Origin of Descartes V1.001

"If you would be a real seeker after truth,
it is necessary that at least once in your life
you doubt, as far as possible, all things."

Descartes




Not too long ago, an anonymous person posted a comment to say that I was misusing a specific name and was causing her untold discomfort. Ok, the second part was false(but if she was comfortable with it, why did she told me about it?) Anyway, in an attempt to clear my name and prevent myself from suffering the wrath of God, I checked the definition of the word just in case mine was wrong. See below...


Main Entry: mes?si?ah
Pronunciation: m&-'sI-&
Function: noun

1 the expected king and deliverer of the Jews, Jesus
2 : a professed or accepted leader of some hope or cause

In my case, I was refering myself to the second definition. I have no intention to mock You Know Who or misrepresent any unknown cause. So, next time you want to point your finger at anyone, please get the FACTS right. But, after being "reprimanded" for my insensitivity, I decided to change my nickname. After constant pondering(and an instant flash of revelation), I decided to call myself Descartes V1.001, or setracseD.

Just a brief introduction, René Descartes was born on March 31, 1596 in Touraine, France. He became one of the most important and influential thinkers in human history, and is sometimes called the founder of modern philosophy. Well known for his quote: "Cogito ergo sum" or "I think therefore I am.", he wrote a thought-provoking piece called "A Discourse on Method, Meditations on First Philosophy" in 1641 and sparked off several controversies. Because he lived at a time when traditional ideas were being questioned, he sought to devise a method for reaching the truth. This concern and his method of systematic doubt had an enormous impact on the subsequent development of modern philosophy.

In Descartes' view, the universe was created by God on whose power everything depends. He thought of God as resembling the human mind in that both the mind and God think, but have no physical being. But he believed that God is unlike the human mind in that God is infinite and does not depend on a creator for His existence. In addition to his accomplishments as a philosopher Descartes was an outstanding mathematician, inventing analytic geometry and attempting to devise the simple universal laws that governed all physical change. In 1649, Queen Christina of Sweden persuaded Descartes to come to Stockholm and he died of pneumonia almost a year later because of the extremely cold climate. Irony irony irony...seems to me that geniuses always come to no good end.

Hope that my new nickname will not send any arrows flying at me as I doubt few idolise, or should I say look up to, Descartes as fervent as You Know Who. Please forgive my use of improper language because in the process of writing this "discourse", my heart is still thinking of giving that anonymous a piece of my mind. But as I said previously, it is human to make mistakes and hurt people so I shall try to be forgiving this time.