In the realm of identity, the Ship of Theseus is a thought experiment that raises the question of whether an object that has had all of its components replaced remains fundamentally the same object. The concept is one of the oldest in Western philosophy, having been discussed by the likes of Heraclitus and Plato around the 5th century B.C.
In the Mie prefecture in Japan, the Ise Jingu grand shrine is dismantled and rebuilt anew every twenty years. Record says that they have been doing this for the last 1300 years. Some believe that this tradition is over 2000 years old. The process of rebuilding the wooden structure every couple of decades has helped to preserve the original architect’s design against the otherwise eroding effects of time. The structure is built in the same age-old technique. It's built only by the locals. They reuse all the components and the one's that have deteriorated over centuries are either fixed or replaced. Over time, none of the components are the original ones. Now, is the structure 1300 years old (or over 2000 years old, as believed) or it's 20 years old?
The same goes for the car that we use, the home that we live in. Maybe, we don't disassemble and rebuild the whole thing periodically but we fix what is decayed and use it for a longer duration.
Then, what about us human beings? Every seven years almost our entire body - cell by cell is new. Are we then what our age says we are or are we seven years old? What about our thoughts? Our thoughts evolve as well, don't they? Also, we are a progeny of somebody else. So, are we as old as we think we are or are we as old as the entire human race, or perhaps the universe?
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