tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29763791.post1362309108731256555..comments2023-10-31T05:07:19.353-04:00Comments on Delenda est Carthago: Teleportation ReconsideredDr. Φhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14086783503820477029noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29763791.post-20911165939673318942010-08-18T16:38:56.705-04:002010-08-18T16:38:56.705-04:00Well, okay, there's a lot in there - multiple ...Well, okay, there's a lot in there - multiple dissertations, I daresay - and I don't want to drag the discussion off-topic. Suffice it to say: it's interesting to realize that I disagree with the Westminster Catechism. And, yeah, <i>Trek</i>-style teleportation is impossible, because no matter which way you slice it, the original person actually dies.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29763791.post-22998168717047712172010-08-17T23:19:45.916-04:002010-08-17T23:19:45.916-04:00Samson: Mmmm . . . I hadn't really considered...Samson: Mmmm . . . I hadn't really considered the eternal soul a species of mind body dualism. On the one hand, I would affirm this:<br /><br />Q37: What benefits do believers receive at death?<br />A: The souls of believers are at their death made perfect in holiness and do immediately pass into glory, and their bodies, being still united to Christ, do rest in their graves until the ressurection.<br /><br />I also think we can reasonably infer that our "minds" -- I.e. thread of consciousness -- adhere to the soul rather to our brains after death. But by the same token, I don't think technology will be able to access either the soul or the mind.Dr. Φhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14086783503820477029noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29763791.post-59287574740207799182010-08-17T21:19:48.265-04:002010-08-17T21:19:48.265-04:00There is no theological warrant for non-human crea...<i>There is no theological warrant for non-human creatures possessing souls</i><br /><br />Oh, my! Phi, you need to brush up on your Hebrew - see <a href="http://www.ancient-hebrew.org/emagazine/012.html" rel="nofollow">here</a> for an analysis of the biblical term "nephesh chayah" if you're interested.<br /><br />In any event, this is all a little easier if, like me, you reject Cartesian mind-body dualism and believe that a person <i>is</i> a soul rather than "having" a soul.<br /><br />But not much easier:<br /><br /><i>To transport a living organism, the transporter would need to replicate not just molecular/cellular structure but thermal properties as well, plus other properties I don't know about. And even then, the transporter would need to immediately "jump start" the organism a la CPR.</i><br /><br />Yeah, my off-the-cuff view is that if you wanted to truly recreate the person, including their mind, you'd need to reproduce the actual state of electrical activity within their brain at the time of teleport. That seems like a fiendishly complex endeavour - indeed, as we know (we do know, don't we? I'm not the only ST:TOS geek...?), in <i>Spock's Brain</i> Dr. McCoy specifically notes that even in the year 2xxx, science still hasn't cracked the mysteries of the human(oid) brain.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29763791.post-14051144592568685942010-08-17T09:49:47.481-04:002010-08-17T09:49:47.481-04:00I too have thought of this. Unless the soul/consc...I too have thought of this. Unless the soul/consciousness resides as a function of some physical body part, it think it would be lost in transmission, leaving the new copy without one. This is something that should be the subject of very careful experimentation before such a device is used on people.<br /><br />Since we do not understand our soul, its function or its attachment to our bodies, it is quite likely we will sever that connection unintentionally with transporter tech. It is also possible that experiments with transporters will result in the physical measurment and confinement of the soul resulting in a new understanding of humanity, the discovery and proof that animals have souls and the possibility that not all humans have souls<br /><br />Further, while the concept of beaming from a transporter pad to another is simple, the further step of transporting to or from a third location seems inconsistant, since there is no aparatus to decode the information and reconstruct the bodies. It also begs the question: if site to site transport is "normal", why do you need a transporter room at all? Every transport should be from where you are to where you want to be.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29763791.post-11626133853220598932010-08-16T14:30:30.744-04:002010-08-16T14:30:30.744-04:00That's a good point. To transport a living or...That's a good point. To transport a living organism, the transporter would need to replicate not just molecular/cellular structure but thermal properties as well, plus other properties I don't know about. And even then, the transporter would need to immediately "jump start" the organism a la CPR.<br /><br />I'm not sure what our post-transporter, soulless humanoid would be like, except that it would probably be bad. But I'm not sure we can rely on it being dead. There is no theological warrant for non-human creatures possessing souls, and they seem to do okay.Dr. Φhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14086783503820477029noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29763791.post-42556739967095679452010-08-16T14:17:10.037-04:002010-08-16T14:17:10.037-04:00Funny, I had a convo with my 13 y/o about this ver...Funny, I had a convo with my 13 y/o about this very issue, a couple months ago. <br /><br />I told her I thought even if they could transport the material atoms, the subject would be dead, separated from their soul.Justinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01023125641719686613noreply@blogger.com