A Simple Request
Maybe this is more of a suggestion that a request, now that I think about it. But either way, for all those scientists out there working on the concept of teleportation, here’s an idea:
What if we (read: you) set up a series of portals connecting all of the places, most specifically towns and communities, with the same name?
Example: connect Springfield, Massachusetts with Springfield, Missouri. How convenient it would become to travel from the Northeast to the Midwest in mere moments! Not only would this be a splendid development for those of us with families spread out far and wide geographically, but imagine the possibilities for shipping and trucking and the amount we’d save on fossil fuels. (Unless of course teleportation requires fossil fuels, but I strongly urge you to consider other renewable options for fueling this endeavor.)
Within the United States alone this would open up travel in a way that even airports have not. Take places named Franklin. According to Wikipedia there are 31 cities in the United States named Franklin, 24 of them significant enough in size to warrant their own post office. If a portal were set up to connect all of the Franklins, we would instantly have access to California, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Texas, Wisconsin, Michigan, and five different towns and townships within the state of New Jersey, just to name a few. This opens up connections from coast to coast, border to border. College visits would be easier. Long distance relationships no longer quite so long distance. Work opportunities would open up exponentially for even non-remote workers or people living in economically disadvantaged areas without their having to relocate.
And fear not, road trip lovers. There would still be a need for driving. If I could teleport from Clinton, New Jersey to Clinton, Iowa, I would still have to drive about four hours one way to get from my house to my mom’s house. I would still pass the Iowa 80, the world’s largest truck stop. I would still need to buy gas and want to buy snacks along the way. I would still have to kill some time with an audiobook, podcast, or music. So road trips wouldn’t go away; they would just become shorter and more manageable.
Which would, most likely, damage the hotel industry somewhat, but not entirely I’m sure. Nothing is perfect. We can adapt and overcome, we’ve done it before.
Connecting places of the same name would open up international travel as well: Madrid, Iowa to Madrid, Spain (not pronounced the same, but you’d still get there). Moscow, Idaho, to Moscow, Russia. Cairo, West Virginia to Cairo, Egypt. We are not, on a whole, all that creative with naming places in the United States. We have stolen and repurposed names not only from the native population (but that’s another story), but from cities around the world. We might as well find a way to benefit from our lack of creativity.
That’s it. A simple request, really: just find a way for me to drive through a portal from my house to my mom’s house so I can join my family for dinner more often. I need a quicker way to my dad’s house so I can help him move a boat around or easily drop the cat off to be cared for while I have work obligations away from home. Something to make it a little easier to visit when you live far away from family.
Thank you ever so much for your scientific efforts. I will be available and willing to test out the technology just as soon as you have a prototype that looks promising.
