Throughout the history of mankind, three little words have sent poets to the blank page, philosophers to the Agora, and seekers to the oracles: "Who am I?" From the ancient Greek aphorism inscribed on the Temple of Apollo, "Know thyself," to The Who's rock anthem, "Who Are You?" philosophers, psychologists, academics, scientists, artists, theologians and politicians have all tackled the subject of identity. Their hypotheses are widely varied and lack significant consensus. These are smart, creative people, so what's so hard about coming up with the right answer? One challenge certainly lies with the complex concept of the persistence of identity. Which you is who? The person you are today? Five years ago? Who you'll be in 50 years? And when is "am"? This week? Today? This hour? This second? And which aspect of you is "I"? Are you your physical body? Your thoughts and feelings? Your actions? These murky waters of abstract logic are tricky to navigate, and so it's probably fitting that to demonstrate the complexity, the Greek historian Plutarch used the story of a ship. How are you "I"? As the tale goes, Theseus, the mythical founder King of Athens, single-handedly slayed the evil Minotaur at Crete, then returned home on a ship. To honor this heroic feat, for 1000 years Athenians painstakingly maintained his ship in the harbor, and annually reenacted his voyage. Whenever a part of the ship was worn or damaged, it was replaced with an identical piece of the same material until, at some point, no original parts remained. Plutarch noted the Ship of Theseus was an example of the philosophical paradox revolving around the persistence of identity. How can every single part of something be replaced, yet it still remains the same thing? Let's imagine there are two ships: the ship that Theseus docked in Athens, Ship A, and the ship sailed by the Athenians 1000 years later, Ship B. Very simply, our question is this: does A equal B? Some would say that for 1000 years there has been only one Ship of Theseus, and because the changes made to it happened gradually, it never at any point in time stopped being the legendary ship. Though they have absolutely no parts in common, the two ships are numerically identical, meaning one and the same, so A equals B. However, others could argue that Theseus never set foot on Ship B, and his presence on the ship is an essential qualitative property of the Ship of Theseus. It cannot survive without him. So, though the two ships are numerically identical, they are not qualitatively identical. Thus, A does not equal B. But what happens when we consider this twist? What if, as each piece of the original ship was cast off, somebody collected them all, and rebuilt the entire original ship? When it was finished, undeniably two physical ships would exist: the one that's docked in Athens, and the one in some guy's backyard. Each could lay claim to the title, "The Ship of Theseus," but only would could actually be the real thing. So which one is it, and more importantly, what does this have to do with you? Like the Ship of Theseus, you are a collection of constantly changing parts: your physical body, mind, emotions, circumstances, and even your quirks, always changing, but still in an amazing and sometimes illogical way, you stay the same, too. This is one of the reasons that the question, "Who am I?" is so complex. And in order to answer it, like so many great minds before you, you must be willing to dive into the bottomless ocean of philosophical paradox. Or maybe you could just answer, "I am a legendary hero sailing a powerful ship on an epic journey." That could work, too.
