The Ship of Theseus

Biru Panda
5 min readNov 11, 2023

--

Estimated Read Time: 6 Minutes

🚢 The Athenians preserved a very old ship by replacing the parts one by one as they decayed. The Ship of Theseus is a paradox that questions whether an object that has had all of its parts replaced remains the same object. If a ship gradually has all its parts replaced, is it still the same ship?

The human body is a popular example of the Ship of Theseus paradox due to the common fact that the human body replaces all of its cells on average every 7 years. (with the exception of neurons in the cerebral cortex, which stay with us from birth to death), but in this example let’s assume all the cells in your body gets replaced, would you consider yourself to be the same person?

📕 Book

The Book for this week was The Silent Patient. This has to be the smoothest crime fiction book I’ve ever read. The storyline, the development, the characters, they’re written in such a clean format, there’s absolutely no way for anyone to confuse any events. 9/10 for the writing style.

📌 Main concept: A woman called Alicia is accused of having killed her husband and no one knows why. This Silent Patient has been admitted to a psychiatric facility and she doesn’t speak to anyone….until this man arrives. The plot reveals slowly over this 270 pages book and it is definitely not a dark book.

📌 Bonus point: This book has some very well mentioned psychological notes as its central theme and it makes the story even fascinating.

📰 News

🇽 Does Anyone Need An Username on “X”?

‘X’ platform allegedly selling inactive usernames for $50,000 — sparks attention in the social media realm. With a lucrative market for unique usernames, this practice raises concerns about potential misuse or unauthorized access to previously dormant accounts. The high value placed on these usernames indicates a growing trend where digital identity holds substantial worth. (Source)

🇬 Google Has Set A Deadline For Inactive Users — I Hope You’re Not One Of Them

Google’s deletion of inactive accounts starts on December 2023. Google plans to delete accounts inactive for over 2 years, including content from Gmail, Docs, Drive, Calendar, and Photos. The policy aims to enhance security and reduce the risk of compromised accounts vulnerable to fraud. Google will send multiple notifications to users before deletion. (Source)

📱 Apple To Allow Sideloading — iPhone Users Can Now Install Apps From 3rd-Party Sources

iOS 17.2 beta code hints at Apple’s move to enable sideloading of apps on iOS devices, a response to the European Union’s Digital Markets Act. The legislation requires Apple to allow users to install apps from third-party sources, challenging the App Store’s exclusivity. The code reveals a new framework, “Managed App Distribution,” suggesting the potential for alternative app stores. (Source)

📱Graphene OS Might Protect Our Privacy

Graphene OS is the one and only OS where you can use to install apps without Google tracking you. Everything that you install from Play Store runs in a sandbox which doesn’t have permissions for a storage. And there is a separate option for disable sensors for all apps. I love how the basic apps installed has a black & White theme, while the installed apps have color icons. It’s based on Android 14.

🌍 No One Knows Who Named Our Planet ‘Earth’

There has never been mentioned anywhere in our history actually who named our planet “Earth.” So, nobody knows how this planet got this name. However, according to some, the word “Earth” has come from the Anglo-Saxon word “Erda”, which means “ground” or “soil” and is thought to be 1,000 years old. (Source1)(Source2)

📌 Other Things From This Week:

📣 Remembering this OnePlus Diwali Ad from 5 years ago on Diwali week. This reminds me of simple times when Ads were meaningful and were able to strike a cord with us.

📺 The finale episode of Loki S02 was an absolute banger. I think what makes it interesting is that this is the very first time Loki had people who he cared about and this episode shows show many centuries he waited to save them all. At long last, he decides what kind of God he wants to be and he probably does something I can’t remember the Loki from 2012 doing.

🎓 I will recommend this website called ClassCentral to find any courses that you like to do. It has an option to sort them out and get atleast get more than a dozen courses of any particular subject or area. (Please note that the website might not open at night due to traffic.)

🎧 Song of the Week:

I loved having this song from Seven Lions on repeat last week.

What’s Done Is Done — YouTube Link

🎴 Wallpaper Of The week:

I thought why not put a minimal wallpaper this week so I present to you — The Minimal Sofa.

The Minimal Sofa — Google Drive Link

✍🏻 Quote Of The Week:

‘We are what we pretend to be, so we must be careful who we pretend to be.’

— Kurt Vonnegut

📜 Something Personal Comes This Way

I was thinking about a way through which we can keep in touch (yes, I’m talking about you, reader). I have shared my updates from the past week and I want to know about your week as well.

So, I designed this Google Form with just a questions like — what’s something you liked doing did this week and what’re you looking forward to in the next week.

(This is completely optional.)

A copy of your response will be sent to your own e-mail so it’ll be a good reminder (and a memory) that you can to look back on.

You can also suggest songs, movies and shows in the Google Form as well.

Weekly Dish — Google Form Link

Happy Diwali. Although Diwali could have been happier if it DIDN’T fall on a Sunday. See ya and Have a Safe Diwali.

--

--