Tuesday, November 29, 2011

Consciousness


"I think, therefore I am" - Rene Descartes

or should it be

"I am, therefore I think"

Comments are invited.

5 comments:

  1. I prefer, "I am and I think"

    Ability to think may not be a necessary outcome of existence, as in the case of lower life-forms like amoeba?

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  2. That's right Mohit. I appreciate "I am and I think" :)

    What I have been contemplating is possibilities of both of these thoughts. I assume that by " I think, therefore I am" Rene wishes to convey that a human being can actually be existing if he is conscious i.e. his existence has a meaning if he is able to comprehend and analyse his being.

    But the fact that we come to this world before we start comprehending things, and that our consciousness is actually a result of a number of influences that we have perceived in this life, without which we might not be even tempted to think, that I wonder which of the two thoughts are more close to an understanding of being conscious.

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  3. Yeah, of the two, I disagree with Descartes and agree more with you. He thinks that certainty of my existence can only be verified if(/since) I think. Not true.

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  4. I doubt therefore I might be :)

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  5. an interesting interpretation :)...

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