I am prepared to be called by some an "angry white man"....there I have said it, yes I was born in the USA and have ancestry (at least some going back to 1600's in America, who by thew way did their own "doctoring" which of course is illegal now.
That said, I think it is time we all begin to realize how much "load" on our health care system is being placed by
1.) Abuse of the system by people who already have socialized medicine in the US (i.e. Illegals, Welfare, congressmen, Women, and Senators)!
2.) Unregulated medical industry who (in concert with the Drug Industry) both heavily lobbies the government and conspire to keep health costs high.
3.) Medical Schools restricting enrollment to minimal levels to "keep the doctor pool small". This results in less physicians in the system, a lack of choice, and essentially monopoly amongst those in the industry, and frankly lack of innovation in that most medical technology lacks the private sector by decades in terms of "high tech" equipment and procedures.
4.) A Food and Drug Administration (who like congress and senate) accept great "kick backs" from large corporations and again conspire to stifle innovation.
5.) Willing accomplices in the American people by not making the effort to contact their legislators and stop this mess.
6.) And finally, of the limited seats in medical institutions int he USA, we need to stop the practice of allowing all comers from foreign countries from entering the USA and getting a medical degree. One should need to be a US citizen in good standing before entering the University.
7.) Eliminating "ambulance chasing lawyers" and malpractice layers from benefiting from the suffering of others. I am not for necessarily limiting the damages in a medical case to patients, I am for setting strong and reasonable limits on what the attorney gets to make from case. Ten percent is enough for God, perhaps an attorney should get 3-5% of actual damages....not punitive.
8.) Enforce the existing immigration laws and this problem virtually goes away (except of course for the pool of illegal Democrat voters that our policies foster).
9.) Insurance companies which act as intermediaries on the delegation of health care. these bureaucrats are not doctors, but in many cases make the decisions which affect quality of life for patients.
10.) Return to locally owned and operated hospitals who have doctors who are from the area and want to help people. the mega mart approach to health care has resulted in much more than increased cost for the patient (and others insured among the same programs). The quality of care, the frequency of hospital caused illness (staff, antibiotic resistant germs, etc), and a lack of quality of care and quality of doctors in the current system.
Socialize medicine is a joke, just ask Canada. Our government was not to be and should not be a "for profit" enterprise. however, at present, the government is the largest "for profit" entity in the USA.
These same concerns should be addressed at the V.A. Hospitals in the USA and abroad as well.
Best Regards,
J.W.
Khallow,
After rereading my post, I tend to agree with you. Consciousness is of course a "state of mind".
and since effectively this is duplicating ones mind (an exact copy of a finite state machine at the moment of teleportation)
While destroying the original, all that would happen from the universe's perspective is that you as an individual disappear from
one location and reappear at another simultaneously.
Since I posted originally, many of my brain cells have been re-tasked, and my overall "electron bias" has changed significantly.
Since we are really transmitting matter's states, any associated energy activity would likely "go along for the ride" with the
information. So while your soul may be "stretched out a bit" along the way, it would re-materialize along with your body at the
destination.
This whole process is similiar (at least in theory) as doing a complete backup of a computer. What you are transmitting is a moment in time of that machine. 5 micro seconds before would be different, 5 micro seconds later as well.
When you restore a complete backup, you get an image of the computer as it was at the time of the backup. whether you immediately restore, or FEDEX the tape across the country and "rebuild" the computer there, from it's perspective, it would "wake up" and behave exactly like the orginal at the time of the backup.
It would seem that if we could ever develop this technology such that it does not destroy the original, perhaps it would be better than cloning. We would be able to make exact replicas (experience, memories, skills, etc.) of any one and as many as needed.
It would make creating an army very quick and economical.
this whole concept is quite strange, and I agree with an earlier post, Gene Roddenberry needed a "consistent vehicle" or method of getting the cast don to a planets surface quickly (and cheaply) without planetary shuttles, and other landing craft.
Remember that this original concept (from 1964) followed very lose with the series of "FLY" movies of the 50's so the concept was freshly in the audiences mind at that time.
Stargate SG-1 and Atlantis use of the "Gates" as stable wormholes provides much the same type of travel, but lets the universe figure out how to transport the matter/energy stream across the universe. they do have the short range "ring transport" devices, but these of course are transmitter/recievers, and unlike the Star Trek do not appear to have the ability to operate autonomously.
Great comments,
Best Regards,
J.W.
there was a "new" outer limits episode that dealt with this concept.
The premise of the episode was that earth had been contacted by another species from space. They were "evolved" "dinosaur like" reptiles.
They (the dinosaurs) installed a "gateway" in orbit around earth to provide transportation back and forth to their home world.
Earth people were free to travel back and forth as well.
