First Meditation

This philosophical masterpiece by Rene Descartes centered in the idea that:

“There is reason to doubt everything I believe”

It is preposterous to propose such connotation when in the “real” life we often hold undisputed belief. So if the so called certain belief is merely an error, do we—to be close to truthfulness—shall stay away from holding such belief?

I think if the proposition can be brew even with a tiny fraction of probability—it is worth considering. Then before we mull over Descartes argument, we shall try to formulate if such probability does exist. The easiest way to verify such possibility is to find out whether our human biological features can be made consistent with the proposition.

One of the apparatus of Big Five personality traits is the openness to experience. What if we can meet with the most “open person” and the most “close person” in the world? What could be the personality of both?

The one that "close" might be living his life with full confident, believing that he is right all the time. There is a huge amount of defense mechanism operated in such confident personal. He might be skeptical of everything except that what he held belief in himself.

On the other hand, the "open" person might be living his life with full insecurity, easily seduce, believing that he is wrong all the time. The insecure person is also very skeptical, not to everything else but to belief held to himself. If such person does exist, our human biology can be made consistent with the proposition of Descartes. Even if the word “everything I believe” is a strong suggestion, our human biology can accommodate to that extent, as apparent to a psychological disorder people.

Let us began with Descartes...

The first meditation is dub as a “dialogue in a single voice”. It is because Descartes write from two points of view which are:

1. doubt is being advance
2. doubt is being resisted

and his whole proposition is being supported by five constructed arguments:

1. the senses have deceived us

What we aware comes from senses. But the senses reveal only what is outside, what is apparent. Deceived senses will mean deceived mind. If senses are prone to be deceived, does not it mean what we aware also prone to uncertainty?

2. some people have mad belief
3. dreaming argument

Have you ever had a dream, Neo, that you were so sure was real? What if you were unable to wake from that dream? How would you know the difference between the dream world and the real world?”~ Morpheus

The matrix movie has said it all. If there is a possibility that we cannot distinguish between when we are asleep and when we are awake, how can we not be a doubter?

4. all powerful God argument
5. malicious demon argument