Federation Commander

An idea based on a philosophical thought that could be used in a Prime Directive story:

The basic idea is the thought that when you use a transporter, the 'you' that arrives at the destination is not the 'you' that you were. It's kinda like the plot twist of <a movie spoiler whited out> The Prestige where instead of drowning the old body, it's disintegrated.

The first version of this plot hook would be a character, PC or NPC or even an entire culture, that simply refuses to use transporters because 'that person will not be me', and might even be to the point of considering involuntary transporting to be akin to murder.

The stronger version might be that the character or culture might not even want to negotiate with somebody who has been through a transporter because that person they dealt with no longer exists.

Interestingly enough, this could be used with a totally materialistic culture (i.e., no belief in souls and that the mind is completely in the flesh) or spiritual cultures (the soul was bound to the original, that is a soulless abomination, or variations of such).

You might be interested to know, this was a real philosophical debate when I was at university in the early 90s (I'm a philosophy graduate).

Transporters should provide lots of problems for materialists, as conciousness could not continue while a particle stream, therefore you would not be the same person at the other end. The original would be dead, and the new you would just be identical in every way, and even remember being the old you. However, the conciousness - the self-awareness - would be new, as the original had to cease when it was dis-assembled into the particle stream. The 'you' now essentially commits suicide when you are transported.

The same issues apply to those who believe in epiphenomenalism, as once the original is broken down by the transporter, the non-physical, mental activity that defines the person ceases to exist, and a new one is created when the atoms get reassembled, i.e, it is a different phenomena caused by the newly assembled physical body.

In both the above cases, the non-continuity of the consciousness causes the problem.

For those believing in a spirit, soul, or whatever, they might take or leave a transporter... Even claim it is proof of a soul, as the person is clearly the same at both ends of a transport. Of course, they could equally claim that the transported person now has no soul at all!

Consequently, I'll be leaving it alone

For those with players willing to tackle such issues though, it could be a real hoot!

Nice post Ravenhull!

Chris

This was debated in the first TOS novel Spock Must Die! by James Blish. I know, I'm old.

Wolverin61 wrote:This was debated in the first TOS novel Spock Must Die! by James Blish. I know, I'm old.

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You know - I think have that novel... I'll check.

Chris