[wisp]

Cristian

The only distinction between the original and the copy is that the original is unique by its very nature, and you could argue that it has soul or spirit. Science cannot answer whether the copy has soul or spirit.
But if you were to place the two side-by-side, there would be no way of telling them apart, and unless they were told, both would claim to be original.
You are right. From the moment the copy is created, they effectively become twins, and each goes on to lead a different life.

[cristian]

Science cannot answer whether the copy has soul or spirit.

Actually science expects somebody to come up with a proof of existence of soul, until then you should assume there is no such thing.

But if you were to place the two side-by-side, there would be no way of telling them apart, and unless they were told, both would claim to be original.

I disagree: if I remember stepping into a transporter in Europe, going to Japan, and now I see myself in Japan, I know I'm the copy. If I'm still in Europe I'm the original. It will feel weird to know I'm a copy, but there's really no confusion.

But this was not my point, my point was that if you want to invent teleportation you have to be really careful to actually transport people, not to kill and create copies. This is especially important if there is indeed a soul. But maybe this is getting off topic.