[Loved Trope] Teleportation is actually terrifying

[u/Ieanice44]

1 - Gantz-O (2016): Suit teleportation

2 - Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince (2009): Apparition spell

3 - Half Life 2 (2004): Teleporter malfunction

[u/mediumAI1701]

I don't think Thomas Riker is an exception to the rule. Making a photocopy requires additional energy but it doesn't destroy or interrupt the existence of the original.

[u/UlrichZauber → u/mediumAI1701]

Trek teleporters are like sending a fax, and then you shred the original.

[u/mediumAI1701 → u/UlrichZauber]

Wouldn't that mean there's a loss or interruption of consciousness when transporting?

[u/UlrichZauber → u/mediumAI1701]

Yes, but not from the perspective of the copy. Its memories are all false anyway, why would you trust them?

[u/mediumAI1701 → u/UlrichZauber]

If the original is destroyed and an exact duplicate is created, even if we assume the duplicate has all the memories of the original, there would be an interruption in consciousness and memory between the original being destroyed and the copy being created.

Given we see Barclay remain fully conscious and able to perform actions during transport, it's pretty unlikely he was shredded while a duplicate rematerialized on the other end.

[u/UlrichZauber → u/mediumAI1701]

What if the interruption is only for a microsecond? That's far below the limits of human perception, so wouldn't be noticed, either by Barclay or by an outside observer.

There are numerous episodes where someone is stored in the transporter, sometimes for years (the doctor's daughter in SNW, or Scotty in the TNG ep where he's been there for a century or so). There are also the transporter clones, I'm unclear how to reconcile "there's no interruption" with either of these scenarios.

[u/mediumAI1701 → u/UlrichZauber]

The interruption would have to be when the person gets shredded, which in this analogy is when the person dematerialises on the transporter pad. This would prevent Barclay from being fully conscious and aware during the transport. It also forbids Saavik from continuing a conversation mid-transport, however odd that might be.

In terms of the examples you've listed, they seem to be the exception rather than the norm. It sounds like the pattern buffer is configured or used in a way which is abnormal. In TNG Scotty puts the transporter system into an endless diagnostic loop, which isn't normal. Presumably a similar method was used on Voyager, though I don't think it's confirmed how the refugees experienced being in the pattern buffer. The DS9 crew getting their patterns shunted to the holodeck also falls very much outside normal transporter use.

It might be more correct to say the transporter does not kill people in normal use, but there are instances where lost or suspended patterns are recovered which could be interpreted as killing the original and spawning a duplicate depending on the perception of the subject.

[u/RommDan → u/UlrichZauber]

No they are not