Cogito Ergo Sum

René Descartes is who that phrase is largely contributed to. Essentially the translation is "I think therefore I am". I could go into near infinite detail about the essence of that phrase, but that is not my point of writing this. What I hope to achieve is to articulate the absolute critical importance of meaningful, directed, conscious thinking that is WAY outside the box. In order to illustrate that importance, I start with the How, and then deal with the Why.

How

www.ted.com seems on the surface to be a bunch of intellectuals spouting off about theoretical outcomes, but really what it is, is a place where people can be encouraged and excited to start thinking outside the box with immediate real world implications. For example I watched this video this morning:

http://www.ted.com/talks/aubrey_de_grey_says_we_can_avoid_aging.html

His claim that people who are alive today could realistically live for 1000 years is kinda "out there". One of those things that you just pass off and ignore as the insane ramblings of an old man who looks like he should be holding an End of the World sign on a street corner. BUT, and it is a VERY big "but", this gentleman is a respected researcher at Cambridge. You do not get to be a respected researcher at an Ivy League school by being insane.

Perhaps there is a small element of truth in his ideas. If there is a small element of truth in what he had to say, then the single most important thing for me, and every other person on the planet, to do is simply to stay alive. Live as healthy as possible so that if this possibility comes to light, you are in a physical state to take advantage of it, and not one of the people who are stuck, quite literally, in a death spiral.

Why

In very real terms, 22 minutes of my life spent watching a very "out there" person ramble on about things that seem too incredulous to be worth while has motivated me to make immediate and lasting changes to the way I live my life. This is almost like a religious epiphany. This is a way to obtain eternal life theoretically speaking. This is way beyond the empty unverifiable promises of very religion out there. This is a tangible, testable, explicit manner in which humanity in general COULD gain essentially eternal life.

I have faith in science, I grew up using the Apple IIe in grade school, I have watched and participated in the internet building around me and into the very fabric of my life to the point where functioning without it for an extended period of time would be like going back to grade 1 for remedial training... totally lacking fulfillment. I have faith in science to produce new, regular, and almost predictable innovations. I have faith that the longer I live, the longer science will be able to keep me alive. Not just alive, because seriously who wants to have time added on at the end of their life, but alive in a healthy state. I am changing my accepted dogma about life. I am breaking the mold in such a way that I am fundamentally different today than I was 24 hours ago. What exactly that means, to be perfectly honest, I don't know; however what I do know is that it is different, it is outside my expectations, outside my thoughts, outside my plans, outside of anything I have considered to be within the realm of possibility.

So was this whole rant about life eternal and the nearly insane ramblings of Aubrey de Grey? No, it was about a point. That listening to talks on www.ted.com is a sure fire way to radically change the way you think about the problems around you and the future of the world. It is an exercise in thinking WAY outside the box, and that is something that is fundamentally important to each and every person in this world, both on a personal level, and on a global level. Simply picking a random topic and listening to innovative radical thinkers talk about where things are moving, or where things should move, will motivate and drive you to live your life to the fullest by simply thinking.

René Descartes was the father of the philosophy of Dualism as it pertains to the mind. This theory of Dualism has been largely and almost uniformly discredited for many obvious reasons that I will not get into here. But perhaps there is a small kernel of truth in there that is fundamentally critical to our very existence - I think therefore I am. Never stop thinking. Never let a good idea die because others scoff at it. Could ANYONE have predicted the success of Farmville or Mafia Wars? Last I hear, Zynga was pulling in $200 million in revenue after only 2 years of operations. That data is one year old. Draw your own conclusions.

I think therefore I am.