The Ship Of Theseus
Philosophers have talked for many years about a thought experiment; it’s sometimes called the “ship of Theseus”. The great warrior Theseus returned from his exploits, his ship was stationed in the harbor as a memorial. And over the decades, parts of the ship began to rot and decay, and as this happened, planks were replaced by new planks. Until, eventually, every part of the ship of Theseus was built from something new. And philosophers, starting with Plato, have asked the question “If every part of the ship of Theseus is new, is this still the ship of Theseus?”
36
333 reads
CURATED FROM
IDEAS CURATED BY
Shankar Vedantam explains the profound impact of something he calls the “illusion of continuity” - the belief that our future selves will share the same views, perspectives and hopes as our current selves - and shows how we can more proactively craft the people we are to become.
“
The idea is part of this collection:
Learn more about motivationandinspiration with this collection
How to manage workplace stress
How to prioritize and make better decisions
How to learn anything fast
Related collections
Similar ideas to The Ship Of Theseus
History of the Diderot Effect
The French philosopher Denis Diderot became a wealthy man at age 52 and was able to afford small indulgences.
He started with a scarlet robe and continued with other items, because they were not matching the elegance of that robe. The joy of everything he bought was short-lived. Piece ...
Two of the biggest innovations
Two of the biggest innovations of modern times are cars and airplanes. At first, every new invention looks like a toy. It takes decades for people to realise the potential of it.
- Adolphus Greely, a brigadier general, was one of the first people outside the car indust...
The Demystification Of The Royals
- The BBC began filming its “Royal Family” documentary in June 1968. Philip oversaw the process and sought to ensure the royals were presented in a humanizing light.
- Though the documentary has strong viewership, Buckingham Palace decided to ...
Read & Learn
20x Faster
without
deepstash
with
deepstash
with
deepstash
Personalized microlearning
—
100+ Learning Journeys
—
Access to 200,000+ ideas
—
Access to the mobile app
—
Unlimited idea saving
—
—
Unlimited history
—
—
Unlimited listening to ideas
—
—
Downloading & offline access
—
—
Supercharge your mind with one idea per day
Enter your email and spend 1 minute every day to learn something new.
I agree to receive email updates