13T03:09:25Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Saint\_Cad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saint_cad/32/18907_2.png) [@Saint\_Cad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saint_Cad)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2023, 5:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/teleportation-question/979694/21 "2023-02-13T17:45:44Z")
> [@ParallelLines](#): > > 15 minutes being a commute for a lot of people, so possibly a zero sum game, Except take into account gas, wear and tear on the car, etc. ---
**Author:** ![ParallelLines](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/parallellines/32/3575_2.png) [@ParallelLines](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ParallelLines)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2023, 6:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/teleportation-question/979694/22 "2023-02-13T18:02:27Z")
> [@Saint\_Cad](#): > > Except take into account gas, wear and tear on the car, etc. Fully acknowledged, especially since in that same post I mentioned a non-zero chance of your commute _also_ shortening your life! ---
**Author:** ![outlierrn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/outlierrn/32/3005_2.png) [@outlierrn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/outlierrn)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2023, 10:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/teleportation-question/979694/23 "2023-02-13T22:26:34Z")
On the other hand, we’re doing things when we’re travelling even alone. I hear news reports I might otherwise have missed, process problems in work and personal relationships. There may be a state of mind in a routine commute that lets your brain process differently, somewhat like dreaming, that would be a net loss. ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2023, 9:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/teleportation-question/979694/24 "2023-02-14T09:28:53Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > How popular would teleportation be if each jaunt took 15 minutes from people’s lives? Extremely. “That’s FutureMe’s problem” is how our species approaches everything already. > [@solost](#): > > Even if the transporter is using the exact same molecules or atoms to recreate you, the cessation of consciousness may very well be killing you Do you die every time you go to sleep or get put under by a doctor? ---
**Author:** ![solost](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/solost/32/11776_2.png) [@solost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/solost)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2023, 1:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/teleportation-question/979694/25 "2023-02-14T13:54:41Z")
> [@MrDibble](#): > > > [@solost](#): > > > > Even if the transporter is using the exact same molecules or atoms to recreate you, the cessation of consciousness may very well be killing you > > Do you die every time you go to sleep or get put under by a doctor? I was reading up on that awhile back, since I’ve had an interest in the quality of consciousness and how it might work, such as the quantum immortality thought experiment, and there is a school of thought that maybe the cessation of consciousness from sleep _ **is** _ enough to ‘kill’ your previous self and you wake up as another you. Personally I would think that our brain and brain activity is still active and intact enough to keep us from ‘dying’, even when anesthetized. > [@Kent\_Clark](#): > > > [@solost](#): > > > > Because a transporter that works, Star Trek-style, by disassembling your molecules and re-assembling them in another location is basically killing you and creating a copy. > > But Star Trek (at least from the movies and TNG on) stipulated that you were conscious during the transport process and perhaps even able to carry on a conversation with a person who’s transporting with you. We need to put a pin in the whole “destroying and recreating” idea because it’s a distraction. A distraction from what? It’s a purely imaginary, hypothetical situation. I think it’s a fair question to ask of a device that’s shortening your life. Also, I was postulating a Star Trek ‘style’ transporter, meaning one in general that “destroys and recreates”, not the exact transporter from whichever retconned ST universe you choose from. Anyway, to stop hijacking and answer the question directly, the one other question I would have had was already answered by the OP-- is the transporter shortening your life only from death due to natural causes? No: > [@Czarcasm](#): > > …either by natural causes or by misadventure. That kind of levels the playing field. On the one hand, it means that it’s not damaging your health in ways that may cause other unforeseen problems down the road- it affects the very causality of your time on Earth. If you’re fated to die from a falling satellite at 11 am on February 14, 2035, you die at 10:45 am instead. Either from an earlier satellite fall or something else now. On the other hand, it means you don’t get a loophole if you’re a daredevil and don’t expect to die from natural causes. So my answer under those specified conditions is that I would probably travel by transporter rarely, if it was a long grueling trip otherwise. I’ve flown in a plane only maybe 20 times in my life: 20 x 15 minutes is only 5 hours off my life if I had traveled by transporter instead. ---
**Author:** ![Ponderoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ponderoid/32/19221_2.png) [@Ponderoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ponderoid)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2023, 2:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/teleportation-question/979694/26 "2023-02-14T14:17:53Z")
> [@MrDibble](#): > > Extremely [popular]. “That’s FutureMe’s problem” is how our species approaches everything already. Your post made me realize that if this magic teleportation tech became a reality, and it was cheap, it would drive many other transportation options out of the market, and I might find myself having no choice but to use this tech for long-distance travel no matter my personal feelings on the matter. ---
**Author:** ![Tibby](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tibby/32/17030_2.png) [@Tibby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tibby)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2023, 2:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/teleportation-question/979694/27 "2023-02-14T14:49:31Z")
_How popular would teleportation be if each jaunt took 15 minutes from people’s lives?_ I would do it if I could be assured it was safe. But, I can not think of any way to assure me that it is safe for maintaining my personal identity at the end of the trip. What comes out of the transporter will act and look exactly like me, with all of my memories intact. The transported “me” will believe he is me, and for all intents and purposes, he is indistinguishable from me to everyone who knows me. But, he may not _really_ be me so far as the pre-transported me is concerned. Just a facsimile. There is no way to prove otherwise. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2023, 3:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/teleportation-question/979694/28 "2023-02-14T15:26:41Z")
