tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8094777761343480735.post5306974248009062278..comments2023-10-16T05:56:33.473-07:00Comments on Lars Gustafsson's Blog: Blätter aus der Bleibtreustraße 6:To the transporter room !Lars Gustafssonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18312918813422939688noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8094777761343480735.post-65312685338919610232012-02-04T09:59:34.670-08:002012-02-04T09:59:34.670-08:00Dear Lars Gustafsson,
In your essay about the Sta...Dear Lars Gustafsson,<br /><br />In your essay about the Star Trek Transporter you raised the interesting question why the original item (in particular a person) during the teletransportation did not remain intact, but was lost while the copy was generated at the target site.<br />What you have in mind is in fact what we would call "Cloning" today. Whereas I consider the public worry about cloning living creatures (including man) has to do a lot with a complete lack of knowledge, I could not really imagine having 2, 3 + identical Capt. Kirks or Spoks or Lt. Uhuras on board of Star Trek, with the number of copies increasing with each serie !!!<br /><br />The difference between genetic cloning as we can do it in Biology now, and the process of copying a fully developed person (as you discussed it in your text) is the following: Cloning works only on the genetic level. It generates a new individual organism that carries the same genome as another individum. But this only means that its development starts from the same initial conditions ("genetics" comes from greek "genesis" meaning "origin"), but this does not imply that two genetically identical (i.e. clonal) creatures are physically identical. During their development they acquire so many different characteristics, that with after some time they become more and more different (although genetically they are still identical).<br /><br />The trick you proposed, though, is to copy a "fully developed" person (what gene-technology will never achieve).<br />This idea I really could image is quite fearsome: Meeting a twin-brother is probably fun and entertaining, but meating your exact mirror image (who shares exactly the same destiny and the same memories as yourself) is frightening and would unavoidably lead to violence between the two. Just imagine the conflict arising from the question who is the legal partner of the wife (assuming she was not copied as well). Whom of the two belongs the house ?<br /><br />It is like a shisma, isnt it. It explaines why religions after they split up (like catholicism and protestantism or shia and sunni Islam) develop such a hate for long time.<br /><br />best regards Michaelradiushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18418500820960221635noreply@blogger.com