[Art]

This is always such an interesting topic to me as it points us to a view where we, as a society are headed. We might be tailoring our own evolution.

With humans have replaceable parts much like an auto if we were to replace all the parts of the auto as needed, would we eventually still have our original car or would it become a morphed replacement of the original? Now on the human side, if we replaced everything (except for the brain) would we still be the original person or does our brain alone define us? Yes, Futurama talking heads in the jars, etc., but this is different.

We just might be the sum of our parts or just some parts...

[HS]

I think we would be the same person, if you include your rate of change into your definition of self. Our cells are being replaced continuously, our body chemistry, temperature, mood, are all in a state of change all the time, so we have some inherent variability. Maybe a person is like a surfer on a wave, a consciousness supported by a continuous reaction. As long as the wave does not encounter too great a disturbance, it can be sustained. So the trick is gradual changes which are small enough to not collapse the wave. If a change is too big, like trying to replace the brain all at once, then the wave will collapse and the surfer will descend into unknown. If another wave forms, then a (presumably) different surfer will be invited up to hitchhike.