   A Philosophical Question...
  Just a philosophical question I came up with, that everyone can comment about or spend time pondering, for the fun of it :DIt starts with this simple futuristic situation:You are invited to the demonstration of the first teleportation machine. Scientists demonstrate this with a system involving two closed cabins. A man enters one of the cabins. The scientists activate the teleportation system. You see intense blinding white light coming out of both cabins through their glass doors. 10 seconds later, the man comes out of the second cabin, he is alive, healthy and fairly happy that the demonstration worked as planned. The teleportation system does seem to work.The second part:You are a bit skeptical. The scientist, eager to prove that their system works for real without using any tricks, propose that you try it yourself.The third part:Before you try their machine, the scientists proceed to explain you how their system works.First: The object in the first cabin is scannedSecond: the teleportation system creates a fully identical copy of the object in the second cabin by using an unknown process that requires several megawatts of energy.Third: The object in the original cabin is disintegrated, releasing a tremendous amount of energy.What do you choose? Would you step into such a teleportation system? What do you think are the issues involved?   Looking for a serious game project?  www.xgameproject.com[edited by - Max_Payne on February 3, 2004 12:07:09 PM]
  I''d go for it. I''m all for the progression of technology.    I Want My Island"The same people who so greatly oppose slavery, so much that they are willing to kill over it... have just forced me to fight the battle for them."- Robert (I Want My Island) ;  I would never go in. It wouldn''t be me coming out of the 2nd cabin. What if they didn''t destroy you? There would be 2 identical copies of you now, but you would still be you in the first cabin. ;  I''m with Rick Scott.  I wouldn''t go in because at some point there would be two copies of you, and you would get destroyed while your copy would survive.But then again, what really gives you your consciousness?  If an identical copy of you was created then to everyone else you would seem the same, and that copy would also be conscious, just like you. ;  ARRGH SIXTH DAY LAWS!!!~1Yeah, I''d never do it. To be honest, that''s nice for everyone else, but I would be killed, with a stupid copy coming out. I''d never go for that kind of shit; it''s the same as killing you and bringing back a clone with the same mind. NEVAR.- CD   Brought to you by Code_Dark;  Wow, no way.  I take caution with new technology.  It would have to be in the market and be used by many people before I dare try.  What actually scares me is ''the object in the original cabin is disintegrated''.  If this is how it works, then its not the same me that appears in the 2nd cabin.  Thus, I would be destroyed and be replaced with a copy. ;  I still think that the brain is not all there is to an actual conscious mind, and so there''s no guarentee that your "soul" would go from one cabin to the other.And getting disintigrated would hurt.P.S.  Max_Payne, you claim to have "come up with" this situation, but it''s been around for a long time.   ;quote:Original post by cowsarenotevil  And getting disintigrated would hurt.My thoughts exactly. The thought of me entering a new location as merely a copy of myself is not very enticing....but having to suffer being disintegrated first? Nah, count me out.   shortcurves.com | /josh;  Yeah, I''m not really feeling into the whole "getting disintegrated" part either... ;  I fail to see the philosophical in this thread.And depending on the actual process, which you can''t detail, I''d have to make a decision based on that information on whether or not I feel the process would obliterate my personality.   - It''s a life''s work:Image Hosting @ $5/3 Months :30Gig/month bandwidth Reseller Plan @ $40/3 MonthGeneric WebHost: The Cheapest Hosting Around!-ryan@lecherousjester.com 