For the purpose of this exercise, teleportation involves taking a shortcut through space, not destroying a body then making a facsimile elsewhere. Fed-Ex, not Xerox. > [@solost](#): > > That kind of levels the playing field. On the one hand, it means that it’s not damaging your health in ways that may cause other unforeseen problems down the road- it affects the very causality of your time on Earth. If you’re fated to die from a falling satellite at 11 am on February 14, 2035, you die at 10:45 am instead. Either from an earlier satellite fall or something else now. On the other hand, it means you don’t get a loophole if you’re a daredevil and don’t expect to die from natural causes. Exactly! ---
**Author:** ![Tibby](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tibby/32/17030_2.png) [@Tibby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tibby)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2023, 3:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/teleportation-question/979694/29 "2023-02-14T15:31:11Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > For the purpose of this exercise, teleportation involves taking a shortcut through space, not destroying a body then making a facsimile elsewhere. Fed-Ex, not Xerox. In that case, where do I buy my tickets? I ready to travel the world. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2023, 4:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/teleportation-question/979694/30 "2023-02-14T16:06:54Z")
With no limit, or do you plan to cut your lifeline down by a max of 15 hours? 15 days? 15 weeks? More? ---
**Author:** ![Tibby](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tibby/32/17030_2.png) [@Tibby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tibby)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2023, 5:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/teleportation-question/979694/31 "2023-02-14T17:25:21Z")
Gimme 35063 tickets. I don’t mind shaving a year off my life…as long as it’s the last year. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2023, 5:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/teleportation-question/979694/32 "2023-02-14T17:29:59Z")
Here’s a question for those who would take the “I’ma gonna jaunt \*everywhere!” \* path. Will you exercise more to make up for the lack of walking to the car, to the bus, to the train, to the local store etc.? ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2023, 5:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/teleportation-question/979694/33 "2023-02-14T17:52:26Z")
> [@Tibby](#): > > Gimme 35063 tickets. I don’t mind shaving a year off my life…as long as it’s the last year. I’d prefer shaving it off the front end, myself. That year I spent not knowing how to walk, talk, use the potty, feed myself? That year didn’t happen now. Of course, it’s already established that I can do them all now, so it’s not like I lose those skills just because the moments I spent learning them have been zapped out of existence. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2023, 5:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/teleportation-question/979694/34 "2023-02-14T17:54:12Z")
> [@kaylasdad99](#): > > Of course, it’s already established that I can do them all now, But only because you learned them as a tot. Shave off the beginning and you shave away memories. ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2023, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/teleportation-question/979694/35 "2023-02-14T17:56:11Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > > [@kaylasdad99](#): > > > > Of course, it’s already established that I can do them all now, > > But only because you Iearned them as a tot. Shave off the beginning and you shave away memories. Joke’s on the system, then. I already don’t remember those moments. ---
**Author:** ![Tibby](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tibby/32/17030_2.png) [@Tibby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tibby)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2023, 5:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/teleportation-question/979694/36 "2023-02-14T17:59:33Z")
> [@kaylasdad99](#): > > I’d prefer shaving it off the front end, myself. Naw, take my last year when I’m old, feeble and erectile-challenged. Take away my first year, and I may never learn to go potty properly. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2023, 6:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/teleportation-question/979694/37 "2023-02-14T18:00:08Z")
Your muscles do. ---
**Author:** ![StarvingButStrong](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/starvingbutstrong/32/335_2.png) [@StarvingButStrong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StarvingButStrong)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2023, 6:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/teleportation-question/979694/38 "2023-02-14T18:32:21Z")
Another thing to factor in: under the OPs revised version, the teleportation is a natural ability. Meaning any time, any place at will. Good…except how do you trigger it, or more precisely, how do you NOT trigger it accidentally? You watch a movie set in Hawaii and think, Wow, that’s beautiful! and Whammo! You are automatically there? Your college buddy visits and says, Gee, remember the great times we had a that Rathskellar? and Bingo, there you are in Chicago … or maybe the Supermarket that has been built where the bar used to be? 15 more minutes gone from your life, double that if you decide you want to go home. On the plus side of the calculations: the teleportation is free. The trip to Australia by plane costs thousands of dollars, meaning you worked likely hundreds of hours to earn the money to pay for it. A trade surely worth 15 minutes, unless you absolutely love whatever you do for a living. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2023, 6:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/teleportation-question/979694/39 "2023-02-14T18:44:07Z")
🙄 This isn’t an “Evil Genie Will Guarantee Your Wishes Drastically Backfire!” scenario (Actually, I got a couple of wishes from Shazzan and decided to give a gift to the world. I’m keeping the flying ocelot for myself). It will require a deliberate thought to travel from point A to point B. ---
**Author:** ![Ponderoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ponderoid/32/19221_2.png) [@Ponderoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ponderoid)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2023, 6:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/teleportation-question/979694/40 "2023-02-14T18:54:13Z")
If this is an inherent physical ability with zero monetary cost, what happens to international borders? How do you solve crime? What happens when everybody can visit that beautiful but ecologically delicate spot that was publicized in the media the other day? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/teleportation-question/979694.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/teleportation-question/979694.md?page=3)