June 10, 2003

Why Am I?

The philosopher Descartes embraced the primacy of self-awareness (Cogito, ergo sum). We have now learned that certain monkeys (and not even the smartest of the non-human primates at that) can solve and remember multiple complex, seven-part sequences of images (just as can college students). Both the monkeys and the college students can also compare and analyze a pair of images taken from different sequences to determine which of the two images comes first.
Given these findings that were not available to Descartes in the 17th Century, I wonder if he were alive today whether he might formulate his approach differently. After all, Fumus, ergo sum seems now to be just as defensible a position in light of the new evidence. [Pardon my Latin]

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