Great explanation! I cant think of a better way to dissociate from reality and break down in existential crisis on any given morning than thinking about spatio-temporal continuity!
In all seriousness though, the first time I heard about Theseus and his funny boat was from Malcolm Gladwell (the second coolest Malcolm with a podcast that I listen to). In Los Angeles there is an exclusive, private golf course frequented by some very wealthy individuals, taking upward of 300 acres of prime LA county real-estate. You would think that property taxes on the club would be astronomical, right? Apparently not - thanks to some logic drawn from those two old boats. LA county law, as a product of some sneaky lobbying practices by wealthy golfers, essentially holds that annual taxes on this golf club will be frozen at 1% until there is a change in ownership. The LA golf club, for tax purposes is owned by its members (equity shareholders) - with its first memberships sold in the 60's. The members of the golf club today have changed many times over the years. However, the club has never had to pay a taxes on change in ownership! Why? because instead of selling their memberships, the "owners" simply pass their equity shares along to the next golfing generation of family members and friends. Hardly anyone purchases new shares. So who owns the golf course? It's a modern day ship of Theseus!
I remember trying to explain the concept to some soldiers a couple years back as a metaphor for the Army, which claims to be bound so tight to it's history, while all our regulations, uniforms, and soldiers have changed - Unfortunately this was the 82nd Airborne and they couldn't hear me over the noise of all the rocks being banged together.
Great explanation! I cant think of a better way to dissociate from reality and break down in existential crisis on any given morning than thinking about spatio-temporal continuity!
In all seriousness though, the first time I heard about Theseus and his funny boat was from Malcolm Gladwell (the second coolest Malcolm with a podcast that I listen to). In Los Angeles there is an exclusive, private golf course frequented by some very wealthy individuals, taking upward of 300 acres of prime LA county real-estate. You would think that property taxes on the club would be astronomical, right? Apparently not - thanks to some logic drawn from those two old boats. LA county law, as a product of some sneaky lobbying practices by wealthy golfers, essentially holds that annual taxes on this golf club will be frozen at 1% until there is a change in ownership. The LA golf club, for tax purposes is owned by its members (equity shareholders) - with its first memberships sold in the 60's. The members of the golf club today have changed many times over the years. However, the club has never had to pay a taxes on change in ownership! Why? because instead of selling their memberships, the "owners" simply pass their equity shares along to the next golfing generation of family members and friends. Hardly anyone purchases new shares. So who owns the golf course? It's a modern day ship of Theseus!
I remember trying to explain the concept to some soldiers a couple years back as a metaphor for the Army, which claims to be bound so tight to it's history, while all our regulations, uniforms, and soldiers have changed - Unfortunately this was the 82nd Airborne and they couldn't hear me over the noise of all the rocks being banged together.