Discussion: Philosophy of Identity - Ship of Theseus

This is a thought exercise regarding the definition of identity or "self" and it amazes me how this paradox was identified millennia ago in the age of the Ancient Greeks may be relevant to us again in the future with technology - I will explain how later. The paradox goes like this.

Paradox

The ship wherein Theseus and the youth of Athens returned from Crete had thirty oars, and was preserved by the Athenians down even to the time of Demetrius Phalereus, for they took away the old planks as they decayed, putting in new and stronger timber in their places, in so much that this ship became a standing example among the philosophers, for the logical question of things that grow; one side holding that the ship remained the same, and the other contending that it was not the same.

This is my understanding of it, suppose you have a boat that is built with 100 planks of wood. You grew up with this boat and you have a lot of fond memories with this boat for years. Suddenly, the planks decay and have to be replaced. Each month, 1 plank is replaced with a new plank and you keep the old plank in the magic garage where it becomes well-preserved. You continue using the boat just as it is. 100 months later, the boat ends up with 100 planks of wood that were not the original, because the original is sitting in the garage!

Now, you decide to take the original 100 planks of wood and reconstruct a boat from it again. Which boat then, is the boat that holds your memories and sentimental value? The boat with the original 100 planks of wood? Or the boat that you've been continuously using and repairing all this while?]

So What?

Why I say this is a question of identity is because us humans are the same! Individuals cells have a finite lifespan. There are between 50 and 75 trillion cells in the body. Red blood cells live for about 4 months, skin cells for 2-3 weeks, sperm cells only 3 days! It is estimated, that the whole body replaces all those cells every 7 (or 10) years.

So based on the same idea above, if somehow all the dead cells were collected over 7 years and were then revived and connected again THROUGH SCIENCE! Which then is our "real" body? If even more amazingly, that body is brought back to live. Which "you" is the real "you"? You may argue that you (with the new body) has been "you" the longest! But the other (revived) you can claim that it was "you" first!

Technology

"WHAT DOES THIS HAVE TO DO WITH TECHNOLOGY?" you may ask, if you're still stuck on that from the first paragraph.

Well, some of you may have heard already, about the revolutionary surgery occurring at the end of this year where, for the first time in history, a person's living head will be transplanted onto the living body of a brain-dead man (read more about it here: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-4624364/Man-undergo-head-transplant-gives-hope-surgery.html).

This again brings up the question of identity! If the operation is a success, which identity will this new "homunculus?" take? The identity of the head or the body? If we were to say the head takes precedence because it forms the thoughts and personality of the person. What would we tell the relatives of the brain-dead man who donated his body? "I'm sorry, your son/cousin/father/friend does not exist anymore".

FUTURER Technology

My last point on this topic is in regards to potential technology that will be developed in the future. If you've not already guessed, it has to do with teleportation. "BEAM ME UP SCOTTY!"

Conceptually, teleportation is not the movement of mass but the movement of information (since teleportation does not actually exist, this is more an assumption). That means that when an object is teleported from Point A to Point B by a machine, the machine is actually disintegrating the atoms that make up the object and "uploading" the information to be transported through the internet, or whatever form of data transportation mechanism. Then, another machine at Point B will take the information to reassemble the object.

Same question, if this were done on a person. Would that person still be "you"? The "you" in Point B is assembled completely out of the atoms in thin air while the original "you" was just disintegrated into oblivion? Suppose then, the disintegration ray at Point A malfunctioned but the information was still uploaded, transported and reassembled at Point B. Now then, which is the real "you"?

That's all folks. I hope you enjoy this random thought of mine. Please leave your thoughts/comments below and follow me if you enjoy this sort of content! These are usually the thoughts I think about in the shower, on the throne or what keeps me up at night and I'd like to share more of them in the near future.