When is a LEGO Set not a LEGO Set?
When is a LEGO set not a LEGO set?
A philosophical question this week instead of the usual Brighton Bricks Build challenge
This is based on though experiment Ship of Theseus, which was recently mention in the TV Show WandaVision and made me think about this question and how I have related it to LEGO in the past
What is Ship of Theseus
A thought puzzle which was discussed by the likes of Plato, and as reported by Plutarch
“The ship wherein Theseus and the youth of Athens returned from Crete had thirty oars, and was preserved by the Athenians down even to the time of Demetrius Phalereus, for they took away the old planks as they decayed, putting in new and stronger timber in their places, insomuch that this ship became a standing example among the philosophers, for the logical question of things that grow; one side holding that the ship remained the same, and the other contending that it was not the same.”
Want to know more about this thought experiment you can check out it’s Wikipedia page
How does this relate to LEGO?
I have always thought about this question in related to LEGO, and what constitutes a LEGO set. LEGO bricks now are compatible with LEGO bricks in the past, so if we swapped the same part from a current set to a set from the 1990s, would that 1990s set still be the a complete set. If you were listing this set on eBay or Bricklink, would you sell it as complete, or would you tell people one part is new
I still don’t know how I feel about this, and I keep thinking of what i think is the answer, which could be a completely different answer to someone else. But that is the beauty of though experiments like this, you don’t have to agree.
This question make you think about what is a set mean to you, does a set just need the original bricks, or does it need the original instructions, the box, the packaging. What counts as a complete set to you. Or do you count a set as something which has the the correct bricks but it doesn’t matter the age or where the bricks come from.
For some people this isn’t important, but for others it is important. The most important thing this question should be a bit of fun, it is a though experiment, and it would be curious to know what everyone thinks
Examples
If you don’t own an old set like The Green Grocer modular, and decided to build it yourself through Bricklink or similar marketplace. You got all the pieces from the correct time period, and even managed to get hold of the original instructions. Do you consider yourself having the complete set? If you sell it later on do you s
If you got a new set, and when you are building it, you lose one of the pieces, a common 4x1 brick. A piece you have plenty of in your spares collection and you add it to the build. Is this set a complete set, even though it is missing
When you are building a set you will notice they are usually bricks inside the set which can’t be seen. If these were replaced with a different colour, red for blue, or one 2x4 brick replaced with two 2x2 bricks, are these sets still complete?
You have lots of LEGO sets, and to save space you decide to break a few of them down and put them in a big box, all parts mixed up. You later on build it, picking pieces from the box, but you don’t know if a piece comes from which set.
Other Thought Experiments
What other thought experiments could be LEGO related
If you have any other suggestions on what thought experiments could be done with LEGO bricks let me know at nick@brightgreenpenguin.com
And Finally
Check out my other LEGO challenges HERE