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Published online by Cambridge University Press: 05 July 2014
The story of the teleporter
Imagine a future situation where, on a regular basis, you can teleport from one place to another. Imagine a place you want to travel to. Imagine that you enter a chamber that has all the equipment and a button you press to start the teleporting process. The equipment scans you: all of you. Nothing is left out. The equipment transmits the scan to a receiver at the new location. The receiver equipment then remakes you in the new location using the perfectly copied information to make a perfect organic copy from local materials. As part of the process, the equipment deletes the original you as well as the scan used to remake you at your destination. Imagine that the equipment is completely reliable. From your point of view, there is a moment or two of unconsciousness, but then, there you are again, the next moment, in the teleporter chamber at your new location. It is like momentarily dropping off to sleep and waking up again.
The teleporter is one hundred per cent safe and completely copies everything about you.
Would you use the teleporter? At this point, write down what you think and some of the feelings and thoughts that have arisen in response to the story. Think about the following questions and write down your response to these:
If you would use the teleporter, can you imagine why someone would not use it?
If you would not use it, why would you not use it? Can you imagine someone who would, why they might use it, and how this standpoint differs from yours?
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