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Metaphysics

Metaphysics. What is the nature of Reality?. You and your best friend are planning a trip to China. At the airport, the ticket agent says “Congratulations! We are upgrading you to Teleportation Class. Just step into this black box, and you will step out the other side in Beijing! ”.

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Metaphysics

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  1. Metaphysics What is the nature of Reality?

  2. You and your best friend are planning a trip to China. At the airport, the ticket agent says “Congratulations! We are upgrading you to Teleportation Class. Just step into this black box, and you will step out the other side in Beijing!” You are a little worried about this new technology. “How does it work?” you ask. “It’s simple. The box scans your body, makes a blueprint, then disintegrates you into atoms. The atoms are transmitted at half the speed of light to a box in Beijing, where you are reassembled. It happens so fast, you don’t feel a thing! Watch!”

  3. The ticket agent steps into the box. A few seconds later, she steps back out, holding a pair of chopsticks. “There’s a great little restaurant just on the other side. I eat lunch there twice a week!” “But…you were just destroyed – completely disintegrated into atoms!You’re just a copy of the ticket agent!” “Relax.”, your best friend says. “Remember that great little Chinese restaurant in San Franciso? The one our ticket agent likes is even better!” Your friend hands you a potsticker.“I stepped through the box. They were giving out free samples.”

  4. Would you use the box to travel to China?

  5. Would you tell the police that your best friend had just been murdered?

  6. An example Metaphysical question: What is a person? Do persons persist through time? Are you the same person who had your name in kindergarten? If persons do persist, what is it about them that persists? Body? Brain? Consciousness? Soul? How do we apply this to the teleportation case? What evidence shows that the required persistence either is or is not present in this case?

  7. Formulating a philosophical argument “I only last as long as my body and brain last. I’m not going into that box. If my best friend wants to do it, that’s her business ! Maybe she thinks she is something else. I’m not going to make her miserable by calling the police.” Conclusion Reason Teleportation that involves destruction of the body and brain is not a good way to travel. When my body and brain are destroyed, I am destroyed.

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