if our cells rapidly divided and killed off the old cells...read more?

Question

are we the same person... or essentially dead as we are replaced by the new cells? and if you refer to the soul, does that mean even if you were replaced completly by robotic parts, a thing that acts and thinks exactly like you and claims to BE you, means that it is you still?

Answer 1

You would be dead because you would have cancer. Uncontrolled rapidly dividing cells that kill off other normal cells are cancerous.

I do not think it would be possible to replace a person's brain with computer parts without killing the person.

Answer 2

New cells - you'd probably still be the same person, since you have the same DNA. Even if your brain cells (axons and their related synapses) were replaced, what's important is the elasticity and synapses made. You'd still have your memories and personality, so you'd still be you. Everything in nature must change, as organisms continue to take in energy (eating) and giving off organic material. The cells don't necessarily change when this happens, but cells are given new sources of energy. So, if we put different materials into our bodies and that doesn't change us, then why would replacing what holds those materials (the cells) make us different? Think also about injuries. When the body loses cells (abrasians, broken bones, etc), it must replace those cells. Again, we are not different because of this.
Have you been watching Ghost in the Shell? The latter question depends on how much you think the human mind is connected to the body. Would we feel so disconnected from the physical world as robots that we cease to be ourselves? Maybe, maybe not. Consider this: when a person you love dearly dies, do you become a new person? Your whole world may come crashing down, but you must deal with it. This may be the case for robotization (neat word, huh). As long as you retain your memories, and your ability to form new ones (synaptic connections) just as you had in biological form, based on your personality and previous experiences, I'd say you were still you.
The other side of that is that the sum of the parts is greater than the whole - it's a cliche, I know, but it works. Some things you can dissemble completely, put them back together and have them still work. I don't think this is the case with humans. To become a robot, you'd have to transition by stages. I think that, at some point, when "you" are divided enough that your soul isn't mostly in either body, you'd have to decide where to go - new robot, or whatever you think comes after this life. I DO think that we are connected to our bodies -they're what naturally connect us to the planet and let us experience and communicate with other people. As robots, we'd not be able to experience the same sensations as we did in the previous body. Pain and pleasure are part of what makes us human; how we deal with them is what makes us who we are.
I don't think robotic parts could ever substitue for the beautiful biological incarnation that is the human body.

Answer 3

Well... Since our DNA remains the same even if old cells die because it's passed on to new cells, that means that our new cells are absolutely identical to our old cells in every way. Hence, we are the same person.

Ah.. your second question. Our brain controls what we do and think about, which in turn affects our character. Hence our soul has nothing to do with this.

Anyway, i don't think it's been scientifically proven that living things have souls yet. I think.