Stephanie Rinker, 59, was told she could go on a ventilator. Her husband says he doesn't know what her younger self would have wanted. John and Stephanie are walking examples of the Ship of Thesis: our selves turn over all the time.
"You are constantly becoming a new person," says journalist Shankar Vedantam. In a talk full of beautiful storytelling, he explains the profound impact of something he calls the "illusion of continuity" -- the belief that our future selves will share the same views, perspectives and hopes as our current selves -- and shows how we can more proactively craft the people we are to become.