Evrim Tekin

Identity

A person is partly a story they keep telling.

What it is

Identity is built from memory, habit, roles and the stories others tell about us. It feels solid, yet it shifts with place, language and company.

Philosophers have long asked what makes you the same person over time: the same body, the same memories, or an unbroken chain of psychological connections. Some, like Derek Parfit, argued that identity matters less than we assume.

Updated 5 November 2026 · 2 sourced facts

Conceptual diagram

The ship of Theseus

Replace every plank in turn. Is it still the same ship?

Source: Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy

A diagram of ideas, not a measurement.

Ideas to carry

  1. 1

    The narrative self

    We stitch memories into a story with a main character. The story edits itself over time.

  2. 2

    Roles that fit

    Child, worker, founder, friend: each role shapes how we act and what we notice.

  3. 3

    The ship of Theseus

    If every part is replaced over time, what makes it still the same ship, or the same you?

Established What we know

  1. John Locke tied personal identity to consciousness and memory rather than to the substance of body or soul.[1]
  2. Derek Parfit argued that psychological continuity, not identity itself, is what matters in survival.[2]

Interpretation The older lens · Sufism and depth psychology

Sufism speaks of the nafs, the ego-self, refined in stages; Jung called the social face we wear the persona.

Reading

  1. 1690An Essay Concerning Human UnderstandingJohn Locke
  2. 1956The Presentation of Self in Everyday LifeErving Goffman
  3. 1984Reasons and PersonsDerek Parfit

Me in Bristol / me in Burdur

Same person, different firmware

Made in-house, for fun.

Connected subjects, projects and writing

Sources

  1. Locke on Personal Identity Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. Checked 5 Nov 2026.
  2. Personal Identity Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. Checked 5 Nov 2026.