You Are The Ship Of Theseus.

[leo-rcc]

[youtube]YpB7KH8YeWs[/youtube]

Links referred to in the video:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ship_of_Theseus
http://tinyurl.com/dkcs74 (Just how old is your body)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Madrid_Earthquake (How the New Madrid earthquake changed the course of the Mississippi River)

In all honesty, I had never heard of the Ship of Theseus before. It is fascinating stuff though in my opinion. We have had several discussions in the pits area of Robotwars as to determine where the point is that someting is no longer a replacement of parts but a new robot. This is basically about that.

[moodydaniel]

Living things and machines constanly replicate replacement parts. For me the design and schematic remain the same and that's what counts. We greater than the sum of our parts.

[leo-rcc]

We greater than the sum of our parts.

I'm not sure I agree. One of the parts that does not replicate and refresh are braincells that make up the person's character and consciousness. These are what define us, not the rest of the parts. So I would say we are less than our parts, we can function fine with some parts missing or replaced, except for those that make the person uniquely that person.

[moodydaniel]

We are also the sum of our experiences and for these we rely on the whole body. For example, eyes see, a brain can interpret. Combined, we can interpret what we see. Without the interplay between each other we'd never be able to appreaciate art

[leo-rcc]

It is still just interplay between part a and part b, And without part a, part b still functions. Sometimes it even helps with part c developing better. What value you place on it is purely arbitrary. A blind man can enjoy a concert, a deaf person can admire architecture. It doesn't add anything to the body, it doesn't make the person any different. I still do not agree with your premise.