I think, therefore I am.

What would a Descartes say today?

Photo by Paola Chaaya on Unsplash

Dear human friend,

“I think, therefore I am.” Descartes once said. And our thinking became our new being. This happened on the suffering of consciousness those days, and no one noticed. But how should we have known better, as we identified ourselves with our actions, which we believed to be led by our thoughts? These days, we were conscious of things, actions and situations, but we were not yet conscious of being conscious of things, actions and situations. We rather put our very precious action, Descartes his thinking, on top of that consciousness.

Let us imagine being on a hike in the mountains. While we walk up the steep hill, we are conscious of the surroundings we can see. The sky, the trees, the mountains. Maybe we sense our breath or the tension in the muscles of our legs. We might even consciously listen to the nature. Anything.

Now let us imagine again, being on a hike. But as we arrive on the top of the hill, we cannot recall any of that steep walk up, any pictures, sounds or sensations of the surroundings. That might occur, if we have thought about another important situation, a person, a problem during the walk up. But considering, that we still have found the path, that we have reached the top, must mean, that we have been conscious of the surroundings at all times…