Saturday, November 10, 2018

Fluidity............................


In Plutarch's Life of Theseus, he describes how the ship of Theseus, an Athenian hero, was preserved by the people of Athens in battle-ready condition for many centuries.  Each time a board decayed, it would be replaced until eventually every stick of wood in it had been replaced.  Plutarch asks:  Is it still the ship of Theseus, or it it now a new one? ...
     Our understanding of what is is just a snapshot - an ephemeral opinion.  The universe is in a constant state of change.  Our nails grow and are cut and keep growing.  New skin replaces dead skin.  Old memories are replaced by new memories.  Are we still the same people?  Are the people around us the same?  Nothing is exempt from this fluidity, not even the things we hold most sacred.

-Ryan Holiday,  from this day's entry in The Daily Stoic

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