• Gork@lemm.ee
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    11 months ago

    This is the reason I don’t like materialization/dematerialization transporters. Not only do they have the risk of coordinate failure like in the meme, but also:

    1. The person on the other side isn’t guaranteed to be the same person when rematerialized. There’s the ontological argument that when you’re dematerialized, you die as your physical form is eliminated and that the person appearing on the other side is merely a clone of you, but not you.

    2. Alien interference or environmental contamination can mess up the person on rematerialization. Even small changes can alter the delicate brain chemistry we meatbags have.

    3. Being stuck in the ship’s memory buffer while it verifies an open teleporter slot can’t be very fun or comfortable.

    This is why I only support non-dematerializing wormhole based travel where spacetime itself opens for you to enter. Less chance of mistakes.

      • IninewCrow@lemmy.ca
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        11 months ago

        How about all those many scenes where someone grabs a transported person to make a quick last minute getaway.

        So the computer was programmed and targeted for just one person but at the start of the transport sequence all of a sudden two people are now part of the transport.

    • RBG@discuss.tchncs.de
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      11 months ago
      1. The person on the other side isn’t guaranteed to be the same person when rematerialized. There’s the ontological argument that when you’re dematerialized, you die as your physical form is eliminated and that the person appearing on the other side is merely a clone of you, but not you.

      Ah, the ship of Theseus O’Brien.

      • embix@feddit.de
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        11 months ago

        As most of the human cells die and get replaced within a few years, humans are already beings of Theseus.

        • MjolnirThyme@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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          11 months ago

          Roughly every 7 years for most of the body, major organs tend to take longer, more like 10. Your brain replaces cells at a way slower rate, you’ll only Theseus your brain about 80% at best if you live a long healthy life.

          • embix@feddit.de
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            11 months ago

            Yeah, there is a wide spread in distribution. Some blood cells, skin epithelium and some gastric cells only live for a few days.

    • Flying Squid@lemmy.world
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      11 months ago

      The first ever Star Trek tie-in novel, Spock Must Die, dealt with the implications of the first issue you brought up when Spock is accidentally duplicated by the transporter.

      • Echo Dot@feddit.uk
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        11 months ago

        Except the Stargate also dematerializes you. Also there’s no way of guaranteeing that the gate on the other end is open and there’s apparently no safety protocols to ensure that it is so you could open the gate and then step through and just die.

        Oh you know it could be underwater.

        Or in space.

        Or around a black hole in which case you die even if you don’t enter.

        Really they’re actually quite dangerous technology and definitely not safe.

        Also sometimes they accidentally time travel you

        • Steve@startrek.website
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          11 months ago

          You know what? You’re right. I still think Stargate is a superior tv show, but the transporter is safer than the stargate.

        • JWBananas@startrek.website
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          11 months ago

          Also sometimes they accidentally time travel you

          As I recall that was one of the problems with Carter’s control interface. A proper DHD shouldn’t have that issue.

          At least that was the case until it happened again in the Pegasus galaxy. But Stargate never was great about canonical continuity.