The ship of Theseus, also known as Theseus' paradox is one of the most brilliant ancient thought experiments dealing with the concept of identity.
It may seem irrelevant to the topic of complexity. However, I believe that it has a very simple yet similar idea of illusions like soul and identity emerged in some of the complex systems (e.g. Humans).
The Theseus ship paradox had been discussed by many great philosophers such as Heraclitus and Plato
Here you can find the original version of the story as appeared in Plutarch's book (+):
“The ship wherein Theseus and the youth of Athens returned had thirty oars, and was preserved by the Athenians down even to the time of Demetrius Phalereus, for they took away the old planks as they decayed, putting in new and stronger timber in their place, insomuch that this
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My recommendation is to check out at least the followings articles:
Identity over time (Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy)
Relative Identity (Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy)
The Ship of Theseus (brain pickings)
One of the small yet significant results of understanding the concept of complexity would be finding answers to such though thought challenges:
The concept of identity is just an illusion. An illusion that has lead to many profound misunderstandings and misbehaves and misattributions and even misdefinitions of the whole world!
In the best case, if you want to be still loyal to this old ill-defined concept, would be more logical to believe intransitivity of the identity. It means that the identity changes and evolves and erodes over time and at any time, it would not be the same as before.
We have the Theseus ship at time t and Theseus ship at time t+ε and they have no relationship with each other. At every time step, you can decide once more that what you do mean by the word Theseus and what you'd like to call the
In The Odyssey, Homer conveys a mixed message about Odysseus’s crew. At times, they seem loyal, whereas other scenes reveal them as disloyal. Homer does this to help center the attention on how Odysseus can fall victim to temptation and stand up to take control of his crew. The critical moments where Odysseus and his crew are in disagreement are significant because they demonstrate how Odysseus is epic, yet still human and flawed.
In the Stoic account of physics, all things identified, debated, discussed and pondered fall strictly into certain categories in the Stoic ontological structure. Of the three branches of the very broad category of ‘somethings,’ the two most relevant to this paper are bodies and incorporeals. The rigid conception of Physics as articulated by the Stoics seems to use the incorporeal somethings as a means to categorize, locate, and evaluate those things which are bodily. In their incorporeals, the Stoics include lekta (which I will discuss later, as it is an integral part of their causality), void, place and time. Stoic causality, a largely deterministic discussion of events in a fated world, discusses the alteration of bodies without defining any bodies as effects. In characterizing the effects of causation as only lekta, I believe the Stoics have left themselves with an incomplete discussion of causality. By showing that an effect of a particular cause may incorporate both incorporeal and bodily aspects, I hope to provide a more acceptable account of causation while demonstrating various holes in the Stoic account.
Homer’s The Odyssey, a magnificent story of lust, deceit, greed, and heroism, still fascinates scholars and casual readers alike today in the same way it fascinated its audience at the time it was written. The Odyssey, a journey of determination, patience, and virtue, tells the tail of Odysseus, the main character, on his voyage home to Ithaka after the end of the Trojan War. Odysseus goes through many unforeseen trials and tribulations, which exemplify his character. During these different happenings, Odysseus makes decisions that do not correspond to his character.
Although the concept of identity is recurrent in our daily lives, it has interpreted in various ways.
Theseus is taking on the quest for the fame and fortune and royalty as well as to become the king of Athens
In addition, the nature of the universe can be also explained when Aquinas mentions that “the property, that the things signified by the words have themselves also a signification.”
Identity, an ambiguous idea, plays an important part in today’s world. To me identity can be defined as who a person is or what differentiates one person from another. Identity would be a person’s name, age, height, ethnicity, personality, and more. A quote by Anne Sexton states “It doesn't matter who my father was; it matters who I remember he was”(Anne Sexton). This quote helps me define identity because I believe it is saying that identity is what people are remembered by. When some people think of identity, words such as, uniqueness, distinctiveness, or individuality may come to mind. However, I disagree with this because when I think of identity I think of mimicry, self-consciousness, or opinions.
An identity is more than just a name. Sometimes an identity is the first thing and possible the only thing a person notices about one or the other. A person's identity can represent their culture, their race and sometimes, even possible their family background. My identity is what represents me. For those who does not know me personally but knows my name, knows my identity. This identity is what people will recognize me as for now and possible for ever.
A ship’s primary function parallels those of Aeneas on his journey to Latium. On the surface level, a ship is an efficient means of transportation for people and goods between one point and another. However, on a symbolic level, a ship represents escape from oppression and death; it carries hopes of new beginnings to the disheartened. This second interpretation perfectly defines Aeneas: a human ship. Just as his vessels, Aeneas gives asylum to and protection for the remainder of the Trojan civilization. He transports his people from the ashes of Troy to “rise again” on the grounds of Latium (I.282). A ship gives its passengers new life; equally, Aeneas gives his Trojan people a new civilization. Using The Aeneid, Virgil creates the perfect analogy between a man and his vessel.
Theseus steps in and overrules the law. Even though Egeus lost, the men dominated to get their way.
The impulses of Odysseus' crewmembers also impede his journey. The ship had reached the Aeolian Island, home of Aeolus the master of all winds. He gave Odysseus a bag "binding inside the winds that how from every quarter, with the power to calm them down or rouse them as he pleased...
Zeno of Elea was a mathematician who is known for introducing a number of intelligent and original paradoxes. A paradox is a statement or proposition that seems self-contradictory or absurd but in reality expresses a possible truth. Zeno was not only a Greek mathematician but also a Greek philosopher and wrote books about the paradoxes that he discovered. His paradoxes continue to stump intelligent people from Aristotle done to people in the present day. Not only did Zeno’s paradoxes contribute to him being considered a mathematician but also his rich background. Little is known about Zeno himself but the information we do know comes from either the manuscript “Parmenides” written by Plato or Aristotle.
Heraclitus’ explanation of the universe was constant flux and opposition that explained everything that happened in nature. He uses a river as an example to explain that the water running is in opposition against the earth but this opposition creates the river, and even though the water in the river is never the same, it’s still a river. He also uses this observation in nature to justify the existence of strife and war because the need for justice and structure is created in accordance to that chaos. Under Heraclitus’ explanation, everything is unified by a rational order called logos that structures the whole universe. He also that through our observations and with the proper senses, someone can gain great understanding about the universe.
Identities are like fingerprints, everyone has their own individual and unique characteristics. Where a person may leave their fingerprints in history is up to them. Identity is a person’s own sense of self, and who they are. Everyday a person carries around his/her identity and it effects how they act, the way they think, and how they interact with other people. Therefore, identity isn’t something that is tangible, you can’t carry it in your hands, but instead it is internal, what is inside of you, and your thoughts. Identity is essentially something that is central, but can be represented in other physical forms. Such as through art work or through diction. How a person may choose to reveal their identity will affect how the society around
Zeno of Elea was a Pre-Socratic Philosopher during the 5th century BC. Distinguished as being a student of Parmenides, he based many of his ideas around his mentor. Zeno held the belief like his mentor that everything exists fixed. Everything in life can be explained by the idea of an already set implemented purpose. Zeno argued that the objects that occupy this world are never in motion. That anything in “motion” is only an illusion and could never have begun motion. He accomplished this by using his profound paradoxes. His paradoxes against motion include: the flying arrow, Achilles and the Tortoise, and the Dichotomy Paradox. These are only a few of the surviving ideas that Zeno had. If Zeno’s work had been around today who knows what other mystery’s he may have purposed.