[extropy-chat] Let's try this again.

[A B]

Hi Jef,
   
  I looked over the first few Google entries under "Ship of Theseus". It seems to be a more general description of the difficulties of establishing the identity of things that change; I didn't find a specific reference to the debate we are having here except possibly through a quote from Heraclitus:
   
  "No man can cross the same river twice, because neither the man nor the river are the same."
   
  But, I couldn't fully interpret that implying that the "first man" died, and the "second man" is a copy. I interpreted it as saying that a human will change over time, eg. a child growing into an adult. But, my interpretation could be wrong.
   
  But, you could easily be right, and this particular hypothesis might be very old. I simply assumed it was not, because until now, no one on the list suggested it was. If it is very old, perhaps the "answer" can already be found somewhere  ;-)
   
  Best Wishes,
   
  Jeffrey Herrlich
   
  

Jef Allbright <jef at jefallbright.net> wrote:
  On 5/8/06, A B <austriaaugust at yahoo.com> wrote:         Hi John,
   
  John wrote:
  
  "Young? The idea that matter uniquely determines what we are is as old as the 
hills, but discoveries in science made about 90 years ago proves this can

  not possibly be true."...
   
  When I wrote "young", I was referring to this particular (new) conclusion which is a mere few weeks old, as far as I can tell. I doubt any philosopher from the past has stood before his peers and claimed with a straight face: "Though I appear to you to be alive, I actually died yesterday." 
   



Jeffrey -

This topic is thousands of years old.  For examples, google "Ship of Theseus."

- Jef
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