Grubbycup’s Robe

While I am waiting for the catnip seeds to sprout, I thought I’d take this opportunity to wax semi-philosophic for this post, and maybe spark a synapse or two for someone out there.

I was going to use my grandfather’s axe to fix up Theseus’ ship, but I figured if I waited long enough, it would be somebody else’s problem, and he could do it.

That’s my idea of a joke, which explains why I write about gardening, and don’t audition for comedy clubs.

Let me explain it, which will kill any surviving humor in the joke, but hopefully for the greater good:

I have had the same robe for the last 20 years or so, sorta. Over time it’s been patched and mended so often, there isn’t any of the original material left. So, if you were to compare the robe originally made by Mrs. Grubbycup to the one I have today, they would obviously be different robes.

However, at the same time, at no point was it ever a different robe. As far as I am concerned, it was always just my robe, the one my wife made for me all those years ago.

My grandfather’s axe and Theseus’ ship are better known examples. Your grandfather leaves your father his axe. Your father breaks the handle and replaces it. He leaves the axe to you and over the course of time the head wears out and you replace it. You leave the axe to your child. Is it in some way still your grandfather’s axe? If not, at what point did it become something else?

To give you some idea of how long people have been giving this some thought, Theseus is claimed to be the one who slew the Minotaur and founded Athens.

That version of the story concerns the replacement of every board in a ship over time. Does it become a different ship?

How about people? If you don’t have the same cells in your body now that you had when you were born, are you the same person you used to be? How many cells have to be replaced for you to be someone else? Or, is there an intangible “something” about you that connects who you were, who you are, and who you will become?

I don’t know. I know that from my perspective I have lived my life as me, that I’ve had the same robe for a very long time, but I’d have a hard time proving it against before and after photos taken too many years apart.

In my opinion, it isn’t the “right” answer that is important, it is thinking about the answer that has value.

What does this have to do with gardening?

Because of the many dualities found in gardening.

For example, when testing plants:

If you take two clones from the same mother plant, in some ways they are the “same plant.” They share genetics, and under the exact same conditions, they should perform very similarly to each other. Under different conditions, you can observe the results, and attribute the differences to the environment.

The inverse is also true: if two non-clones are placed in the exact same environment, and one performs better than the other, we can assume that the genetic differences are the cause of the disparity.

Thinking about what makes something the same thing, and what makes something else, well, something else, may trigger a thought that you haven’t thought of before.

I don’t know all the answers. I don’t even know all the questions. I do know that in some ways people are like plants. If either people or plants are going to accomplish anything impressive, they must be allowed to grow. If I can help anyone fertilize their brain a little, I’ve done good for the day.

Peace, love, and puka shells,
Grubbycup