WHO AM I?

Three short words have brought poets to the blank page, philosophers to the agora, and seekers to the oracles throughout human history: WHO AM I?

Philosophers, psychologists, academics, scientists, artists, theologians, and politicians have all handled the question of identity, from the ancient Greek proverb "know thyself" engraved on the Temple of Apollo to the Who's rock hymn, "who are you?" Their hypotheses are diverse and there is little agreement among them. These are intelligent, creative individuals. So, what's the big deal about getting the proper answer?

One of the most difficult concepts to grasp is the idea of identity persistence.

Who is who among you?

Are you the person you are now?

How many years ago?

Who do you think you'll be in 50 years? When does "am" occur?

Is it this week? Is it today? Is it this hour? Is it this second?

Which part of you is "I"?

Is your physical body you?

What are your feelings and thoughts?

What are your actions?

It's certainly natural that to highlight the complexity, these gloomy rivers of abstract logic are difficult to cross. Plutarch, a Greek historian, used the tale of a ship.

How are you ‘’I’’?

According to legend, Theseus, the legendary founding king of Athens, defeated the demonic minotaur at Creek and came home on a ship. For 1000 years, Athenians have meticulously maintained this ship in the harbor and yearly reenacted his epic achievement. When a ship part became old or broken, it was replaced with an identical piece of the same material until no original pieces remained. The ship of Theseus, according to Plutarch, was an illustration of the philosophical paradox of identity persistence.

How can you replace every single part of yourself and still be the same person?

Suppose there are two ships: ship A, which Theseus docked at Athens, and ship B, which the Athenians sailed 1000 years later. Our argument is simple: does A equal B?

Some argue that there has only been one ship of Theseus for 1000 years, and that because the changes made to it were gradual, it never stopped being the mythical ship. Despite the fact that they share no parts, the two ships are exactly identical, indicating that they are one and the same. As a result, A equals B.

Others, on the other hand, would claim that Theseus never stepped foot on ship B and that his presence on deck is an important quality of the ship of Theseus. It will perish without him. As a result, while the two ships are statistically equal, they are qualitatively different. So, A does not equal B.

But what happens if we take this twist into account? What if, when each component of the original ship was discarded, someone collected them all and reconstructed the original ship from the ground up? When it was built, there would undoubtedly be two tangible ships: one docked in Athens and another in some guy's yard.

Each could lay claim to the tittle “The ship of Theseus’’. But only one could actually be the real thing. So, which one is it? And more importantly, what does this have to do with you?

Like the ship of Theseus, you are a collection of constantly changing parts. Your physical body, mind, emotions, circumstances and even your quirks always changing. But still in an amazing and sometimes illogical way, you stay the same too.

This is one of the reasons the question "who am I?" is so difficult to answer.

And in order to answer it, like so many great minds before you, you must be willing to dive into the bottomless ocean of philosophical paradox. Or maybe you could just answer, ‘’I am a legendary hero sailing a powerful ship on an epic journey.’’

Thank You!