Would you teleport to your destination if the option was available?

[jb747]

You are completely destroyed at the transmitting site, and then reconstructed from totally different atoms at the receiver. So, the "you" at one end is not the same "you" as at the other. Any volunteers?

 

[Forg]

You are completely destroyed at the transmitting site, and then reconstructed from totally different atoms at the receiver. So, the "you" at one end is not the same "you" as at the other. Any volunteers?

Yeah, but that's not much different to long-haul flying, where you are completely destroyed over the space of about 20 hours & never actually reassembled.

 

[AustraliaPoochie]

Heh, and what happens if a certain human male item is lost/left behind?
Oops, the dangly bits got left behind.
No thanks.
We are not Science Fiction, ie, not Beam Me Up Scottie, ie, not make believe.

 

[exceladdict]

I appreciate this is a fun hypothetical, but the ability to transport instantly would turn so many aspects of our society on its head.

While a joy might be the ability to uber eats a cuisine directly from its source of origin, very quickly, we'd have a truly global economy. There may be border controls, but over time, they'd surely be undermined and with them, go the ability to differentiate pricing for goods or services.

Hopefully this would reduce the substantial relative disadvantage many face, but it would also reduce relative advantage (i.e. higher wages) that are largely a factor of border controls which limit the supply/demand of labour.

We might even have to rethink a global standard for time! I mean, if working remotely for a global company, you already have to be flexible on this, but being present in person may require a slightly better appearance than behind a zoom camera. Imagine if you could be summoned to a 1am meeting in your hometown, but where it's a convenient 10am for everyone else? On the other hand, being able to catch a broadway show or other might be worth staying up late or waking up early for!

But the OP question was just about comparing it to flights as others have posted, I imagine that if innovated away, flights would go the way of the dodo, given there's already social pressure building about flights causing 'carbon guilt'. Yes, some may be retained for the experience - as observed by various steam trains, paddle boats, and other former methods of transport dotted around the place. Personally though, I imagine I'd be putting my money and points into other things - experiences, whether it be restaurants, hotels, or otherwise.

You are completely destroyed at the transmitting site, and then reconstructed from totally different atoms at the receiver. So, the "you" at one end is not the same "you" as at the other. Any volunteers?

I've thought of this when pondering teleportation. Sounds like a scary black mirror episode where your soul gets cloned each time!

 

[Forg]

I've thought of this when pondering teleportation. Sounds like a scary black mirror episode where your soul gets cloned each time!

It was many many years ago, but I read a science fiction story at some stage where the teleporters were actually more like fax machines, and the original copy was quietly bumped off.

 

[Duffa]

You are completely destroyed at the transmitting site, and then reconstructed from totally different atoms at the receiver. So, the "you" at one end is not the same "you" as at the other. Any volunteers?

Not if you are broken down into the tiniest particles - then you could be transported at the speed of light, through fibre optic cables and retain your atomic (genetic) code.

 

[jb747]

Not if you are broken down into the tiniest particles - then you could be transported at the speed of light, through fibre optic cables and retain your atomic (genetic) code.

But aren't you then simply transmitting information, given that nothing with mass can travel at the speed of light.

The subject has been covered by numerous authors. Larry Niven comes to mind, but he's just one of many.

 

[JohnK]

But aren't you then simply transmitting information, given that nothing with mass can travel at the speed of light.

The subject has been covered by numerous authors. Larry Niven comes to mind, but he's just one of many.

So how do wormholes work? In theory wormholes transport at faster than the speed of light?

 

[jb747]

So how do wormholes work? In theory wormholes transport at faster than the speed of light?

Dunno. Do they exist beyond theory. Anyway, wasn't the idea that they don't exceed the speed of light, they simply take short cuts and so reduce the distance. I liked one idea that Larry Niven had. You hop into the transmitter box, and when it sends it leaves out the information/particles of anything harmful. So, instant cancer cell removal, etc. Then there's the Galaxy Quest version, where they get the reassembly wrong.

 

[Forg]

Yeah I think “not faster than light” is Einsteinian thinking … I can’t recall what little quantum physics I did which may have bordered on this stuff, but from an experimental perspective (ie. nowhere near close to practical) there’s been a result at Point B measured when something was effected at Point A … and the reaction at Point B was quicker than light travels between those two points.

 

[OZDUCK]

I was thinking of quantum entanglement. but apparently this does not involve faster than light effects -

"A common misconception about entanglement is that the particles are communicating with each other faster than the speed of light, which would go against Einstein's special theory of relativity. Experiments have shown that this is not true, nor can quantum physics be used to send faster-than-light communications. Though scientists still debate how the seemingly bizarre phenomenon of entanglement arises, they know it is a real principle that passes test after test. In fact, while Einstein famously described entanglement as "spooky action at a distance," today's quantum scientists say there is nothing spooky about it.

"It may be tempting to think that the particles are somehow communicating with each other across these great distances, but that is not the case," says Thomas Vidick, a professor of computing and mathematical sciences at Caltech. "There can be correlation without communication," and the particles "can be thought of as one object."

What Is Entanglement and Why Is It Important?

Caltech scientists explain the strange phenomenon of quantum entanglement in everyday language.

scienceexchange.caltech.edu

 

[PineappleSkip]

There is no way I would teleport. IIRC you cease to exist at the origin and commence to exist at the destination. So if I want to change my teleport date I would need to ring up and deal with a numpty at Cape Town with the risk they would screw the booking up and I would simply cease to exist.

 

[p--and--t]

Some of the posts above have my head spinning.

I just used to accept whatever Mr Spok told me.

Unfortunately he is no longer with us in real life and not convinced he will actually come back via a time-warp any time soon.

Although Mr Sulu is still around, he might be able to help.

 

[SYD]

I hate to think what the carbon footprint would be like. But I suspect Greta would take an A380 by herself rather than teleport…

Of course, if it went horribly wrong, that’s probably all that would be left of you - carbon footprints…

 

[Tiki]

You are completely destroyed at the transmitting site, and then reconstructed from totally different atoms at the receiver. So, the "you" at one end is not the same "you" as at the other. Any volunteers?

I'll volunteer if they can leave some unwanted kg of particles behind!