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Transporter Philosophy

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  • 16-12-2012 11:27pm
    #1
    StompToWork
    Registered Users Posts: 905 ✭✭✭


    SO, don't know if this has ever been discussed here before, but I wanted to see what people thought about this HIGHLY hypothetical situation.

    If Transporter technology (a la Star Trek) existed, would you actually use it?

    I reckon that, no matter how advanced the tech, you would essentially be disintegrated before being re-integrated at the target site. Now, I know it's all your matter which is "beamed", but the very act of disintegrating you will essentially kill you. Yes, all your matter is then re-integrated as you, with all your memories, experience and consciousness, but would the consciousness which left the transporter pad also be transported?

    I think that when you call "Energise" you die. You don't know you have re-materialised, because you are dead.

    Does this make sense??

    Boy, I should NOT post about Star Trek when drinking wine!!


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    #2
    Goldstein
    Registered Users Posts: 1,551 ✭✭✭Goldstein


    Ya, transporters are basically killing & cloning machines. It's probably best ignored and taken at face value without thinking about it too much as it's only one of a whole host of problems and inconsistencies with the transporters.

    Using old "patterns stored in the buffer" to make copies of people. There you go - millions of Datas/anyone else.

    It would surely be used as a very effective weapon (Shields being down scenarios) and also for repairs.

    What "reintegrates" the atoms/information when there's no pad on the other end - come to think of it how does a transporter beam anyone back with no transmitting pad? If there's an explanation covering this then there seems to be no logical need for transporter pads at all.

    Resolving these kinds of things are areas where you'd hope a new show could set itself apart and modernise the franchise as it were. If it was me I don't think I'd have transporters in a theoretical new show at all as it creates too many problems. Very advanced replicators on the other hand such as those seen on the show are more than plausible.


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    #3
    Sad Professor
    Moderators, Category Moderators, Arts Moderators, Entertainment Moderators, Technology & Internet Moderators Posts: 22,668 CMod ✭✭✭✭Sad Professor


    My understanding was that they are transporters rather than teleporters, so you aren't being cloned, though certain episodes (Second Chances) would seem to contradict this. Does your conciousness/soul survive în either case? Probably not, but I doubt a godless civilisation believes in such things.


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    #4
    Myrddin
    Closed Accounts Posts: 33,733 ✭✭✭✭Myrddin


    It seems to work fine in Star Trek, everything is reassembled at the quantum level so the person/soul etc seems to be fine after a transport. In the Trek world, if it worked as depicted, I'd be more than happy to use it.

    In reality I'm sure it's even further fetched than a functional holodeck, I really can't see this kind of tech becoming a reality, at least not as depicted in Star Trek. The amount of computer space required to store every piece of information stored in a human body is mind boggling, & what are the chances of reassembling all the atoms, molecules exactly as they were? I wouldn't use it anyway :)


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    #5
    Kirby
    Registered Users Posts: 13,084 ✭✭✭✭Kirby


    You can't deconstruct a person and then reconstruct them. It isn't possible.

    And even if you could, it would never be the same person. Michael Shanks' character described it quite beautifully in a great episode of Stargate called Lifeboat. You can pour 100ml of water from one full glass into another glass, and then pour it back again but it will never be the same on a molecular level. He said it better and more eloquently but you get the point.

    Space bending. Thats the only way it can happen. A whole person steps into it and a whole person leaves it. It's basically just like stepping through a door. Nothing happens to you.


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