what does this really mean?!?

Question

I think therefor i am!

Answer 1

In the real world nothing can be proven to exist, according to a philosophical view. Because everything you feel, taste, smell, hear and see is only what your senses tell your brain. Your senses can be deceived. "I think therefor I am" is the only statement that can be considered accurate. I cannot prove that you are a conscient being, but I can prove I am, because I think, hence I am. Even if I am just a brain in a jar, I would still exist, because I am conscious, but I cannot prove to you that I am.

That is the core idea behind the statement "I think therefor I am" (Cogito ergo sum).

Answer 2

This phrase is part of Descartes's attempt to find a solid ground for the existence of "something rather than nothing" - or to answer the question "what IS there?". The point was to take for granted only the existence of those things that seem necessary, whose inexistence would simply be impossible, and to (reasonably!) doubt the existence of everything else. So, how can we find such things, if there are any?

FIRST: everything I sense could be an illusion (or, as he puts it, there might be an "evil god" that deceives me, sending me always false stimulations. Well yes, the Machines in Matrix would be a good example for Descartes's deceiving god).

THEREFORE: if I want to get rid of any sort of illusions, I should doubt everything that I sense, and if I do that, I should doubt the very existence of everything in the world. the inexistence of "external" objects is not impossible.

BUT: there is only one thing I cannot possibly doubt - the very fact that I am doubting everything. And also, the fact that doubting is a thinking-process. So the first "axiom": dubito, ergo cogito. I doubt, therefore I think.

AND FURTHER: it is impossible that this thinking be without the thinker, that is, my mind. So, the inexistence of the mind is an impossibility, due to the fact that the doubting of everything is clearly real, and that this doubt must come from some mind (in order to be mistaken, or deceived about the external things & co, there must be an existent "I" that is being deceived). Cogito, ergo sum; I think, therefore I am.

SO, by the simple fact that I ask myself these questions, it must be that I (some form of me) does *actually* and necessarily exist.

...Of course, this line of reasoning could be and has been strongly criticized. But nowadays, "I think, therefore I am" has come to mean that one can prove oneself's actual existence with the fact that one is thinking (or that one can reflect on matters, or that one is conscious).

...whoa, I didn't mean to make it so long.


4 Ronin: that was exactly Bertrand Russell's (among others') objection.

Answer 3

This is a philosopher's way of proving that humans exist.

If you've seen The Matrix you'll know that it has a theory that our 'lives' are actually just hallucinations or dreams - and that our reality is a lot more horrible.

But people have been wondering whether we really really exist for a lot longer - waaaaay before The Matrix came out!

Descartes reckoned that he knew he existed because he has thought processes - he is in control of his own mind and thus he was sure he existed - he thinks, therefore he is an individual existing thing.

Now, there are lots of people who disagree with what he suggested - but that's a whole different answer!

Hope it helps.

Answer 4

This could mean that our perception of reality depends upon our thoughts; our perception of reality also means our knowledge of ourselves in a physical world, including specific ways we behave, act, feel, and look individually. If for example I look into a mirror I get very accurate idea the way I look, and if I interact with the world I get to know myself better, what type of person I am, what my needs and desires are, all this is perceived as a reflection of myself into a real world he surrounds me, and all this depends upon my thinking.

But, what is thinking? In my view thinking is like ripples created upon the surface of water for example by the passing of breeze, and in the dark of a night we can determine if there is water ahead by the sound of a splash when a stone is thrown. All the effects we gather about our reality create thoughts in our mind, without these effects our mind would be completely still without any recognisable and differentiable individualistic characteristics. We are the way we are because of they way we think, and therefore act, react and feel thereafter. Without our thoughts we would not have known anything, and a state of thoughtlessness in the mind is practically impossible.

According to mystical principles of thought the origin of human life is not the thought, but divine love. Our thoughts are but our means for existence, and neither an end nor a beginning in existence. The origin of human life is divine love therefore all right thoughts are thoughts of love, our thoughts leading us to our rightful destination, our original love that caused creation, thus necessitating thought. It is kind of displacement for us, this physical world, a place where we are for some purpose, with some thoughts, as if we were created into physical reality so that we may learn return to our original form, and true capacity in being. And this is what we long to do, and this is what we yearn for all our life and we use thoughts for this search to find our excellence, to try to see where we are, where we have come from, where we are going and most importantly how we are?

Answer 5

Without the ability to think - ie sentient consciousness - existence wouldn't have meaning.

A bacteria exists, but if it doesn't think and is not aware of its own existence, then "I am" is a statement that has no meaning for the bacteria.

To acknowledge your own existence - ie "I am" requires thought.

-or-

Thinking is not passive but active. The act of thinking creates the world we perceive through our senses, at least in any sense that has meaning to the individual thinker.

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Perhaps the statement is meant to be pondered in a way like a Zen Koan such as "what's the sound of one hand clapping?" The 'right' answer is the spontaneous answer, regardless of what that answer may be.

Perhaps the statement is meant to be interpretive like a painting a song or a poem.

Answer 6

To correct another answer here (Jane M, I think), Decart said nothing about proving that humans exist through that statement. He only said that "I know I exist because I think." Even if all our perceptions of the world and our own body are illusions or dreams, the fact that I can even consider those things proves that I exist -- at least there is something here that thinks. It says nothing about WHAT I am or what the nature of my experiences are -- if they are real or I'm just hallucinating or if, like the Matrix, *I* am just a program running through its algorithm. Thinking does not let me know that YOU really exist. That is an emperical assumption. It says nothing about the existence of other human beings. Some philosophers have said that "Cogito ergo sum" was the very last logical or rational statement that Descartes made. Everything else took leaps of faith, because Descartes was a man of faith.

Answer 7

In a nutshell. Descartes said this because he believed that because he thinks that is the only thing he could be sure existed. Well, along with God because God is "Clear and distinct" (according to Descartes). So from this he was able to say both him and God exist, without a doubt. All the stuff around must exist too because God wouldn't let "an evil demon" fool him into thinking there was something there when there wasn't.

Answer 8

I guess you are referring to the sentence of Descartes:

"cogito ergo sum" (I think, therefore I exist)

It means that given the fact that you were able to have a thought (the act to think) then you exist, because if you do not exist there would no mind to make the though.

The simple fact that you can think implies that you are in this world. That you are conscious of your existence.

Answer 9

It comes down to philosophies of great people before us.
"As a man/woman thinks, therefore he/she is."

It is all mental. You are what you think. Kind of the same as you are what you eat. If you think positive. . . positive things will happen. Especially when negativity hits. . .that is where you have to guard your thoughts the most. In a world full of turmoil. . .we all have to do our part to show peace.

Answer 10

An Oxford graduate told me on Sunday that it should read: 'I am thinking, therefore I am.'

It is, apparently, the only way that it is possible to prove that we exist. We could just be dreaming that we exist, but if you realise that you are - at this moment - thinking (you have to be to be able to say it!), then we MUST exist.