The cat thing is basically the difference between reinstalling the same application on a different computer vs doing a RAM dump save state and moving all the data to another computer and running it there.
If you duplicate all the existing neural pathways, they behave the same even if it’s a copy. If you allow new pathways to form from the same exact genetic codebase, it still ends up slightly different due to random chance and the experience of the copy compared to the experience of the original.
Transporters are save state backups. Even if it exclusively rebuilt you from different molecules, everything would still behave the same as the original would have. Ergo, Thomas Riker, who is exactly the same (memories, preferences, desires, etc.) up until the transporter accident - where the vastly different experiences resulted in vastly different personal growth.
The cat thing is basically the difference between reinstalling the same application on a different computer vs doing a RAM dump save state and moving all the data to another computer and running it there.
If you duplicate all the existing neural pathways, they behave the same even if it’s a copy. If you allow new pathways to form from the same exact genetic codebase, it still ends up slightly different due to random chance and the experience of the copy compared to the experience of the original.
Transporters are save state backups. Even if it exclusively rebuilt you from different molecules, everything would still behave the same as the original would have. Ergo, Thomas Riker, who is exactly the same (memories, preferences, desires, etc.) up until the transporter accident - where the vastly different experiences resulted in vastly different personal growth.