Identity Over Time - An Analysis

 

"The more things change, the more they stay the same."

- Jean Baptiste Karr

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   Imagine a ship docked in the city. It is the ship of a mighty warrior and his crew who have fought the fiercest of armies and the most fearsome of monsters. They have finally arrived home, leaving the ship at the harbour, and securing their place in history. Now, the boat is the pride and joy of the city, attracting many tourists from all over the world. It is a mighty vessel, made of the finest wood and decorated to the brim. Over the next thousand years, the fine wood starts to deteriorate and the townspeople decide to replace each piece of wood on the ship with a new one. Each plank and board on the ship is replaced until one day when the entire ship is replaced by different planks of wood than the ship that was sailed on by the warriors. Are the two ships different? It can be argued that they are the same ship, as it gradually changed over the years, and in principle, they started out as the same boat. In essence, they are the same ships in spirit because of the adventures in which they had sailed. The experiences or the memories are what make its identity. Or, you might think that the original and the replaced boat are very different. The physical materials have all been replaced and the wood where the warriors stood is no longer there. In simpler terms, the appearance or the physical attribute is what makes its identity. There can be many different answers, and those answers might describe your approach to what "you" are.

Who am I? Am I a personality? Am I a physical body? Or am I what I did in my lifetime? These questions can seem a bit tricky and very philosophical. But, can it be answered spiritually? For example, am I my purpose in life? Or am I my belief or faith in God? Identity is a crucial part of everyone's life, and this one question can turn anybody's life upside down. However, the discovery of self-identity is not achieved through others or even a mentor or Guru. It is achieved through our personal journey and achievements.

These questions have puzzled the greatest thinkers and philosophers of all of history, and it is not hard to see why. Answering these questions can differ majorly between me and you, after all, no one is truly the same. Experiences, culture, and beliefs are all major factors in a person's line of thinking. Many, many different answers can be brought up as the "real" answer does not exist without any interference of human thought.

However, is it wise to think about this philosophical inquiry this way? This paradox represents the core of humanity's debate about our change of identity over time, whether that is physical or personal identity. This is metaphysics, a complex branch of philosophy which deals with the abstract concepts of many things including identity, time, and space. And explaining the complexity of this very intricate and intellectual subject will give everyone here a headache so let’s discuss one specific aspect. The Heraclitus Theory of Flux was a controversial topic even when it was introduced way back in Ancient Greek times. It is based on a quotation from Heraclitus’s book, which goes “To those entering the same river, other and still other waters flow” (translation of potamoisi toisin autoisin embainousin hetera kai hetera hudata epirrei). In simple terms, the river stays the same but the water is constantly changing. The constituents/elements changing makes the “higher level” (or the entire being) faithful. Why do we call a river a river? It’s because water is always moving on a certain path! If it stayed still, it would be a lake or a pond. So, some sort of change is needed to preserve the identity. We aren’t static living beings, after all. We are humans where advancement (for good or bad) has always been a way of life. The change in our inner part of a system does not necessarily mean the change of the higher level.

If we go back to the example of the boat (also known as the Ship of Theseus paradox), does the change in the physical attributes of the boat really matter? Ultimately, the change was necessary! If it was left to support the thought that replacing the planks and nails will turn it into something dissimilar, then the ship would have been left to rot and perish. The remodelling simply brought back the ship to its former glory while still keeping its shape and design. Our past self would have caused us to “rot” in the sense that we would have never learned from our mistakes if we had never experienced change over time. If we look at the entire paradox from the perspective that change is the only constancy that defines us, then it starts to make more sense. Physical self changes and so does identity or one’s “soul”, but the fact that the change EXISTS is proof of who you are. 

Laasya

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Graham, D. W. (2019, September 3). Heraclitus. Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. Retrieved August 14, 2022, from https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/heraclitus/#Flu

“Who am I? A philosophical inquiry - Amy Adkins” Youtube, uploaded by TED-ED, 11 August 2015, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UHwVyplU3Pg&ab_channel=TED-Ed

Graham, D. W. (n.d.). Heraclitus (fl. c. 500 B.C.E.). Internet encyclopedia of philosophy. Retrieved August 14, 2022, from https://iep.utm.edu/heraclit/