HackerTube.dev

Why Teleportation Would Kill You

CGP Grey · 7.3M views · 2016-03-07 · 5:44

Open on YouTube ↗

If playback is restricted in your region, try opening the original video. Use Mark watched to add it to your marked videos.

Overview

CGP Grey asks whether Star Trek-style teleportation would kill you and recreate a copy, working through the philosophy of identity and the Ship of Theseus. It is a short animated explainer.

On Hacker News

Pointed to in threads about mind uploading and teleportation as a good, accessible look at personal identity.

Recommended by 2 HN people across 2 months · HN mentions 2016–2020

Topics

Search by tags

What people said

macintux · 2018-03 · Recommendation

This question descends from an ancient philosophical question; see the Ship of Theseus[0]. CGP Grey has a good look at the question wrt Star Trek teleportation[1]. [0] [LINK] [1] [VIDEO]

Read the original HN comment ↗
rendezvouscp · 2016-03 · Recommendation

That’s a great question that’s been pondered by philosophers for a while: [LINK] Here’s a fun video talking about the same thing: [VIDEO]

Read the original HN comment ↗
bmn__ · 2020-04 · Reference

> a YouTube video CGP Grey: The Trouble with Transporters [VIDEO] Steve Shives: Is Star Trek's Transporter Actually a Murder Machine? [LINK] > why wouldn’t they just [LINK] For purpose of storytelling, these powerful side effects of transporters need to be restricted. Hence, as an in-universe explanation, a pattern buffer ∙ is a physical phenomenon that cannot be (fully) expressed as information ∙ deteriorates over time, so needs to be rematerialised soon. For the exception, see [LINK]

Read the original HN comment ↗

Sources

Video by CGP Grey, played through YouTube.

Data and selection notes

HN summaries and labels may contain AI errors. HN dates refer to discussions, not video publication.

HN Library: HackerTube export (2026-10-31) and open-index/hacker-news. Upstream summaries and classifications may contain AI errors.

Views, duration and playback status refresh separately from the published catalog. When an update fails, existing data remains visible.

Selection checks
  • SaaS & AI candidates: Topic keywords do not match
  • Editor-approved picks: Editorial review is required

Rule matches identify candidates. They do not guarantee video quality or financial results.

About the library and its sources