The "transporter" worked like you stated (recreating the person on the other end and essentially killing the (now) copy on this end of the line the reptiles referred to this as "balancing" the equation. (to eliminate ST:TNG Ryker Paradoxes presumably)
In any case, there was (of course its Television) a malfunction in the process, and the technician thought the transport did not occur, so he failed to perform the "balancing of the equation", thereby leaving the "transportee" alive.
It is worth a watch if you are interested in the writers "take" on this concept, it really does make you think.
BTW - I believe that our soul is inherently linked to our "configuration" of atoms, perhaps on a DNA / subatomic level, and no matter where in the universe we are, our soul would remain linked (or relinked) if we displaced ourselves 10 feet or 10 light years?
Quantum entanglement/duality of particles may actually support this idea. Distance is irrelavant to quantum entanglement. for any type of "Transporter" technology to work, this would have to be part of the technology. Two many darn molecules to copy the state of otherwise. Either way, Transporters are a great idea, but probably require some part of physics we haven't quite tripped over just now.
Interdimensional "hopping" would accomplish the same thing, at perhaps a lower level of technology, though the power requirements to bend space time would be rather large. The theory goes that you could "jump out" of this space time continuem and emerge in another at a predetermined location.
Similarly, I think the Stargate concept, or stable wormhole is probably much more likely to occur in the forseeable future, especially for long haul interstellar travel.
But once a person had a device or ship capable of bending space time, wouldn't it be possible to be anywhere instantly, or perhaps anyWHEN? String theory and pockets dimensions/sub space make this really stranger every day.
Cool stuff.
Best Regards
J.W.
Oh what a tangled web we weave!
This sounds great. Does this mean that you could simply create a "gold disk" of windows (ok, Brass or Zinc would sound better for windows, but the technical term is "gold"), export to Asia and have 100,000,000 copies burned?
I don't think that is what the big "M" had in mind, but think about it.
You could copy something someone patented in USA (i.e. a software CD, send the plates to stamp the CD over to Asia, then have at it.
What do you suppose that would cost? A dollar a piece??
If all you have to do is provide for "foreign assembly", just about anything copied be ripped off.
BTW - when does Microsoft have to hand over "Selected" windows code to the EU? probably just the screen saver and mine sweeper.
That ought to be interesting, and if they do, and if people download here in USA (for information use only), is that illegal??
hmmmmmm, makes you wonder.
I'd like to see how much "yo ho ho" (pirated) code is in windows, wouldn't you. I still claim that windows has code from digital Equip,ment Corporation (DEC) which is now owned by HP (via compaq acquisition).
how ironic would that be, the Innovation Company being found to be the pirates we know them to be.
Slashdot Mirror
I am prepared to be called by some an "angry white man"....there I have said it, yes I was born in the USA and have ancestry (at least some going back to 1600's in America, who by thew way did their own "doctoring" which of course is illegal now. That said, I think it is time we all begin to realize how much "load" on our health care system is being placed by 1.) Abuse of the system by people who already have socialized medicine in the US (i.e. Illegals, Welfare, congressmen, Women, and Senators)! 2.) Unregulated medical industry who (in concert with the Drug Industry) both heavily lobbies the government and conspire to keep health costs high. 3.) Medical Schools restricting enrollment to minimal levels to "keep the doctor pool small". This results in less physicians in the system, a lack of choice, and essentially monopoly amongst those in the industry, and frankly lack of innovation in that most medical technology lacks the private sector by decades in terms of "high tech" equipment and procedures. 4.) A Food and Drug Administration (who like congress and senate) accept great "kick backs" from large corporations and again conspire to stifle innovation. 5.) Willing accomplices in the American people by not making the effort to contact their legislators and stop this mess. 6.) And finally, of the limited seats in medical institutions int he USA, we need to stop the practice of allowing all comers from foreign countries from entering the USA and getting a medical degree. One should need to be a US citizen in good standing before entering the University. 7.) Eliminating "ambulance chasing lawyers" and malpractice layers from benefiting from the suffering of others. I am not for necessarily limiting the damages in a medical case to patients, I am for setting strong and reasonable limits on what the attorney gets to make from case. Ten percent is enough for God, perhaps an attorney should get 3-5% of actual damages....not punitive. 8.) Enforce the existing immigration laws and this problem virtually goes away (except of course for the pool of illegal Democrat voters that our policies foster). 9.) Insurance companies which act as intermediaries on the delegation of health care. these bureaucrats are not doctors, but in many cases make the decisions which affect quality of life for patients. 10.) Return to locally owned and operated hospitals who have doctors who are from the area and want to help people. the mega mart approach to health care has resulted in much more than increased cost for the patient (and others insured among the same programs). The quality of care, the frequency of hospital caused illness (staff, antibiotic resistant germs, etc), and a lack of quality of care and quality of doctors in the current system. Socialize medicine is a joke, just ask Canada. Our government was not to be and should not be a "for profit" enterprise. however, at present, the government is the largest "for profit" entity in the USA. These same concerns should be addressed at the V.A. Hospitals in the USA and abroad as well. Best Regards, J.W.
