Existence

[Coolydudey]

Famously, Descartes had once said "I think therefore I am". This quote is actually shrugged off by many as meaningless or not applicable, and some even appeal to arguments such as "how do we know we're not in the matrix?". The answer is that even though we don't know, there is some truth in Descartes' words. It doesn't mean that because we think therefore we are human in the perceived sense of the word (even if this might be what it meant to Descartes), but that because we think there is some process that is generating our thought. Because our self-awareness is the awareness of our thoughts and forms (bodies) as separate and distinct, and because we are assuming that we do not know our true forms (e.g. We might be aliens in a matrix), our self-awareness is limited to our thoughts. And since our thoughts are created by the process which generates them, we are, in one sense of the word, that process, since our self-awareness is limited to our thoughts. To sum this up: we think, therefore there is a process that generates the thought, therefore we are, in some sense that process. Or more poetically: "I think therefore I am".

One interesting offshoot of this thought process is that we know there is necessarily something, even if it is just as mundane as quantum-mechanical phenomena generating our thoughts.

 

[SLushhYYY]

Humans are microscopic bacteria...our perception of our consciousness as being ultimate is humorous. Yes, we are humans because we can perceive ourselves as such, but we are merely the construct of many different intelligences. The laws of nature are far superior to our perception, its intelligence is far greater than ours, it serves a purpose, we do not.

 

[Cognisant]

I. Think. Therefore. I. Am.

I = Concept of self, a concept derived from self observation, but who created the concept and who made the observation? Both could, theoretically, be falsehoods hardwired into the brain.

Think = Furthermore if thinking is goal based information processing, what's doing the processing and where did the goals come from? In other words if I imagine a fictional character contemplating his own existence then his simulated existence isn't actually real, despite his self awareness.

Therefore = An expression of logic, except in logic to assumed facts are used to deduce a third, so this isn't actually logic, it's just a baseless axiom.

Am = Are we?

AI and existentialism are my specialties and believe me cogito ergo sum is just the tip of the iceberg

 

[walfin]

I realise that in the phrase "cogito ergo sum" there is no personal pronoun in the sentence.

Really, then, all that it stands for is that when there is a process going on there must be something that is involved in that process, even if it is only the process itself, whatever that may be.

 

[Coolydudey]

@Cognisant

I. Think. Therefore. I. Am.

I = Concept of self, a concept derived from self observation, but who created the concept and who made the observation? Both could, theoretically, be falsehoods hardwired into the brain.

Define I=thoughts that are perceived (for example)

Think = Furthermore if thinking is goal based information processing, what's doing the processing and where did the goals come from? In other words if I imagine a fictional character contemplating his own existence then his simulated existence isn't actually real, despite his self awareness.

We don't know, yet there is something doing the processing

Therefore = An expression of logic, except in logic to assumed facts are used to deduce a third, so this isn't actually logic, it's just a baseless axiom.

What if we can come up with facts that aren't assumed? There is definitely some process perceiving thoughts, and definitely some process generating thoughts. If reality as we perceive it were true, both of these processes would happen in the brain, but they have to be happening somehow. (It is impossible that no process->implications, since there is nothing that could have created the implications, namely thought in this case).

Am = Are we?

This is the argument...

AI and existentialism are my specialties and believe me cogito ergo sum is just the tip of the iceberg

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