Replicating Paradise

The other day, I was thinking of the idea of the “transporter” from Star Trek. It occurred to me how drastically technology like that would change the world. At first, you just think of how cool it would be to “beam” yourself from Philly to Istanbul, or something. The technology of a transporter, however, would change everything. That change is a great example, too, of how what should be done (when possible) is held hostage by the fake world we have created out of politics, ecomomics and tradition.

So, first, if you are not a Star Trek nerd, let me give you a transporter definition from Wikipedia:

A transporter is a fictional teleportation machine used in the Star Trek universe. Transporters convert a person or object into an energy pattern (a process called dematerialization), then "beam" it to a target, where it is reconverted into matter (rematerialization).

Original Star Trek transporter.

Cool. So, if we had these, we would eliminate the need for cars, trains and planes. There would be an instant and unbelievably dramatic decrease in pollution. Tangentially, this means the end of the shipping industry. The US Postal Service would no longer be needed. No more UPS or FedEx. Companies would “ship” products by “beaming” them to customers, the world over.