I'm not 100% sure on this, but when I visited China (and my brother has said similar with Taiwan), the concept of old/existing was blurry - as an example a temple that has been completely reconstructed and doesn't include any of the original material, is still 2000 years old.
I think Terry Pratchett has a similar passage in The Fifth Elephant - this axe, over time may need a replacement head, or the handle may need some work, but it will always be the same axe that my father gave to me [paraphrased].
I guess, applied here, it's a similar thing to knowing you are male in a female body for instance. Morphology of the avatar in your head can be different to your external appearance, ie. you always had large boobs?
I think Terry Pratchett has a similar passage in The Fifth Elephant - this axe, over time may need a replacement head, or the handle may need some work, but it will always be the same axe that my father gave to me [paraphrased].
I guess, applied here, it's a similar thing to knowing you are male in a female body for instance. Morphology of the avatar in your head can be different to your external appearance, ie. you always had large boobs?