Explain the Ship of Theseus? Easy. First you buy a PC, then slowly over time you update the RAM and then the hard drive then a new graphics card, then a new case because the graphics card is too big, then a new CPU and motherboard, etc. Is it a new PC? - ThreadSky

olafurw.com • 44 days ago

Explain the Ship of Theseus? Easy.

First you buy a PC, then slowly over time you update the RAM and then the hard drive then a new graphics card, then a new case because the graphics card is too big, then a new CPU and motherboard, etc.

Is it a new PC?

Comments

adamboyle.bsky.social•44 days ago

On average, cells in the human body are replaced every 7 to 10 years. Are you a new person? Be careful what you say around your computer. It might get mad at you

bngsplat.bsky.social•44 days ago

When Windows tells me my license is not valid on this hardware, it’s a new PC.

justtheonetat.bsky.social•44 days ago

Had me until the case. If it doesn't look the same on the outside (rear panel excluded) it's not the same PC.

thunderpob.bsky.social•44 days ago

Ah.. the Triggers Broom conundrum

thunderpob.bsky.social•44 days ago

Should have scrolled

baerenschanze.bsky.social•44 days ago

No, because you still have the 15 year old Blu-ray drive in it.

jazzrat2000.bsky.social•44 days ago

yes because the soul lingers. it hides in the monitor.

skijoring.bsky.social•44 days ago

I’ve always thought it becomes a new pc when you upgrade the motherboard.

whatcans.bsky.social•44 days ago

Yeah. I would say the moment you have enough parts to rebuild the old one out of the original parts again you’ve built a new pc

aphoxema.bsky.social•44 days ago

It’s the same PC forever as long as I never change the cute hostname i set

apmasell.bsky.social•44 days ago

If you get a new PC and copy your OS and home directory over, is that the Cutty Sark?

fermispairofsocks.bsky.social•44 days ago

No because some teenager will say how it's old and crappy because it only has an RTX 4090.

trevorkevorson.bsky.social•43 days ago

In the UK we call it Trigger's Broom.

Over 20 years the broom has had 17 new heads and 14 new handles.

https://youtu.be/56yN2zHtofM?si=pmW6yHzmFtO9dW3f

josemonkey.com•44 days ago

This is the second Ship of Theseus reference I’ve encountered on social media in the last day or so, so I feel as if my feeds are pretty dialed in 😂

chilltervention.bsky.social•44 days ago

The human body

or even better...

Nature.

chilltervention.bsky.social•44 days ago

even better...

reality

velocirobyn.bsky.social•44 days ago

When I replace the CPU, I often have to replace the motherboard and RAM with it, and that's when I decide it's a new PC.

I think AMD is doing away with so many socket set changes, though? It's been a while since I upgraded my processor.

saschavie.bsky.social•44 days ago

No, but it's YOUR PC.

bialpio.bsky.social•44 days ago

Windows licensing server is the arbiter of truth here. 😉

jklees.co.uk•44 days ago

Yes, assuming you still keep the parts you can rebuild it so you have a new old pc.

izzydata.xyz•44 days ago

I suspect you aren't replacing parts with identical new parts. You are upgrading them to better parts. It would become a very different PC in the end.

promech.bsky.social•44 days ago

Firm believer that once a motherboard/cpu combo is swapped it becomes a new pc.

chromat1c.bsky.social•43 days ago

This is how I've explained/introduced the concept to friends and acquaintances who have never heard of this thought experiment (unless they already learned about it from WandaVision).

davelevenson.bsky.social•44 days ago

There's an old story about the New England woodsman who has been using the same axe for 50 years. He has replaced the axe head four times, and he has replaced the handle 10 times over those years, but the axe has lasted a half-century!

shadvyr.bsky.social•44 days ago

according to my windows, it's a new pc where I update the motherboard firmware..

ovmkxz.bsky.social•44 days ago

I used to tell people I still have an original IBM PC (the one with a cassette tape port). 100% of the parts were replaced more than once, but never all at once, until just a few years ago.

