What / who are you. A paradox

[PsychoDsk]

Let’s take a ship.
For months you and your buddies pull apart the ship plank by plank until none of the original planks remain. The planks are now transported all around the world.

Does the ship still exist and is it still the same ship?

Now we go a bit deeper, imagine the ship as yourself. all cells in our body regenerate every 7-10 years. The cells u have now die, and u get replaced by new ones.
Which means u are literally not made by the same matter u were a decade ago.

So, if all your ‘matter’ is swapped out, what exactly is the real you?

If your ‘self’ is not your atoms, not your cells and not even your memories, then who or what are you really?

Are you the ship, the pattern or the ocean?

 

[Deleted member 110192]

I’m actually a cute little Jewish hamster

Spoiler: Me

 

[PsychoDsk]

I’m actually a cute little Jewish hamster

Spoiler: Me

View attachment 4067780

Would

 

[Mitläufer]

Let’s take a ship.
For months you and your buddies pull apart the ship plank by plank until none of the original planks remain. The planks are now transported all around the world.

Does the ship still exist and is it still the same ship?

Now we go a bit deeper, imagine the ship as yourself. all cells in our body regenerate every 7-10 years. The cells u have now die, and u get replaced by new ones.
Which means u are literally not made by the same matter u were a decade ago.

So, if all your ‘matter’ is swapped out, what exactly is the real you?

If your ‘self’ is not your atoms, not your cells and not even your memories, then who or what are you really?

Are you the ship, the pattern or the ocean?

Never ever ask me that

 

[AverageCurryEnjoyer]

I am an idea

 

[nobodylovesme]

Don't think ship of theseus can be applied to humans as we posses self-organizing code (genes) which preserves similarity through change. Which is not present in the ship.

So the self preserves itself in the neural networks (which is "you").