The Seven-Year Rule

&gt;&gt;&gt; The person you are today doesn’t share a single cell with the version of you from seven years ago. (This is, of course, a generalization as some cells regenerate much faster and others a little slower.)<p>No, that is not even remotely true. Most of the neurons in the central nervous system (the part of the body one could argue does the most of thinking) stay mostly the same from adulthood to death[1].<p>[1]: <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;en.wikipedia.org&#x2F;wiki&#x2F;Neurogenesis" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;en.wikipedia.org&#x2F;wiki&#x2F;Neurogenesis</a>

&gt; I recently spoke with a friend who was still dwelling on something that happened thirty years ago. “Why do you care?” I asked him. “That was four versions of you ago. That person doesn’t exist anymore. Move on.”<p>Do you think this actually helped your friend? In any way?

“My cells” are not “me”.<p>Without resorting to metaphysics, “I” am a slowly-but-constantly changing set of experiences, memories, predilections and preferences that happens to be instantiated in and associated with a particular physical body. My relationships with other people tend to be the most important things to me and the things that most shape whatever direction my identity is going.<p>My body is not the same exact set of cells or molecules that I was 30 years ago. But I’m like the Ship of Theseus- the essence of what I am is a direct consequence of my formative experiences regardless of what pieces I’m built of at any given moment.<p>It’s my choice (within the constraints of how brains work) of how much I let past experiences affect my current behavior. But I can’t forget those experiences and if I could, then I would not be the same “me” in a much deeper sense than just having different cells or molecules.

It feels so strange to read blogposts like this in 2025. The level of mediocrity makes you question if this has been created by a human or an ai bot. Next you start questioning yourself why you still look into your smartphone like a junkie.

So if Theseus was aboard his ship for many years it would add another layer of it that ship still is his own?<p>In Vernon Vinge’s A Fire Upon The Deep you have pack of dogs that are not so smart individually, but they had a pack personality that was smart. Even (for one case in the book) the dogs could be replaced but the personality remained.<p>Changing individual cells doesn’t change what is the you of your consciousness and memories. Of course, even without cell replacement you change with time, new memories, insights and so on, but both changes happen at different abstraction levels.

Seems to me the Dalai Lama used the 7 years cell replacement thing as a metaphor to explain some classic Buddhist teachings.<p>&gt; still dwelling on something that happened thirty years ago.<p>Exactly that: clinging causes suffering.<p>Buddhism also goes a step farther, they have a whole doctrine about emptiness and no-self: there&#x27;s no permanent or unchanging self to be found.

Regret is real for a reason.<p>&quot;Those who ignore history are doomed to repeat it&quot; as they say, even it was over 7 years ago...

I&#x27;m reminded of the SMBC comic <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.smbc-comics.com&#x2F;?id=2722" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.smbc-comics.com&#x2F;?id=2722</a> which resonated with me. If it takes ~7 years to master something, you should dedicate yourself to becoming good at it. Or at least you don&#x27;t have to tie your identity to what you do you right now; you can reinvent yourself and experience more from of life, but you have to give yourself the time to do so.<p>It&#x27;s been almost 14 years since that was published, so maybe some self-reflection is due.

&quot;So why not focus your energy and attention on the present moment?&quot;<p>Because sometimes having a better future requires focusing on that instead of just now. Of course, ironically, having a better future often requires I become more present in the moment I&#x27;m in...

Is that why the IRS insists that we keep the past 7 years of our tax records?

The whole point of learning is that it is cumulative.

&gt; As you read these words, you are uniquely yourself, different from who you were a moment ago and who you’ll become in the next.<p>By extension, a &quot;culture&quot; is a snapshot of a subset of the human population. To be clear, copious physical artifacts outlive people, so the state of the State is more than my reductionism.<p>But, in keeping with Barlow&#x27; Pronciples[1]<p>[1]

By this logic, there’s no reason to save for retirement either. Might as well maximize enjoyment now.

That explains this: <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;en.wikipedia.org&#x2F;wiki&#x2F;The_Seven_Year_Itch" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;en.wikipedia.org&#x2F;wiki&#x2F;The_Seven_Year_Itch</a> idiom&#x2F;movie with Marilyn Monroe

The paradox to this is we want to stay connected to some things that are important to us such as family and deny the things that cause us pain.

Lots of comments here disagreeing with the article and missing the point...sure, the seven-year rule can be taken to a ridiculous extreme, but I think many people suffer from dwelling too much on past mistakes and overcorrecting them. Seven years seems like a roughly reasonable period of time to learn from a serious mistake and then move on with life as an improved person.<p>The spirit of the article is saying that you should ultimately forgive yourself for making a mistake after a period of time (not always literally seven years).

Nope. I am going to decide not to renew myself into a new thing.<p>I don&#x27;t live like Buddha or the Dalai Lama. I don&#x27;t have a castle or forest of isolation to shed my skin. I also don&#x27;t want to.<p>I am shaped more by what others perceive of me than myself. It is a tragedy of this age. I cannot change that.<p>But I can challenge some of those assumptions by choosing to see things from multiple perspectives. By choosing to not completely do that to others (there&#x27;s always a risk, but hey, I&#x27;m doing the best I can. Are you?).<p>I have learned to perceive Buddhist thinking in this age as a difficult thing to concilliate with reality.<p>Religion-like rules are supposed to draw my attention. Well, fuck it. I cannot avoid it, but I can choose to try to understand what it means in this context I am, which, again, is very different from what some Lama wrote.<p>Sure, I can totally empathize with someone who is tired and wants to let it all go. I have been there. You can let it go, and it&#x27;s OK with me. But I cannot pretend that I enjoy this Mad Men transition into eastern meditation clear-your-mind shit. Fuck that.<p>What I am is deeply shaped by living among others, being influenced and shaped by others opinions. I will not forget that. But I can pretend to. Not by their rules though. As I said, can&#x27;t forget.

This post confusingly conflates &quot;cells&quot; with &quot;self&quot; resulting in a muddled and pseudoscientific message. It reads more like feel-good content than facts and would be better suited for other social media platforms.

And there is the 7 year inch.

This reminded me of a hilarious passage from Chapter 9 of the novel <i>Ulysses</i>. Stephen Dedalus is pondering a £1 debt he owed from five months prior:<p>&gt; Wait. Five months now. Molecules all change. I am other I now. Other I got pound.