Khallow, After rereading my post, I tend to agree with you. Consciousness is of course a "state of mind". and since effectively this is duplicating ones mind (an exact copy of a finite state machine at the moment of teleportation) While destroying the original, all that would happen from the universe's perspective is that you as an individual disappear from one location and reappear at another simultaneously. Since I posted originally, many of my brain cells have been re-tasked, and my overall "electron bias" has changed significantly. Since we are really transmitting matter's states, any associated energy activity would likely "go along for the ride" with the information. So while your soul may be "stretched out a bit" along the way, it would re-materialize along with your body at the destination. This whole process is similiar (at least in theory) as doing a complete backup of a computer. What you are transmitting is a moment in time of that machine. 5 micro seconds before would be different, 5 micro seconds later as well. When you restore a complete backup, you get an image of the computer as it was at the time of the backup. whether you immediately restore, or FEDEX the tape across the country and "rebuild" the computer there, from it's perspective, it would "wake up" and behave exactly like the orginal at the time of the backup. It would seem that if we could ever develop this technology such that it does not destroy the original, perhaps it would be better than cloning. We would be able to make exact replicas (experience, memories, skills, etc.) of any one and as many as needed. It would make creating an army very quick and economical. this whole concept is quite strange, and I agree with an earlier post, Gene Roddenberry needed a "consistent vehicle" or method of getting the cast don to a planets surface quickly (and cheaply) without planetary shuttles, and other landing craft. Remember that this original concept (from 1964) followed very lose with the series of "FLY" movies of the 50's so the concept was freshly in the audiences mind at that time. Stargate SG-1 and Atlantis use of the "Gates" as stable wormholes provides much the same type of travel, but lets the universe figure out how to transport the matter/energy stream across the universe. they do have the short range "ring transport" devices, but these of course are transmitter/recievers, and unlike the Star Trek do not appear to have the ability to operate autonomously. Great comments, Best Regards, J.W.
there was a "new" outer limits episode that dealt with this concept. The premise of the episode was that earth had been contacted by another species from space. They were "evolved" "dinosaur like" reptiles. They (the dinosaurs) installed a "gateway" in orbit around earth to provide transportation back and forth to their home world. Earth people were free to travel back and forth as well. The "transporter" worked like you stated (recreating the person on the other end and essentially killing the (now) copy on this end of the line the reptiles referred to this as "balancing" the equation. (to eliminate ST:TNG Ryker Paradoxes presumably) In any case, there was (of course its Television) a malfunction in the process, and the technician thought the transport did not occur, so he failed to perform the "balancing of the equation", thereby leaving the "transportee" alive. It is worth a watch if you are interested in the writers "take" on this concept, it really does make you think. BTW - I believe that our soul is inherently linked to our "configuration" of atoms, perhaps on a DNA / subatomic level, and no matter where in the universe we are, our soul would remain linked (or relinked) if we displaced ourselves 10 feet or 10 light years? Quantum entanglement/duality of particles may actually support this idea. Distance is irrelavant to quantum entanglement. for any type of "Transporter" technology to work, this would have to be part of the technology. Two many darn molecules to copy the state of otherwise. Either way, Transporters are a great idea, but probably require some part of physics we haven't quite tripped over just now. Interdimensional "hopping" would accomplish the same thing, at perhaps a lower level of technology, though the power requirements to bend space time would be rather large. The theory goes that you could "jump out" of this space time continuem and emerge in another at a predetermined location. Similarly, I think the Stargate concept, or stable wormhole is probably much more likely to occur in the forseeable future, especially for long haul interstellar travel. But once a person had a device or ship capable of bending space time, wouldn't it be possible to be anywhere instantly, or perhaps anyWHEN? String theory and pockets dimensions/sub space make this really stranger every day. Cool stuff. Best Regards J.W.
Oh what a tangled web we weave! This sounds great. Does this mean that you could simply create a "gold disk" of windows (ok, Brass or Zinc would sound better for windows, but the technical term is "gold"), export to Asia and have 100,000,000 copies burned? I don't think that is what the big "M" had in mind, but think about it. You could copy something someone patented in USA (i.e. a software CD, send the plates to stamp the CD over to Asia, then have at it. What do you suppose that would cost? A dollar a piece?? If all you have to do is provide for "foreign assembly", just about anything copied be ripped off. BTW - when does Microsoft have to hand over "Selected" windows code to the EU? probably just the screen saver and mine sweeper. That ought to be interesting, and if they do, and if people download here in USA (for information use only), is that illegal?? hmmmmmm, makes you wonder. I'd like to see how much "yo ho ho" (pirated) code is in windows, wouldn't you. I still claim that windows has code from digital Equip,ment Corporation (DEC) which is now owned by HP (via compaq acquisition). how ironic would that be, the Innovation Company being found to be the pirates we know them to be.