User:MrX/Airplane of Jefferson

The Airplane of Jefferson is a thought that raises the question of whether an object that has had all of its components replaced remains fundamentally the same object. While it is unknown where this theory comes from, I heard from some guy from Massachusetts named Ryan.

History

The thought puzzle was discussed by me and Ryan in line at a gas station somewhere in Pennsylvania. While there is a possibility that this was discussed as early as 1985, no recorded documentation of it has been found.

Ryan told it to me like this,

“So I've been thinking about this all day. Okay, so you know the band Jefferson Airplane, right, so they became this other band called Jefferson Starship, and then they then became Starship, right. So anyways, I was doing research on these guys, and I find that wasn't just a name change they had throughout the ages, they had different band members and stuff. But the thing is, none of the original members of Jefferson Airplane are in Starship. I'm kinda conflicted now, because on one hand there's one straight line connecting these bands making them the same, while on the other, they're basically three different bands.”

~ Ryan on a conversation at a gas station

Ryan thus questions whether the band would remain the same if it were entirely replaced, band member by band member. This evidently led to the question that you gathered together the original member, which band would be the original band?

Proposed resolutions

Does it really matter?

An artist's representation of my wretched imagination

This solution was created soon after hearing it. Cleary, this problem is not important. The best way to ignore the problem is to imagine a river with a little fishing boat on it. This was quickly disputed, as every time I imagined the boat, the members of jefferson airplane appeared in it.

The boring solution

The next most obvious solution is to consider Jefferson Airplane, Jefferson Starship, and Starship as separate bands, that change with their names. While this solution is obvious, it is not particularly satisfying. In addition, if you were able to get the band members into a room, you would be unable to tell them to form groups based on the bands they were in, as multiple people would have two bands to choose from.

Four-dimensionalism

The true way to find the answer is enter the fourth dimension. To do this, you must sacrifice your firstborn son along with 628 virgins, although if you do not have these things, you substitute them with margarine. With these things, you can open a portal to fourth dimension. Let me tell you though, the fourth dimension is not at all like it's cracked up to be. It's basically just the third dimension, but things fade in and out of existence. In fact, the only thing there relating to our conundrum was a stockpile of Jefferson Starship CDs. So, it turns out that first sentence of this paragraph was a lie, and wasted a lot of perfectly good virgarine.

Cognitive science

When asked about the problem, Norm Chomsky wrote:

“Please stop sending me copies of Jefferson Starship's Nuclear Furniture! This problem has nothing to do with my research. What the hell is your obsession with these bands anyway. You do realize that Jefferson Starship are back together, right?”

~ Noam Chomsky on The Airplane of Jefferson