venetrix2.bsky.social•44 days ago

Heh, PCtheus :P

morphinapg.bsky.social•43 days ago

I would say the core of what makes a PC is the motherboard. You change that, it's a new PC. Everything else can sort of be swapped out and it still feels like the same PC.

almostarchitekt.bsky.social•44 days ago

With that logic... I think i have only had a single computer over the past 18? Years 😅🤔

sarahchoochoo.bsky.social•44 days ago

same i've been rotating parts out of the same machine since i was like 16, the oldest thing in there now is an overclocked 8700k holding on for dear life

jellis-7.bsky.social•44 days ago

It’s a new PC the second you change any part in the future, the ship of Theseus hinges on the repairs to the ship using the exact same type of materials to replace parts, not to upgrade them

damong3.bsky.social•44 days ago

Our family axe handed down from father to son for generations had about 3 heads and five handles

astrobia.bsky.social•44 days ago

Microsoft want's to pretend it is to force you to buy a new windows license. The number of calls I used to have to make to their support line because the hardware hash had changed more than they'd like...

southernfriedtarot.bsky.social•44 days ago

Remodel, perhaps?

brodieavoult.bsky.social•44 days ago

literally me last week. finally upgraded the motherboard cpu and ram on my pc, the motherboard being the only original component, and it dawned on me that it was literally the ship of theseus

zombiefeet.bsky.social•44 days ago

No, now it’s too old and I pretty much need to start over….

crazy1ady.bsky.social•44 days ago

You should watch this classic banger of British comedy. 😬👍🏻

https://youtu.be/56yN2zHtofM

olafurw.com•44 days ago

Excellent.

chris3y.bsky.social•44 days ago

Scrolled looking for this.

doothewop.bsky.social•44 days ago

Microsoft says yes.

chris3y.bsky.social•44 days ago

There isn’t a cell in your body that’s older than 40 months.

So bigger question is, are you still you?

ovmkxz.bsky.social•44 days ago

If most of the cells in that body are not human cells, is it a human body?

jellis-7.bsky.social•44 days ago

The identity of self rises from a continuity in thought processes from your specific arrangement of brain cells, the cells used in repair are intended to be the same material used in the initial construction. So just like the ship, but with even more reasons to agree, yes you will still be you

eliam.co.uk•44 days ago

Brain cells - Adult neurons survive for a lifetime.

captainscifi.bsky.social•44 days ago

Looks like you are underpowered with the original supply. No wonder you are running slow.

tohsig.me•43 days ago

See, I short-circuited the cycle. Bought a nice, large ATX case over a decade ago and have used it exclusively ever since.

chu.ruzzz.dev•44 days ago

Idk anything about philosophy but can't think of it also like "You are born weak. Through hard work, dedication, and time you grow stronger. Are you the same person?"

its-squiddd.bsky.social•44 days ago

No, the pc has a soul, that soul isnt stored in pieces. its one soul. sure you can upgrade it for new parts, but your bodies cells die and get replaced all the time, and your still the same person. so no its not a new pc.

jp-oh.bsky.social•44 days ago

Ahh, the old trigger-broom conundrum.

nivet.bsky.social•44 days ago

I think its a new pc once the motherboard changes

jtdc.bsky.social•44 days ago

I named my PC Theseus for exactly this reason.

I need to upgrade mobo and cpu soon.

helate.bsky.social•44 days ago

Answer is also easy: No. When you change each part it becomes part of the original thing.

paercebal.bsky.social•44 days ago

> Is it a new PC?

I believe it is, because you upgraded it.

Isn't Theseus' Ship about replacement of newer but identical pieces, so the ship remains the same, but with newer wood?

Or did I miss something?

suasponte2023.bsky.social•44 days ago

You left out the important bit where a technician collects all the PC components you discarded and assembles a perfectly functioning PC out of it.

Is *that* PC yours?

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