Insoniyat tarixi davomida, uch kichik so'z shoirlarni "bo'sh sahifa"ga, faylasuflarni esa keng maydon sari, izlanuvchilarni esa bo'shliqqa etaklaydi: "Men o'zi kimman?" Apollon Ibodatxonasiga yozilgan qadimgi yunon aforizmdan boshlab, "O'zingni angla," "Who" guruhining "Sen kimsan?" qo'shig'i- gacha faylasuflar, psixologlar, mutafakkirlar, olimlar, rassomlar, dinshunoslar va siyosatchilar mavjudlik tushunchasini tushunishga harakat qildi. Ular turli farazlarni ilgari surdilar, ammo hech qanday kelishuvga erishmadilar. Ushbu savol ustida aqlli odamlar bosh qotirdilar, lekin nega unga javob topish juda qiyin? Birinchi qiyinchilik - bu tushunchaning murakkab tabiati "Shaxsning doimiyligi." O'zingizdagi "Men" aslida "Kim?" Bugun siz kimsiz? Yoki besh yil oldim kim edingiz? Yoki 50 yildan keyin kim bo'lasiz? Va qachon "siz" borsiz? Shu haftadami? Bugunmi? Shu soatda? Shu soniyada? Va tanangizni qaysi qismi bulan "Men"siz? "Siz" - bu tashqi qobig'ingizmi? Fikrlaringiz va hislaringizmi? Qilgan ishlaringizmi? Mavhum mantiqning loyqa suvlarida suzish juda qiyin, shu sababli, ehtimol, ushbu masalaning murakkabligini ko'rsatish uchun, qadimgi yunon tarixchisi Plutarx 'kema afsonasi'ni aytib bergan. Xo'sh, qanday qilib siz "men"siz? Aytishlariga ko'ra, Tesey afsonaviy Afina qiroli, Krit orolidagi yovuz Minotaurni yolg'iz mag'lub etadi va kemada uyga qaytib keladi. Bu qahramonlikni abadiylashtirishga, ming yil davomida afinaliklar, imkoni boricha, kemani portda ushlab turishga harakat qilishdi va har yili ular qahramonning yo'lini bosib o'tardilar. Kemaning qismlari eskirsa yoki buzilsa, ularning o'rnini aynan bir xil materialdan yasalgan yangi qismlar bilan almashtirishardi. Shunday kunlar keldiki, kemaning biror bir asl qismi qolmadi. Plutarx shuni bildiki, Tesay Kemasi falsafiy paradoksning namunasi bo'lib, bu shaxs atrofida yuzaga kelayotgan borliq tushunchasidir. Qanday qilib butunning har qanday bir qismini almashtirishda biz bir vaqtning o'zida butunlikni saqlab qolishimiz mumkin? Aytaylik, bizda ikkita kema bor: Tesey Afinaga kirib kelgan kema, - 'A' kema, va ming yildan keyin afinaliklar suzib yurgan kema - 'B' kema bor. Endi biz juda oddiy savol beramiz: A kema B ga o'xshashmi? Kimdir ming yil davomida bitta Teseyning kemasi bor, deb javob beradi va u bilan bo'lgan barcha o'zgarishlar asta-sekin sodir bo'lganligi sababli, afsonaviy kema hech qachon bor bo'lishdan to'xtamagan, deydi. Garchi ularning umumiy qismlari umuman yo'q bo'lsa-da, ikki kema bir xil - yani u bitta va yagonadir, shuning uchun A B ga tengdir. Biroq, boshqalar bu ta'kidga rozi bo'lmaydilar, chunki Tesey hech qachon B kemaga oyoq bosmagan, uning kemada bo'lishi esa zaruriy xususiyatdir bu Tesey Kemasi. Usiz bunday kema mavjud emas. Garchi, son jixatidan bizning kemalarimiz bir xil bo'lsa-da, ular mohiyatan bir-biriga o'xshash emas. Demak, A Bga teng emas. Ammo, vaziyatni biroz murakkablashtirsak nima bo'ladi? Tassavur qiling, kimdur asl kemaning har bir almashtirilgan qismlarini yig'ib, asl kemani to'liqligicha qayta tiklasa? Qayta tiklangan kema qurib bitkazilganda, ikkita kema paydo bo'ladi: biri Afina sohilida, ikkinchisi esa kimningdir hovlisida. Va ularning har biri "Tesey Kemasi" deb nomlanish huquqiga ega. Ammo ulardan faqat bittasi haqiqiydir. Xo'sh, qaysi biri? To'g'rirog'i, buni shaxsan sizga qanday aloqasi bor? "Tesus Kemasi" kabi, siz doimo sodir bo'ladigan o'zgarishlar to'plamisiz: sizning tanangiz, ongingiz, hislaringiz, hayotiy sharoitlaringiz va hattoki g'alati odatlaringiz doimo o'zgarib turadi, ammo hayratlanarlisi shundaki, ba'zan esa mantiqqa zid ravishda siz o'zgarishsiz qolmoqdasiz. Shuning uchun "Men o'zi kimman?" degan savolga javob berish juda qiyin. Bunga javob berish uchun, sizga oldin o'tgan ko'plab buyuk mutafakkirlarga o'xshab falsafiy paradoksning tubsiz okeaniga sho'ng'ish kerak bo'ladi. Lekin, siz oddiy javob berishingiz ham mumkin: "Men kemada sarguzasht tomon suzayotgan afsonaviy qahramonman." Bu ham ish berishi mumkin.