2007-02-23 05:12:16 · 8 answers · asked by Anonymous in Science & Mathematics ➔ Physics
Cogito ergo sum
It was Reneé Descartes who reasoned his way into what was later describes as the "Brain in a vat". He argued that you could be certain of nothing more than the fact that something was thinking.
How can you be sure you're not in the matrix? You can´t
2007-02-23 08:00:36 · answer #1 · answered by MSDC 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I could probably look this up somewhere and give the exact answer, but I'll try to remember off the top of my head instead!
I believe "I Think Therefore I Am" has to do with one of 2 existential ideas. The first one is being self-aware, as human beings are -- we are aware of our existence unlike animals. We have conscious thought, so therefore we exist (I am).
There's also another side of this having to do with whether we actually are individuals - unique creatures. And the fact that we think our own thoughts makes us exist as individuals. This is the one I'm cloudy on though.
As far as the matrix is concerned - it doesn't matter existentially. If you exist, you exist. Either you are hooked into the matrix or into your body. Same difference :)
2007-02-23 13:20:50 · answer #2 · answered by monster5235 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Well, I will leave the Descartes stuff to those who know it better, but as for the matrix, the answer is, you cannot really tell, but the fact is that it is very unlikely. If the machines wanted a power source, they could do way, way far better than using people as a source. It is a cool movie (it clobbers the other 2) but the essential concept of it is in fact bogus: it would work, barely, but it would not be worth it. And if the machines wanted to abuse us that badly, why not actually enslave us rather than just delude us?
2007-02-23 13:16:49 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
i think therefor i am, means that it doesnt matter wether youre in the matrix or not.
Life is not determined by Perception, but by the fact that you can ponder about what youre seeing. The fact that you think proves that youre not just a program in the matrix, or a person in someone else's dream.
I think, therefor i exist.
2007-02-23 13:20:21 · answer #4 · answered by mrzwink 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
"But I have convinced myself that there is absolutely nothing in the world, no sky, no earth, no minds, no bodies. Does it now follow that I too do not exist? No: if I convinced myself of something [or thought anything at all] then I certainly existed. But there is a deceiver of supreme power and cunning who is deliberately and constantly deceiving me. In that case I too undoubtedly exist, if he is deceiving me; and let him deceive me as much as he can, he will never bring it about that I am nothing so long as I think that I am something. So, after considering everything very thoroughly, I must finally conclude that the proposition, I am, I exist, is necessarily true whenever it is put forward by me or conceived in my mind." - Rene Descartes
In layman's terms: if you consciously thought to ask this question then your existence is real and your entire life isn't some 10 year old kids dream.
2007-02-23 13:22:20 · answer #5 · answered by ChemGuy 2 · 1⤊ 0⤋
If you're not in the actors' guild and your name doesn't show up in the movie credits, then you're probably not in the matrix. I think therefore I am is attributed to the philosopher Descartes ...
2007-02-23 13:18:16 · answer #6 · answered by Gene 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
I think Cognito ergo sum is pretty well disproved on Y!A, don't you?
2007-02-23 13:25:55 · answer #7 · answered by LabGrrl 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
+2, thanks!
2007-02-23 13:15:16 · answer #8 · answered by jacquie 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