I think therefore I am 200
Hi so I will be explaining Descarte's famous written phrase "I think therefore I am." First I would like the reader to remember what he or she has learned this phrase to mean. So are you thinking that it means that thinking is what defines man? If so then you are thinking what most people think this phrase mean. So let me spoil the surpise, you along with everyone else is wrong. Though in a way you're right. Let me show you what Descarte meant:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ren%C3%A9_Descartes#Philosophical_work
Initially, Descartes arrives at only a single principle: thought exists. Thought cannot be separated from me, therefore, I exist (Discourse on the Method and Principles of Philosophy). Most famously, this is known as cogito ergo sum (English: "I think, therefore I am"). Therefore, Descartes concluded, if he doubted, then something or someone must be doing the doubting, therefore the very fact that he doubted proved his existence. "The simple meaning of the phrase is that if one is skeptical of existence, that is in and of itself proof that he does exist."[33]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ren%C3%A9_Descartes#Philosophical_work
Ok so let me translate. The above selection says that Descarte was saying that we exist. The reason he gave was because we are able to perform the action of thinking. However, let me say, that thinking is not the reason why we exist, it is just an action. So Descarte could have easily said I breathe therefore I exist or I walk therefore I exist, I read therefore I exist, I observe therefore I exist etc... So really, the fact that you perform a movement, means your alive, that you are here. This is all that Descarte meant, nothing more, nothing less.
Ok, so yes, when people today say the phrase I think therefore I am, they are saying or meaning something like, humans are superior because we think, or that humans are conscious, and animals are not because they don't think, or the defining characteristic of the human is that he thinks. Yes this is what people mean to say. This however is not what Descarte meant to say, and so because people for some reason simply believe so readily what others say, they believe that Descarte meant that, when he didn't, only because someone says that he did.
I actually read his document for my philosophy class, so I know what I am talking about. You are free to pick up his text and read it and see for yourself. So you can say simply that this blog is a warning about the dangers of believing others readily, instead of taking the time to question and find the truth, which always takes time and effort, and not as easy as simply believing and agreeing and accepting all information thrown your way.
I forgive myself for accepting and allowing myself to readily believe what humans/people say, because it turns out that beliefs are not trustworthy, and to know the truth takes time and effort.
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