While chatting on
chatterbox..a question arose. If there is an exact copy made of something, which is the real one? Is the other a
counterfeit?
This brought to mind the issue of Teleportation. Teleportation (as seen on Star Trek) could completely change the world. (as discussed in "The Fly".) No more cars, no more planes, no more roads, no more urban sprawl, etc. However, there comes the issue of how teleporation would be possible.
For those of you who have seen or read "Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory", you've heard of the theory of breaking yourself up into tiny molecules/atoms and sending them to another location. (also Star Trek) However, I believe there is a more probably way that we may see in the near future.
I must admit the idea came from a short story I read. (I don't remember the name or author) It describes a future when teleporation is achieved by scanning the person, sending the DNA code to another location, cloning the human, and then destroying the previous body. So, essentially...for those who got lost, clone in another place, kill the original. Now, it was an interesting story because the original human was not killed due to a glich..and someone had to track him down and kill him.
Anyways, this brings up my question of..."who is the real person"...the clone or the original. Does that person still have the same "soul". Is it a different person altogether? Do memories transfer into the clone? Will their personality change? And what happens if there are two of a person...who are exact? Is this morally possible in the world?
These are some of the issues that intrigue me. Perhaps you could give us a little insight into these questions.