Riding Mantra #966.11

Cogito, sum
- Rene Descartes

Contrary to popular belief, Descartes never said the phrase "cogito ergo sum." Rather, he said "cogito, sum", which got lost in the translation from French to Latin to English. "Cogito ergo sum" translates as "I think therefore I am" which implies that existence is the effect of the cause of thinking, which is a philosophical fallacy. This jargon is equivillant to making existence a quality with which can be put on an object. [E.g. This ball is red, round, filled with air, and (oh by the way) it exists.] Contrarily, "cogito, sum" translates as "I think, I am" meaning that in doing the thinking, he is also existing at the same time. The thinking and the existing are simultaneous and not causal. Through this point, Descartes has found a point to his Archimedean lever and thus can extrapolate his next major point, the "res cogitans." Which is thus followed by the great deceptor, the existence of God, and the re-establishment of the material world. (-wikipedia)