Re: [OFFICIAL] Some FT background stuff (guidelines for writers)

In a message dated 98-02-12 14:48:20 EST, you write:

<< Also, that same experiment with the distant electron spin has been 
 suggested by some as a possible means of moving humans FTL too. 
 (Encode the human as data - okay now thats no mean feat - send him as 
 data - rebuild him - again no joke). This is a lot of work, but may 
 well be conceivable as interstellar personal transport some time in 
 the future (now mind you, this method still sticks you with the *how 
 do you get a receiver to the destination* problem.....). 
  >>

Hey Tom, come on now, from your previous postings on this list I'd say
you're
an intelligent guy. You can't possibly be serious - this has more PSB
than
Star Trek!
You can't 'encode a human as data'. Not now, not ever. There is a basic
fundamental difference between data, i.e a string of symbols, and a
conscious
sentient mind. Even if you could in some way encode the physical matter,
transmit it and then reconstruct it at the other end, you'd be entering
very
dodgy philosophical ground if you said that it was still a person at the
other
end.

Besides, presumably the encoding process doesn't actually destroy the
person
being coded, so what happens to the guy still at this end? Do you kill
him or
can you have multiple copies of the same person running around the
universe?
Hmmm. a little too paradoxical for me.

Matt.