I double down and transport over regardless of the dilemma, and don’t pull the lever. Is that immoral of me? I don’t know… it is me?
I transport back and presume that all these choices were done by two other people, not me.
If you are quick enough, you can even come back with five extra wallets. Guilt free credit cards.
Aren’t we largely ships of Theseus regardless? Are the carbon atoms I was born with still in me or have they been slowly cycled out? I guess your teeth and bones prob don’t change much. Welp, time to go do some reading
Even though your teeth and bones don’t change much, your skin is part of you, and that’s constantly shedding and growing new cells.
It really depends on how the teleportation works. If it’s folding spacetime to make it so that I can step instantaneously through the gap, that’s definitely still me. If it’s just like a portal cutting temporarily through Hell ala WH40k or Event Horizon, it’s probably still me, but I might be suffering from demonic posession. If I’m being completely atomized, converted to electricity, and transmitted to the other tube to be reconstituted as an exact copy, then I am a copy.
Hokay, here we go again.
In philosopher Derek Parfit’s teletransporter thought experiment, he differentiates between two major concepts: personal identity and “relation R.”
Personal identity is an individual person as that specific individual. If the teletransporter copies a person to one place while destroying the original, then a new personal identity is created.
Relation R is the stream of consciousness that connects a person’s mind from one moment to another. Parfit compares this to a billiard ball rolling along a pool table, as you can track the path the ball travels without the path breaking. It’s the memories, hopes, values, and goals a person carries with them.
He argues that as long as this relation R is maintained, that is more important than maintaining a personal identity. So he would argue that it is not you pulling the lever, but it would be you in all the ways that matter.
but it would be you in all the ways that matter.
Except for the only way that matters to me
Okay, but actually solving the thought experiment requires understanding of what it is to be conscious. It could appear continuous and identical to all outside observers and all external tests but it could still be a new conscious identity and you, the observer might no longer exist. It’s not called “the hard problem” for nothing.
What you are saying sounds like two concepts/problems closely related but distinct to the teletransporter thought experiment, the hard problem of consciousness and the problem other minds.
In terms of the hard problem of consciousness, I think Parfit assumes a level of consciousness in his arguments or he wouldn’t be talking about it. It’s been too long since I read his works to say how he views that consciousness arising, but the setup of a person’s body being destroyed and recreated lends itself toward the constitution view, although I also think that would conflict with his point on personal identity. I think some level of dualistic/idealist separation of body and mind would be required for the continuation of consciousness across bodies.
Your actual argument of whether we as outside observers could know that the teletransported’s consciousness is continuous, we can’t. At least I don’t think there’s a foolproof way of knowing the minds of others. I think the best we could do is watch the person. If they step out of the teletransporter, stick their thumb pointing at the first and say “Boy, I’d hate to be that guy,” there was probably a break in consciousness. If they pull the lever, point at the first teletransporter station and say “I came from there to pull this lever,” I’ll believe the relation R is conserved. And if they do both, I’ll chuckle and buy them a beer.
Oh, I don’t think the one experiencing it would know either. Gaps in consciousness and memory can be pretty concrete. Every moment of existence could be your only one and all your past experiences could be implanted or false memories and there would be no real way of knowing.
Is your continuity of consciousness broken by the teleporter?
I mean, does it really matter? For all intents and purposes, the person coming out of the teleporter is me. They’ll have continuity of consciousness. You can argue about “oh it just kills you and makes a person exactly like you” like maybe so, but does it matter?
Now imagine it malfunctions and doesn’t vaporize you before creating the copy, but just creates the copy at the end point leaving you still standing in the transporter. Still you? If not, what’s changed?
I mean, I can just kill myself the normal way
Oh shit
No.
It will be your inni
The answer to this is quite simple.
But first, we have to talk about parallel universes…
Plot twist: The lever was set for the train to move to the sidetrack. Who caused the train to squish the people, you or theseus’ you? O.o
Just set up Riker/Boimler situation so I stay here and my transporter clone pulls the lever. Easy-peasy.
If you have to take me apart to get there then I don’t want to go
Will your decision to pull the lever carry over. Is it worth it with no guarantee?
