One of Rene Descartes most often quoted sayings regards what it means to be a real seeker of the truth, and is likewise quoted as stating “cogito ergo sum” which translates to “I think, therefore I am.” The issue with society today is that there is not much thinking going on, and as such, it is not possible to truly label the majority of the population as a seeker of truth.
1. What is your initial point of view?
My initial point of view is that I agree with Descartes that one must doubt all things, at least once in their life, in order to be a “real seeker after truth” (Louis).
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2. How can you define your point of view more clearly?
I can define my point more clearly by explaining that while I do agree with Descartes I also think that in 2013 the task would be very time consuming and kind of impractical to doubt every single thing “as far as possible” (Louis).
3. What is an example of your point of view?
An example of my point of view is that in the American society most people do not have the luxury of a vast amount free time to doubt all things, or search for truth, nor do they show the inclination to do so. Most Americans are too busy with mundane daily tasks such as working, going to school, parenting, or all three. In addition, most people are complacent in this day and age. They no longer search for knowledge, and they stop learning as soon as they are possibly able; while they may watch a show on Discovery or on the Science Channel, these are passive activities that require nothing more than the click of a button in order to attain a small amount of information on a given topic.
4. What is the origin of your point of view?
The origin of my point of view is my personal life and my empirical observations of how others act in their daily lives. Everyone is running around crazed over technology and American time constraints. Until taking this class I too was crazed over time and I still am to a point but I am no longer chained to the clock. But now I tend to actually think more and think about things I never anticipated thinking about.
5. What are your assumptions?
I am assume that most Americans are too focused on technology (phones, tablets, computers) and that they take everything they Google as truth. In stating “everything they Google” I am also including all items that they may see in other forms of electronic media. I assume these things because that is what I observe people doing all the time.
6. What are your reasons, evidence, and arguments that support your point of view?
One reason that supports my argument is found in people watching. When watching other persons and their typical behaviors, they tend to pull out their phones to search for anything, always accepting the first search result provided by Google as the truth, never bothering to check and see if it is from a legitimate site, and going off the information from there. I knew one person who firmly believed that Rhode Island was an actual island because they read it on the internet, and while most people may not display this extreme level of ridiculousness, situations of this nature do occur often enough to be stated with certainty.
7. What are other points of view on this issue?
Other points of view on this issue include a belief that this type of thinking is still present, or that these conditions are not required in order to be a seeker of truth. It could be argued that everyone could be considered a seeker of truth, because of the portion of the statement that says “at least once in your life,” for this is what children do. They constantly question, they constantly doubt, and they constantly expand the boundaries of the mind through imagination; while this may be slowly bled out of them as a result of standardized schooling, schooling that is now designed to teach nothing but conformity to a certain way of thought, they initially have that absolute wonder at the world which causes them, by virtue of curiosity, to question everything. As Descartes only says that it must be done at least once in life, thus it could be argued that everyone has done so as a child, regardless of whether or not they still do so to this day. The other possible point of view, that these are not the only conditions that cause one to be labeled as a seeker of truth could be proven by pointing out those who are avid readers. They constantly search in books, reshaping their worldview with each and every page they read, but they are not questioning all things, merely acquiring additional knowledge and restructuring their worldviews on the basis of this knowledge.
8. What is your conclusion, decision, solution, or prediction?
My prediction, given the current focus on technology in society today, is that given the availability of the internet, and the hustle and bustle of day to day life, society will not change unless there is an eye-opening event which serves as a way to precipitate the change; it would not even need to be a catastrophic event, or an extreme event, only an event that, through its occurrence, causes a country or nation to be “unplugged” for a certain amount of time. It is the dependence upon technology that needs to be removed in order for a change in the way of thought, the way of life, and the ability to think critically to occur.
9. What are the consequences of your point of view?
There are two main consequences of my point of view, the first being that there will be no form of favorable change, and the second that should there be a change, it will only occur as the result of an event, such as a failure of one of the major internet backbones, even for a period of a few days. If no such event occurs, society will continue to trend in a manner that causes them to accept everything they are shown as truth, and in doing so turn them into more docile, more complacent sheep, as shown in Huxley’s Brave New World, controlled through drugs and entertainment.
Conclusion:
Descartes was on the right track when he stated that in order for a person to be a seeker of the truth, he must doubt everything. The admonition to question everything is not a new one, having been mentioned in the Bible, as well as by other philosophers. These are not new ideas, but rather, the idea of thinking of these ideas is an idea revisited; a concept that most people today have forgotten, and what’s worse, forgotten how to do so. Descartes does not as that each person sit and ponder every little thing, nor does he demand that people sit and think for a long period of time about each and every thing, but merely requests that all things really be thought about instead of accepted, and that is something that is possible in this day and age. People need to stop living to work, and start working to live, and in order to do so, a shift in the way that people think is necessary, something that may be accomplished by upholding the very principle of what Descartes has asked all men and women to do.
