Outsmart Descartes.


January 15, 2022
Rene Descartes once opined, "I think, therefore I am." Four hundred years later, we’re awash in thinking and knowledge, but often missing some other foundational human qualities. While there are all kinds of other words Descartes could have used beyond "think" (breathe, feel, make love), "think" is still the king of the hill.

Let’s play a game. Start with this fill-in-the-blank sentence, “I _______, therefore I am.” Give me two answers. The first time you fill in the blank, you answer candidly about what is a defining characteristic of how you’ve lived your life so far. Your second answer would be how you’d like to live your life moving forward.

For me, my current answer would be, “I succeed, therefore I am” because I’ve spent my life being an accomplishment junkie. My future answer would be “give:” “I give, therefore I am.”

How about you? Here’s a few that some friends have suggested for themselves:

  • “I tweet, therefore I am.”
  • “I shop, therefore I am.”
  • “I garden, therefore I am.”
  • “I travel, therefore I am.”
  • “I cook, therefore I am.”
  • “I mother, therefore I am.”
  • “I startup, therefore I am.”
  • “I die, therefore I am.”
  • “I eat, therefore I bulge.”

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