My little rowboat

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Suppose I build a wooden rowboat and I christen it The Marie Celeste. As the boat deteriorates over the years, I start replacing the worn pieces, one by one, with new pieces. Eventually every piece is replaced, such that none of the original pieces are left. So is this "the same boat" as I originally had? Is it an entirely different boat? Is it an entirely different boat and yet still the Marie Celeste, or is such an idea nonsensical?

― Simone Weil, Friday, 24 June 2005 13:16 (twenty years ago)

This all begs certain questions.

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Friday, 24 June 2005 13:18 (twenty years ago)

and they all went to heaven in a little rowboat.

― monsanto and yanni (Jody Beth Rosen), Friday, 24 June 2005 13:19 (twenty years ago)

There are several ways to answer this question.

For example, you could pose it to a Magic Eight Ball (tm), in which case the answer is "It could be." Or, if you are very clever, you might get the teaching edition of this question and turn to the back of the book, where you will find the correct answer.

― Aimless (Aimless), Friday, 24 June 2005 15:39 (twenty years ago)

yes

― dahlin (dahlin), Friday, 24 June 2005 15:47 (twenty years ago)

no.

― grimly fiendish (grimlord), Friday, 24 June 2005 15:48 (twenty years ago)

The Constitution is still the Constitution even tho it's been retrofitted and restored.

― Jimmy Mod Is Great At Getting Us Into Trouble (ModJ), Friday, 24 June 2005 15:48 (twenty years ago)

Reminds me of all those prog-rock bands who shifted lineups endlessly until there was no original members left.

― Michael F Gill (Michael F Gill), Friday, 24 June 2005 15:50 (twenty years ago)

"This here is George Washington's axe."
"Looks pretty new to me."
"Well, it has had seven new handles and four new heads since Washington died."

― j.lu (j.lu), Friday, 24 June 2005 15:54 (twenty years ago)

The Earth has rather changed over time, too. We could call it New Earth, but then what would we call it in ten years?

― Aimless (Aimless), Friday, 24 June 2005 15:59 (twenty years ago)

Your rowboat has changed, but those changes don't fundamentally change the fact that it's your rowboat. Think about it this way: you probably don't have anything physically in common with 12 year old self - ie, all the cells of your 12-year-old self have died and been replaced by new ones. And although you have changed radically since you were 12, you still regard you and your 12-year-old self as the same person, sharing many memories, attributes, you refer to both you and your 12 year-old self as "I", etc., etc. If you accept that you and your 12 year old self are essentially the same person (which admittedly some philosphers don't) follows that ontology cannot be reduced to materialism.

― Jonathan Z. (Joanthan Z.), Friday, 24 June 2005 16:05 (twenty years ago)

My little boat is like a note bouncing merrily along,
Hear it splashing up a song.
The sails are white, the sky's bright headin' out into the blue
With a crew of two.
Where we can share love's salty air on a little paradise that's afloat, not a care have we in my little boat

The wind is still, we feel the thrill of a voyage heaven bound,
Tho we only drift around.
Warmed by the sun, two hearts as one beating with enchanted
bliss, melting in each other's kiss
When daylight ends and slyly sends little stars to wink brightly above,
It's goodbye to my little boat of love
(Last chorus): Goodbye Little Boat. Goodbye Little Boat.

― jaymc (jaymc), Friday, 24 June 2005 16:09 (twenty years ago)

This is one of those "philosophical questions" that arises because of confusion over naming and language. IOW, the 'problem' here comes from the nature of the signifiers rather than from some deep, hidden problem in the nature of reality.

The answer is: So, here is your... how you say, rowboat? Yes. Your rowboat. Very good. You tell me it is called the Marie Celeste? What a nice name for a... rowboat. I hear you used to have a rowboat named the Marie Celeste last year. You did? This one? How nice. Lovely day. Shall we go out in it?

― Aimless (Aimless), Friday, 24 June 2005 16:18 (twenty years ago)

yes please

― dahlin (dahlin), Friday, 24 June 2005 16:20 (twenty years ago)

http://www.ctlow.ca/E-Prime/E-Prime.html

― nickalicious (nickalicious), Friday, 24 June 2005 16:23 (twenty years ago)

I thought this thread would be about your little vagina.

― Highlandia, Friday, 24 June 2005 16:29 (twenty years ago)

It's still the Marie Celeste, because even though all the pieces have been replaced, it was done slowly over time, and as each piece was replaced, it was incorporated into and made part of the Marie Celeste and any pieces that continued to be replaced were also incorporated and... well, this made a lot more sense in my head.

― luna (luna.c), Friday, 24 June 2005 16:33 (twenty years ago)

If YOU teleport, is it YOU that rematerializes?

― elmo (allocryptic), Friday, 24 June 2005 16:40 (twenty years ago)

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