stuff about impermanence and self

 Here's a thought:

1) if you break up a table and make a chair from it you say that a "table" has been destroyed and a "chair" has been created.
2) If you break up a table and then make exactly the same table from it do you say a table has been destroyed and a table created? I think when asked what it is we just say its the same table and ignore any processes.
3) So if you go away for a few years and come back obviously you say its the same table, but that doesn't exclude the possibility of processes happening inside the table.
So this "what it is" is actually very crude, more like an inventory entry and not really detailing everything that has happened. This is the source of the Ship of Theseus paradox. But it gets much more interesting when you apply to people and yourself.

Here's a thought: When we celebrate a birthday are we same person who celebrated the previous birthday? If we are the same then we have no age so we can celebrate all our birthdays. If we are different then its not "our" birthday as many people celebrate these birthdays over the years.