A Copy of Me is Still Me, Unless it Isn't

bk marcus had a thought provoking post on teleportation: http://bkmarcus.com/blog/2007/04/teleportation-in-the-bible It turns out that he did his college thesis on the philosophical implications of teleportation and the concept of identity, and he even posts a link to the thesis. I wish I had written anything worth saving in college.

The young bk came to what I reckon is the right conclusion, that identity is a construct. When we speak of identity, we do so for a purpose, and the requirements for establishing identity may differ according to context. I have exchanged every molecule in my body several times over, and I have had periods of unconsciousness every day of my life; however, for most purposes I am still considered the same person as I was several iterations ago.

In “The Physics of Immortality”, Tipler asserts that an exact copy of a person would, in fact, be that person. That is, I suppose the idea that allows Star Fleet personnel to allow themselves to be disintegrated and reintegrated routinely. I have always suspected that when you enter the transporter, you are killed. The individual who appears at the destination is just a copy of you that thinks he is you. Then again, what is it that is you? If it’s the pattern, then the copy would be the person.

I believe in the resurrection of the body at the end of days, but I try not to think too much about the mechanics of this. What version of me will be resurrected? The young know-it-all or the more humble middle aged guy or the demented old codger? Will I perhaps be some sort of amalgam of my various selves over my lifetime? Then again, it probably doesn’t matter since the ephemera of my life will be forgotten during an eternity of further personal development and the accumulation of memories in the afterlife. Also, I will be free of all defects and, therefore, will have to be transformed significantly. I probably wouldn’t recognize myself.