Descarte's Errors

Rene Descartes is a leviathan of a philosopher and a physiologist to boot; while alive he had many great ideas. However, he was oft misguided by logical suppositions that he had no way of disproving at the time. He believed that the pineal gland was the connection between the soul and body, and it stirred up "animal spirits" which flowed through the lymphatic system in such a manner as to convey the soul's choices and desires to the rest of the body. While this may sound humorous to those of us who know modern biology, anatomy, and physiology it is not that much more far-fetched than saying the truth. Our brains secrete Sodium ions, which flow at practically lightning speed across neurons and synapses to our body parts carrying messages and from your sensory neurons back to the brain and BLAH BLAH BLAH... you get the point. BUT, I DIGRESS.

Descartes' main error is identified in Antonio Demassio's book by the same name - Descartes' Error. I doubt I have the impetus to describe it any better than he did, so here I submit MY contention to the Titan.

Descartes once said Cogito, ergo sum. This may very well be what he is best known for. While it did (and still does) get me thinking, I currently find it to be false. My personal proof of existence is not enhanced by me sitting around and studying, reading books, working a math problem, or even daydreaming. I loose myself and my reality when I retreat into my thoughts. My preoccupation with ideas rips the world out of my fingertips, replacing it with notions - either correct or incorrect - but never in sync with time and what is going on. My reality is based upon one thing: Pain.

Pain never lies, and has no other purpose than to connect us to what is happening at any given point (or points) in time. Pain is what keeps us going, motivates us to save ourselves in dire times. Without it, we die. I'm not being melodramatic here either - it's called Congenital Insensitivity to Pain (CIP). Leprosy has a similar effect... it affects the nerves of the Peripheral Nervous System, causing desensitization; people would hurt themselves and not realize it, and that's why they'd loose fingers, toes, or limbs.

While this next point may seem at first a bit tangential, it's fairly interesting... Pain from an emotional event triggers the same neurological pathways as a physical event. To me, this exhibits a connection between myself and my emotion. Contrary to popular belief, Emotion is quantifiable and controllable. If I were to take an electrode, place it at the right place in your brain and activate it, I could readily elicit any number of emotions... pending the placement. So to bring it back around a bit, I assert that feeling painful emotion makes me feel more alive.

Just so we're clear, I'm not at risk of cutting, self mutilation, or anything like that. I may be a little more likely to throw harder for that last hold when climbing, or push myself for a faster pace jogging, but that's it.

To sum this up, SENTIO POENA, ERGO SUM. In other words, I feel pain... therefore I am.