Teleportation/Moveable Consciousnesses

[Shpaget]

You would hesitate to die even knowing that you would be revived moments later, with no adverse effects?

In the scenario where you get to travel across the globe practically instantly, with all your thoughts and memories preserved, the price of dieing seems like a bargain if you don't even notice being dead.

[wx7]

Hmm. What if we used a Aperture Science Handheld Portal Device (in other words, a portal gun)?

[WestAir]

You would hesitate to die even knowing that you would be revived moments later, with no adverse effects?

Oh I see what you're saying. Now I understand why we're not seeing eye to eye. To answer your question I would be fine if it were guaranteed that my consciousness would go to my newly made clone.

Unfortunately, from how I understand the transporter scenario, consciousness is not preserved. The clone gets a new one but is not a continuation of your consciousness. As I understand it, transporters copy you, kill you, then a perfect copy that's not you takes over.

That's why I would be hesitant to do it because I wouldn't want to permanently die.

Edited September 20, 2015 by WestAir

[AngelLestat]

Granted. So what?

Me: "It is not me. I am not it. It is it. I am me."

It: "It is not me. I am not it. It is it. I am me."

We are two independent individuals.

Being self aware of you, is a require step for consciousness.

So even if there is someone that is exactly the same than you, is not you.

If he dies.. you dont die.. if you die.. you dont survive.

Maybe this example with robots helps to explain this.

https://youtu.be/JTOMNkZJRao?t=1m9s

But well is still in discussion if when our consciousness is shut down but few moments, that count as if we are alive (or if we are there) or not.

You can make a copy, for the copy is you. But there is not 1 single consciousness, you have 2, and they can not share the same "you".

[Majorjim!]

Great thread man. I have often wondered this myself.

The fact is the thing that is 'scanned' is destroyed. The entity that materializes at the other end is not 'you'. It is an exact copy of you. It would beleive it was you, and why wouldn't it.

If these things are invented in my lifetime (they wont) I will not be using it!

[shynung]

The fact is the thing that is 'scanned' is destroyed. The entity that materializes at the other end is not 'you'. It is an exact copy of you. It would beleive it was you, and why wouldn't it.

If these things are invented in my lifetime (they wont) I will not be using it!

I would, but I'd keep my original body. Now that there's two of me, I could have more things done at once.

Or, if I could modify my own clone, I'd have it in the opposite gender. I'll never have to worry about finding a mate again!

Edited September 20, 2015 by shynung

[Shpaget]

To answer your question I would be fine if it were guaranteed that my consciousness would go to my newly made clone.

That was the premise of the original question.

[WestAir]

That was the premise of the original question.

I may or may not have read the OP.

[wx7]

I'd have it in the opposite gender. I'll never have to worry about finding a mate again!

Unless you decide to have a child.

Things wouldn't go so well.

[More Boosters]

Unless you decide to have a child.

Things wouldn't go so well.

If you can do such a thing you can probably iron out any such flaws too. So meh.

[shynung]

Unless you decide to have a child.

Things wouldn't go so well.

Hmm. Wouldn't it be technically just another clone of me? Just conceived by almost-genetically-identical parents the traditional way?

[AngelLestat]

Hmm. Wouldn't it be technically just another clone of me? Just conceived by almost-genetically-identical parents the traditional way?

Because it will be the worst case of incest that we can imagine, also egwww...

There are defects in everybody chromosomes, that are notice in the pair selection, so if needs to choose one of you and one from your partner, if the one that belongs to you shows defects, then it choose the one in your partner, but if now are two of you, then both pairs in the same secuence have flaws, so it can not be solve.

My explanation is kinda bad, search for Inbreeding and Zygosity.

[Shpaget]

There is no choosing in genetic inheritance.

There are dominant and recessive alleles.

[baggers]

That was the premise of the original question.

At a side note: how to be sure consciousness is "transfered" or not, if nothing can differenciate a perfect copy from you? You can take an ancephalogramme, and see that both brains are working, and high-energy consuption process are taking place in it.

Both copy and original were conscious and sentient, so... Wouldn't both be "humans" and should be considered that way?

Why destroy the original, for that matter? Making a perfect copy of an human is certainly a high-energy task. And destroying a full fonctional human a waste.

If it's for travelling 100 years in space, I will certainly send the data by light-speed to the target planet and order to make the copy. The copy will work, as the original, that will rest on his original planet and continue to live a long life ^^

Edited September 20, 2015 by baggers

[NFUN]

At a side note: how to be sure consciousness is "transfered" or not, if nothing can differenciate a perfect copy from you? You can take an ancephalogramme, and see that both brains are working, and high-energy consuption process are taking place in it.

Both copy and original were conscious and sentient, so... Wouldn't both be "humans" and should be considered that way?

Why destroy the original, for that matter? Making a perfect copy of an human is certainly a high-energy task. And destroying a full fonctional human a waste.

If it's for travelling 100 years in space, I will certainly send the data by light-speed to the target planet and order to make the copy. The copy will work, as the original, that will rest on his original planet and continue to live a long life ^^

If the original isn't destroyed, people won't have the illusion that they've been sent somewhere else, or at least the original bodies won't. Most people probably wouldn't see the point in sending a clone of themselves somewhere else, and would be envious of the clone if they did. If only one version of a person exists at a time, the body will think that it is the original, and people would be more likely to actually use the technology. In addition, people would be more apt to think of this discussion with a copy of them running around, and realize that sending a clone or teleporting themselves are essentially homologous actions. Any 'duplicate the original' companies would not get much business as patrons would try to minimize cognitive dissonance by ignoring them. Nobody likes dealing with existential crises.

[Pixel of Life]

Waitbutwhy has an interesting article on this:

What Makes You You?

The continuity thing seems logical. As long as the "old you" doesn't cease to exist before the "new you" is created, that "new you" is still you. The system would assemble the "new you" at the destination before disassembling the "old you" at the origin, thus maintaining continuity. This brings its own problems, though. First, you'd be in two places at once, and then you'd die and not die at the same time. It might be a rather disturbing experience, I'm not sure you'd be able to handle it without some serious mental training.

Edited September 21, 2015 by CaptainKorhonen

[Rath]

Counciousness might be extremely simple, however the environment that it is in (The brain) might be almost all of the cause of differences between concousnesses.

Kina like the description of the data that Brian came from in the Androids Dream by john Scalzi

[baggers]

If the original isn't destroyed, people won't have the illusion that they've been sent somewhere else, or at least the original bodies won't. Most people probably wouldn't see the point in sending a clone of themselves somewhere else, and would be envious of the clone if they did. If only one version of a person exists at a time, the body will think that it is the original, and people would be more likely to actually use the technology. In addition, people would be more apt to think of this discussion with a copy of them running around, and realize that sending a clone or teleporting themselves are essentially homologous actions. Any 'duplicate the original' companies would not get much business as patrons would try to minimize cognitive dissonance by ignoring them. Nobody likes dealing with existential crises.

You could think of your "other you" like a clone, or a lointain child?

Certainly, governments will not see with a good eye these companies destroying his labor forces when transfering datas. ^^

And your families will certainly prefer you stay here and at the same time send datas at the other side of the galaxy rather than "yourself" ^^

[gamowin]

The best way to teleport without killing your consciousnesses would be to simply move the rest of the space around you, or move you through another dimension, or maybe some kind of tomfoolery with four-dimensional fractals... But if we are going with the create a duplicate and kill the original approach, why not just create a perfect copy of me somewhere else and leave me where I am? I could always use more of me after all.