--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: The actual atoms and molecules that make…" description: "\"The actual atoms and molecules that make up my brain and body today are not the same ones that I was born with on September 8, 1954, a half-century ago..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1f3/michael-shermer-2567_atoms_the-actual-atoms-and-molecules-that-make_590011.jpg" --- # The actual atoms and molecules that make up my brain and… ![“The actual atoms and molecules that make up my brain and body today are not the same ones that I was born with on September 8, 1954, a half-century ago this month.” quote by Michael Shermer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1f3/michael-shermer-2567_atoms_the-actual-atoms-and-molecules-that-make_590011.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1f3/michael-shermer-2567_atoms_the-actual-atoms-and-molecules-that-make_590011.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1f3/michael-shermer-2567_atoms_the-actual-atoms-and-molecules-that-make_590011.jpg) > “The actual atoms and molecules that make up my brain and body today are not the same ones that I was born with on September 8, 1954, a half-century ago this month.” [Michael Shermer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-shermer/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Our bodies constantly replace atoms, so the physical self we are today is composed of different matter than at birth. **In simple terms:** Our cells renew, changing our physical composition over time. Key Takeaway Recognize personal growth despite physical change. Themes identity change biology Mood thoughtful reflective Type philosophical scientific When to use this quote - personal reflection - medical discussions - philosophical debates Key Concepts cellular turnover self-concept Questions to Reflect On - How does this knowledge affect your sense of identity? - Does material change influence personal responsibility? A Different Perspective Physical change does not alter continuity of self. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Atoms](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/atoms/) [Body](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/body/) [Brain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/brain/) [September](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/september/) [Today](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/today/) ## Related quotes > [The molecules that comprise our body are traceable to the crucibles of the centers of stars.These atoms and molecules are in us because, in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-degrasse-tyson/the-molecules-that-comprise-our-body-are-traceable-to-the-crucibles/) [Neil deGrasse Tyson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-degrasse-tyson/) > [The difference between a gas and a liquid is that in the former, the atoms and molecules move to and fro in an independent…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-henry-bragg/the-difference-between-a-gas-and-a-liquid-is-that-in-the-former-the/) [William Henry Bragg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-henry-bragg/) > [“Whenever I see all around , I see nothing except atoms & molecules ”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amit-gupta/whenever-i-see-all-around-i-see-nothing-except-atoms-molecules/) [Amit Gupta](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amit-gupta/) > [Yes, Jenna, I love you with all my heart. 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But all the years have changed…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sherman-alexie/a-century-ago-she-might-have-been-beautiful-her-face-reflected-in-the/) [Sherman Alexie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sherman-alexie/) > [If government half a century ago had provided us with all our dinners and breakfasts, it would be the practice of our orators today…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/auberon-herbert/if-government-half-a-century-ago-had-provided-us-with-all-our-dinners/) [Auberon Herbert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/auberon-herbert/) > [Our modern conception of the universe is so foreign to what even scientists generally believed a mere century ago that it is a tribute…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lawrence-m-krauss/our-modern-conception-of-the-universe-is-so-foreign-to-what-even/) [Lawrence M. Krauss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lawrence-m-krauss/) ## More by Michael Shermer > [I’m a skeptic not because I do not want to believe, but because I want to know.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-shermer/i-m-a-skeptic-not-because-i-do-not-want-to-believe-but-because-i-want/) [Michael Shermer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-shermer/) > [“According to Dembski, for example, “scientific creationism has prior religious commitments whereas intelligent design does not.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-shermer/according-to-dembski-for-example-scientific-creationism-has-prior/) [Michael Shermer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-shermer/) > [The first-cause and prime-mover argument, brilliantly proffered by St. Thomas Aquinas in the fourteenth century (and brilliantly refuted by David Hume in the eighteenth…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-shermer/the-first-cause-and-prime-mover-argument-brilliantly-proffered-by-st/) [Michael Shermer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-shermer/) > [“Mind is just a word we use to describe neural activity in the brain. 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We know this because if a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-shermer/mind-is-just-a-word-we-use-to-describe-neural-activity-in-the-brain/) [Michael Shermer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-shermer/) > [Through no divine design or cosmic plan, we have inherited the mantle of life's caretaker on the earth, the only home we have ever…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-shermer/through-no-divine-design-or-cosmic-plan-we-have-inherited-the-mantle/) [Michael Shermer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-shermer/) > [I always accepted the libertarian position of minimum regulation in the sale and use of firearms because I placed guns under the beneficial rubric…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-shermer/i-always-accepted-the-libertarian-position-of-minimum-regulation-in/) [Michael Shermer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-shermer/) > [If spirituality is the sense of awe and humility in the face of the creation, what could be more awesome and humbling than the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-shermer/if-spirituality-is-the-sense-of-awe-and-humility-in-the-face-of-the/) [Michael Shermer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-shermer/) > [We know evolution happened not because of transitional fossils such as A. natans but because of the convergence of evidence from such diverse fields…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-shermer/we-know-evolution-happened-not-because-of-transitional-fossils-such/) [Michael Shermer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-shermer/) > [“Yet basically, libertarians are for freedom and liberty for individuals, while recognizing that in order to be free we must also be protected. Your…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-shermer/yet-basically-libertarians-are-for-freedom-and-liberty-for/) [Michael Shermer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-shermer/) > [Scientists like Bjorn Lomborg in The Skeptical Environmentalist have, in my opinion, properly nailed environmental extremists for these exaggerated scenarios.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-shermer/scientists-like-bjorn-lomborg-in-the-skeptical-environmentalist-have/) [Michael Shermer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-shermer/) > [When religious believers invoke miracles and acts of creation ex nihilo, that is the end of the search for them, whereas for scientists, the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-shermer/when-religious-believers-invoke-miracles-and-acts-of-creation-ex/) [Michael Shermer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-shermer/) > [Darwin matters because evolution matters. Evolution matters because science matters. 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One world or none.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stuart-chase/traditional-nationalism-cannot-survive-the-fissioning-of-the-atom-one/) [Stuart Chase](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stuart-chase/) > [I am not sure why, but I have been obsessed by the Atom Bomb ever since it first happened.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lanford-wilson/i-am-not-sure-why-but-i-have-been-obsessed-by-the-atom-bomb-ever/) [Lanford Wilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lanford-wilson/) > [History is the short trudge from Adam to atom.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/history-is-the-short-trudge-from-adam-to-atom/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“The dogma of the impossibility of determining the atomic constitution of substances, which until recently was advocated with such fervor by the most able…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wilhelm-korner/the-dogma-of-the-impossibility-of-determining-the-atomic-constitution/) Wilhelm Korner > [I have never seen what to me seemed an atom of proof that there is a future life. 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