The Ship of Theseus Paradox: Are You Still You When Everything Changes?

Here's an ancient puzzle that will make you question everything: If you replace every plank on a ship, one by one, is it still the same ship? And what if someone collects all the discarded original pieces and rebuilds them—which one is the real ship?

This is the Ship of Theseus paradox, and it's not just about boats. It's about you.

In this episode, we explore how this 2,000-year-old thought experiment reveals the deepest mysteries of identity. We examine competing philosophical theories—does identity come from original materials, continuous existence, or social function? Then we take it personal: your body replaces most of its cells every seven years, so are you still the same person you were a decade ago?

We tackle mind-bending modern versions of the paradox: Star Trek teleportation that scans and rebuilds you atom-by-atom (did you just die?), brain uploads that copy your consciousness into computers (is that really you?), and what happens if you're duplicated—which copy is the real you?

The answer might be unsettling: identity may not be a fixed metaphysical truth but a flexible concept that shifts depending on what matters to us. You're constantly changing, yet somehow still yourself. How is that possible?

Prepare to question whether anything—including you—stays the same across time.