Meaning

Usually translated from the Latin as ‘I think, therefore I am’.

Origin

Possibly the best known of all philososophical quotations; this is from the French philosopher René Descartes in his Discourse on Method (1637), where he attempted to prove his existence as a thinking being, by thinking. ‘I think, therefore I am’ comes to us in English via two translations. Descartes’ original statement in French was “Je pense, donc je suis”.

This is such a well-known line that it has spawned humourous alternatives, not least:

“I’m pink, therefore I’m spam”
“René Descartes was a drunken fart – I drink therefore I am”.
Taken from

This post was written following a discussion with a close friend of mine about how we ask superficial questions in fear of genuinely communicating. Of these questions, i particularly dislike the “what are you Thinking of?” question asked usually between two people in those blissful moments of prolonged silence.

I realised this week, I had started to ask this question myself. I hadn’t always asked people what they are thinking, for the simple reason that whenever i was the one being asked, i hated giving an answer.

Why do we ask this question? Silence is the natural result of one of our most defining traits as humans beings: thinking. It might have been a huge leap for Descartes to come up with that in the 17th century, but 372 years later this shouldn’t be a surprise anymore. If you make this realisation it becomes very clear that you are indeed asking a stupid question. We never ask “why are you breathing?” do we?

I suppose the question is legitimate when people are in situations where a solution to a problem is sought in silence, in 5 minutes or so of thinking and afterwards ideas are shared following the question “so, what are you thinking of?”.

Is the habit of asking this question coming from our insecurity, or from the misconceptions regarding silence. I think its important to ask yourself this question and find your own answer. Because silence is not always boredom. If you find nothing to say sometimes, communicate with a smile, a kiss or touch, should that be appropriate. You may happen to be a person that does much better with other types of communication than verbal.

Of course, the fact that we don’t have to be talking all the time shouldn’t be an excuse to be grumpy. And i personally, find myself guilty of being that sometimes.

Cezar

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