Perdurantism and Polyurethane
In 7-10 years, every cell in your body will die and be replaced.
We know this because of nuclear weapon testing in the 1950s.
Some of the carbon-14 from nuke testing in the 50s inevitably found its way into human cells, and since we know the rate at which it decays back into carbon-12 (normal carbon), scientists were able to make good estimations of how long it takes to replace every cell.
So when you think of your identity, is it that aging set of temporary cells? Or are you the neurons that last your whole life? Or both?
When a nuclear weapon is detonated, it releases a lot of radioactive stuff into the atmosphere.
Specifically, it releases a rare isotope of carbon, carbon-14.
It's strange that every part of the current physical you will be made of entirely different stuff in the not so distant future.
But that's not entirely true.
Some cells in your brain will survive your whole life.
I've been very busy with this old new boat.
As it turns out, it was built in 1984, which makes it 36 years old.
As I sanded away the years, I uncovered a whole spectrum of yellow...
...and deposited it onto myself.
Things had to be moved from the yard to the garage because there was a tropical storm.
Things went well in the garage.
Not to brag, but the neighborhood lady walking her dog thought it was a different boat.
And I guess, in some sense, it is a different boat.
After how many part replacements and paint jobs does the boat cease to be itself?
This idea is explored in a thought experiment called the Ship of Theseus ⇦.
These are the proposed resolutions:
- There is no identity over time.
- Identity is 4 dimensional and must change over time.
- Identity fades as time goes on, and new identities are adopted.
There is another one arguing that because what is true in our minds is not true in the world, this paradox doesn't matter and we should think about something else.
But that doesn't seem very productive to me.
I don't know what the answer is.
But I like #2, as it works for the cell analogy and for boat refurbishing.
And this (nameless) boat is just about refurbished. Let me know if you have a good idea for a name.
When we tried to raise the mast a shroud broke. Luckily it didn't happen while sailing.
Unfortunately this delays things, and sailing will have to wait.