A few days ago, my friend Sammy texted our group thread: "How often do you think about the Roman Empire?" I was not surprised when my spouse replied, "Every day," but my own answer was, "Almost never." Though I will confess, I think about it a lot more now that I'm married than I ever did when I was single—mostly due the the impromptu lectures on the Roman Empire I get from Josh on long car rides.
While not everyone specifically thinks about the Roman Empire on a daily basis, I bet you have something you think about uncommonly frequently too. Maybe it's bees (looking at you, Dad) or the inner workings of a guitar amp (looking at you, little brother), types of dirt (looking at you, Mom), or printing presses (looking at you, big brother).
For me, it's The Ship of Theseus.
If you're unfamiliar, The Ship of Theseus is a philosophical thought experiment, recorded by Plutarch. So yeah, it goes back a ways.
The story goes something like this. Theseus was the founder king of Athens, and after he slayed the minotaur (you may be familiar with the story of Theseus and the Minotaur?), he rescued the children of Athens and escaped on a ship to Delos. Every year, the Athenians commemorated this by taking the same ship—the Ship of Theseus—on a pilgrimage to Delos.
After a few pilgrimages, the ship returns to harbor with some damage, so a shipwright is hired to repair it. Luckily, the damage is minor so they only replace two planks of wood. The ship makes the pilgrimage just fine the next few years, but then, one year, it sails into a storm. The main mast is snapped, and upon the ship's return to harbor, the shipwright is forced to replace the mast, as well as quite a bit of the original wood of the ship.
After decades (or centuries) of this annual pilgrimage, many trips sailed through storms, regular wear and tear, and a few surprise pirate battles, every single plank of wood has been replaced. The original sailors are replaced with younger sailors. The masts are new. The sails are new. The nails are new.
Is it the same ship?
If so, what makes it the same if everything about it is different? If not, at what point did it stop being the same???
I don't know!!! But I love thinking about it. And applying the idea to other things.
For example, one of my neighbors wanted to edge her garden beds with uniform rocks. So rather than buying a bag of rocks from Lowes, she bought a bag of cement dust and made "rocks" with concrete and plastic bags.
Every time I walk past those damn rocks, I think about how they were originally rocks, then were ground into dust for cement, and then she added water... and turned them back into "rocks."
Are they the same original rocks?? Or are they new rocks???
I DON'T KNOW.
It's fascinating to apply to personal identity as well. For example, I was once five years old. I was a lot shorter back then. I had two sets of teeth in my skull. Turtles were a lot bigger. And I was really good at catching chickens.
Now, I'm a lot taller. I have less than one set of teeth in my skull, (no wisdom teeth), and turtles seem to have shrunken. I am not as good at catching chickens, though I'm pretty good at catching cats these days.
Add to that, that every cell of my body has been replaced roughly three times since then—
Am I the same as 5-year-old me???
I DON'T KNOW!!!
There are obviously tons of ways to answer these questions. But ultimately, there's not really a right or wrong approach. It all comes down to how you want to think about it.
I love thinking. It's one of my favorite things about being alive. And is probably why I've decided to write books—because writing books is basically thinking out loud so other people can read it. Of course The Ship of Theseus isn't the only random concept that plagues me. Pi drives me insane. The Trolley Car Problem? [Insert internal brain shriek here.] Birds. The shapes of things. Time travel. Ethics. My late mentor, Deidre. Trees. I think about trees a lot.
Anyway. What do you think about ridiculously often? Is it the Roman Empire? Or something else?