Nothing like a Latin tag for alienating readers (unless it's a Greek tag, written in triangles). Mind you, in some cases, foreignness flatters readers.
Cogs, they say, it's about gear-wheels. Written by Spannerus, the first Latin car mechanic. Whereas those who know, pass by. How banal the old fool has become, they say. He was better (but only just) when he knew his place and blogged as a ship's bosun.
I know you all know. But with Descartes' "I think therefore I am" it's the tone that puzzles. Was he implying that anyone who thinks exists, or just him, the French smarty-boots.
Because he was smart, you know. Newton, the English smarty-boots, gave him credit.
Presently I'm thinking about lunch. It's a diet day, thus CuppaSoup minestrone, apple, satsuma. Does that thought prove I exist? How about Beef Wellington? Not that Descartes would have eaten Beef Wellington. Or perhaps he would - vengefully. But the dates are wrong.
To qualify, the thought has to be an abstraction (ie, longish. No, that's not right, love's an abstraction. Memo to self: Get out of this, fast.) Ignorance is an abstraction.
Quod erat demonstrandum.
You know that, too. QED – which has just been demonstrated (in effect). Alienation next up.
Blest Redeemer (140,873 words. It’s shrinking folks).
When Judith got a chance to check the newly stored groceries she was relieved to find raw materials rather than made-up cottage pies and lasagne. Although why on earth did this matter? Were unpeeled carrots a proof of character? Did the chicken stir-fry Imogen subsequently made and shared help rebut her parents’ worst fears?
I think therefore I blog ...
ReplyDelete"I think therefore I am". A rather banal observation,non? If some French peasant had said it, rather than Descartes, we would not be quoting it now. Being an intellectual I don't think he meant just himself but l'humanité in general (perhaps not le paysan?)
ReplyDeleteYou could turn the phrase around:
"I am therefore I think" and it would be both true and banal. Anymore variations?
Per Natalie's invitation, the jazzman version:
ReplyDeleteI blink, therefore I jam.
All: Poor old René. He is just that bit more profound than I've let on. He was trying to say something pithy obout the nature of Western phiosophy and pithiness should always be applauded. Too many many people - like me, for instance - especially pensioners, do run off at the mouth.
ReplyDeleteThere are many ways the apophthegm may be rewritten, all of which have to be followed up by a little amplification. For example:
Thought is the only proof we have that we exist. Oh really? How about our bodies as proof? Ah, but we need thought to perceive our bodies.
I believe it is known as the mind-body dichotomy. More especially it is an illustration of the aims of one form of philosophy - the establishment of primary causes.
I really am sorry I've betrayed the old French smarty-boots but for the shallowest of reasons. I envy him not for his brain but his looks. Had I looked like him I'd probably have got much further in life. Why I might today be a retired teacher. Primary school, of course.
Blonde Two. How about:
I think, therefore I find myself making up aphorisms.
I think - and everyone laughed.
I think, but I know I'll go on to watch telly.
MikeM: There is more than a grain of truth in that. Jamming (as opposed to playing the tune straight) is certainly proof of an active mind.
One needs a mind to perceive the physical body, yes, but without a functioning physical brain there is no perception. Ouroboros lives again, the chicken ponders the egg, and my jazzman lives (blinks) to play.
ReplyDeleteA mind which needs proof that it exists must have plenty of time on its hands. There are many very good and even brilliant minds who are convinced that they exist because they are busy existing.
ReplyDeleteNatalie: 'Tis the mind-body dichotomy. I'm tormented by it myself. So little of one, so much of the other.
ReplyDeleteYes it's a dichotomous problem which grows more problematic with age as one notices a gap between the two. They used to get along quite well, in my life anyway, but now they bicker constantly. Hard to say who's in the right.
ReplyDelete