Vsauce, I’m Jake and thank you for visiting because I have been stuck in this chair for weeks. Why you ask?
Let me tell you! It is because of this! What is that? Well my dear friend,
as you may know I have cancer and to try and stop it from
spreading, they removed a lot of flesh, muscle, tissue and bone and replaced
it with something else…and that got me thinking, about what makes you you.
Which then in turn got me thinking about paradoxes.
Specifically logical paradoxes or thought experiments. Ya know there is one in particular that pertains
to the removal and replacement of certain things…let's go outside
Quick little side note: I also figured out teleportation but we’ll discuss that later…ya know you should come out here too.
So we can discuss the ship of Theseus!
The ship of Theseus is pretty straightforward as far as logical paradoxes go. Let's say
we have a ship, and it's a very nice ship. But after a while we end up replacing all the wood
and then a while later we replace the sails, then a while later we replace the hooks. Is it still the same ship? Or is it a new ship? A different ship?
let’s go a step further. Let’s say we kept all the pieces of this ship that we replaced
And used them to make another ship...an identical one. Is this one the original or is this one?
Or are they both not original? What makes something truly original? I need some sand.
Here I have what I would consider a heap of sand which leads us into our next logical paradox.
The Sorites paradox. Sorites in ancient greek meaning heap. So, we have our heap,
right? But what happens if we take away a grain of sand? Well, it's still a heap. But then we take away
another grain… Still a heap. But then we take another, and another, until
we get this. Is this a heap? What about this? Or this? If we remove a grain until only one
is left…is this still a heap? At what point do we no longer consider it a heap?
Let’s reverse it. We start with a single grain of sand. Obviously not what we would
call a heap. But then we add a grain and another, and another. When does it become a heap of sand?
Ya know, instead of using objects as our examples, let’s discuss a paradox that instead, uses words.
We interact with words every day but today we are going to focus on just two words, autological
and heterological, these are essential for The Grelling-Nelson Paradox.
An autological word is a word that describes itself. For example: pronounceable is pronounceable,
polysyllabic is polysyllabic, and a noun is a noun.
Then there is heterological where a word does not describe itself. For example: purple is
not purple, triangle is not a triangle and hyphenated is not hyphenated.
The paradox comes into play when we ask the question: Is the word “heterological”
heterological?
If you say no, then heteorological does not describe itself. And if it’s not heterological
then it must be autological and describe itself. but if it is autological then heterological
describes itself and therefor heterological is heterological. Paradox.
If you say yes, heterological does not describe itself then that means heterological is not
heterological. Paradox.
Let’s try something. Let’s combine aspects of the ship of Theseus and the Sorites paradox
and apply it to ourselves. Even though part of my leg was replaced I am still me, right?
If my entire leg were removed, I’d still be me. So at what point am I no longer myself?
How much would have to be removed for you to no longer be you? Or is what makes us us
our memories of who we are and of who we were? For example, you are different than when you
were a baby. Obviously you are taller, a little bit heavier, you have different hair, different teeth, and all
of your cells have been replaced since birth. I mean your personality has changed.
Your opinions have changed…so how are you the same person?
Ya know...maybe we should lay off the teleportation for a little not just because of that but also because I've been thinking of something...the teletransportation
paradox. Let’s say we have a machine that can teleport you from here to there. In order
to transmit you though, the machine kills you and instantly breaks you down into all
the atoms that once made you up. It then transmits all the data of what you were to another machine
in a different location which remakes you. Putting different atoms in the right spot.
So the question is, is the person who went into the machine the same person coming out
of the other machine? You have the same memories, the same thoughts, but everything that physically
makes you is different. You’d remember everything up to being teleported and reemerging on the
other side - everything in between would be lost. So, is it your identity, your emotions,
feelings and is it your thoughts that make you you?
Ya know, you should come a little bit closer.
When you wake up in the morning, how do you know that you’re the same person as who went
to sleep? How do I know that when I close my eyes, is the same Jake opening them?
Maybe every time we open our eyes we are being created again and again from the idea of who we are…from
our sense of identity. And, as always, thanks for watching.