Rene Descartes??

Question

Hi! I am in need of help on ideas for Rene Descartes. I have to do a speech in class about Rene Descartes and I dont know what to talk about. It can be about anything as long as it is about Rene Descartes. I want to make it interesting because the class is grading me and if I do something boring I will get a bad grade. All I am asking for is some ideas and some websites?

Answer 1

"I think therefore I am"

Answer 2

It's a knockoff of a version Robin Williams told. Robin Williams was doing a sketch on how only Steven Hawking could do stand-up come...er, just comedy, at MIT, then says in a computerized voice, "Rene Descartes walks into a bar. The barkeep asks, would you like a beer? Descartes replies, I think not, and promptly disappears." As far as I've researched this joke, this is the origin of this joke, though he might have had prior inspiration.

Answer 3

Descartes is often called the father of modern science. He established a new, clear way of thinking about philosophy and science by rejecting all ideas based on assumptions or emotional beliefs and accepting only those ideas which could be proved by or systematically deduced from direct observation. He took as his philosophical starting point the statement Cogito ergo sum -- "I think, therefore I am." Descartes made major contributions to modern mathematics, especially in developing the Cartesian coordinate system and advancing the theory of equations

Answer 4

Descartes spent a long time in an oven and came up with the Cogito (I think therefore I am or Cogito Ergo Sum) and Analytic Geometry (plotting math on a coordinate plane).

There's always the joke that your don't quite understand the Cogito, but you think it's true

thus

Cogito Cogito ergo Cogito sum.

or

I think I think therefore I think I am.

Answer 5

Descartes invented the grid that is used in Algebra and geometry. That is why points on a graph are identified by their Cartesian Coordinates.

That's a pretty impressive start. Go with it.

Answer 6

Tell this joke for the smart kids:
Descartes walks into a bar and the barman asks "Will you be having the usual?"
Descartes says "I think not...." and disappears.

In case you dont get it, Descartes said "Cogito ergo sum" i think therefore i am

Answer 7

Check Wikipedia for all info on Descartes.

Answer 8

Check your public library reference for a book. If you're in a small town without a good library, look at Amazon.com.

Answer 9

I normally don't use wikipedia, but this is pretty accurate.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Descartes
http://www.renedescartes.com/

Answer 10

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rene_Descartes

"Je pense donc je suis."

Answer 11

http://www.iep.utm.edu/d/descarte.htm