Think about what teletransportaion actually does. What about the post-transport person on Krypton will be the same as the pre-transport person on earth.  What will be different?

Scenario #1:   Spaceship or Teletransporter?

The first decision concerns how you will travel to Krypton.  There are two possible methods of transport.  First, scientists have constructed an incredible spaceship similar to the Space Shuttle (but much bigger) that will carry up to 100 people comfortably to Krypton, with plenty of oxygen, water, food, opportunity for exercise, entertainment, etc.  The trip will take approximately three years.  Due to the great length of the trip, there are many dangers.  Lots of things could go wrong (oxygen tanks could rupture, you could be hit by interstellar debris, some illness could befall for which you have no cure, etc.).  The best scientific minds on Earth estimate that you would have about a 70% chance of surviving the trip to Krypton.

The second option is a technology developed only in the last few years.  It is called teletransportation.  Here’s how it works (pay attention to how it works—it may be different than what you’ve heard before about teletransportation, say, from Star Trek).  The teletransporter performs a complete scan of your body, atom for atom, molecule for molecule, to capture all the physical information about you.  This scan actually destroys all the molecules of your body.  The teletransporter then shoots a beam of energy carrying all the information about the physical structure of your body to the planet Krypton (but not the actual earthly molecules which have been destroyed).  The beam of energy arrives on Krypton, where the energy causes molecules already on Krypton to be arranged exactly like your body on earth (it’s like being “raised from the dust of Krypton”).  The whole process (from the beginning of the scan to the assembling of molecules on Krypton) is virtually instantaneous.

Teletransportation has been tried on human beings on earth thousands of times.  Numerous tests have shown that in every case the person emerging from the transportation process is an exact physical match to the person entering the transporter. Furthermore, the person that emerges from transportation appears to be an exact psychological match.  This means she has all the same memories, beliefs, hopes, personality, etc. as the person who entered the teletransporter.  The person emerging describes the experience as such. “I have a memory of stepping into the transporter, I saw a bright flash of light before me and then the next thing I knew I was in a completely new place.”  Also, friends and loved ones of the post-transport individual always report nothing out of the ordinary about the subject upon completion of the process – the person recognizes her friends and family and has completely normal conversations with them.  Friends of the patient who did not know she had undergone transportation are unable to tell that it has ever taken place.   The post-transport person reports having all the same beliefs, desires, hopes, and dreams as before transportation.  All the top minds working on transportation believe that transportation to Krypton will be just as successful as transportation on earth.

What will you do? The Ship or the Teletransporter?  Why? Here are some questions to consider in writing up your own thoughts: 

1. Think about what teletransportaion actually does. What about the post-transport person on Krypton will be the same as the pre-transport person on earth.  What will be different?

2. What do you think happens to YOU during teletransportation? Is the person that arrives on Krypton YOU?  Why do you think this?

3. Suppose a friend of yours was going to make the opposite decision. You’d have to convince them they are wrong.  How would you do this?