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Meditation One: What can be called into doubt?

Doubt is an emotion that one experiences when they are discontented with an explanation

of a phenomenon. Science encourages people to question beliefs to develop confidence or

disregard the opinion if there are no sufficient pieces of evidence supporting the idea. Descartes'

text is a personal journey from believing what he was thought towards questioning everything. In

the process, the author discovered that the boundary between real and fiction is a blur. Therefore,

what people generally believe to be true could be a mere illusion. Nevertheless, the author thinks

that some aspects of life are real. For instance, one may be certain of their existence because they

can think but remain uncertain about what their senses perceive. Descartes is right to believe that

it is safer to have complete distrust about everything than to have complete trust.

Explanation

Descartes begins the text by acknowledging that his beliefs were mostly fallacies. He,

therefore, undertook to uncover whether there was anything absolute in the world. But first, he

had to discard all his previous beliefs. He states that "I must withhold assent from things that are

not certain and indubitable just as carefully as from those which are false." This filter was

essential in preventing him from developing other beliefs that were fallacies. However, the

number of ideas made it impractical to assess all the views. Therefore, he created three

fundamental opinions that summarized all his beliefs: all ideas generated from sensory organs

are doubtful,
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The author believes that senses are not always accurate. Instead, one perceives senses by

comparing the actual perception concerning what is already in their mind. For instance, from a

distance, looking on the highway, one sees a vision that looks like the sea, but upon arriving, the

image disappears. He also note that, when one checks an open house and hears music and an

aroma of fruits, one is likely to make decision-based on the perception that the house comes with

music and fruits, while actually, the real estate agent plays the music on the background and the

fruity taste comes from aromatic candles or incense burning in the building. Therefore, senses

are not reliable in the distinguishing between real and make-believe.

Descartes also believes that he is dreaming. In dreams, everything appears real, although they

may not be. However, in his ideas of dreams, he makes distinctions about the things that are

doubtful from the absolute stuff. For instance, he believes that mathematics is absolute. The

product of two figures will remain the same, whether in a dream or reality. Also, shapes such as

triangles will always have three sides. Besides, he states that dreamers can only dream about

things that they have seen or experienced. For instance, one sees a tree and recognize it in a

dream because they have witnessed trees before, and they are real.

Finally, he concludes with his opinion about god. The author believes that god exists, and

he is responsible for the creations, including Descartes himself. However, he thinks that the

things said about god are doubtful. Therefore, the existence of god is not absolute but doubtful.

Nevertheless, he admits that his belief in god conflicts with other beliefs.

Evaluate

Descartes rationalism about senses is compelling. Progressing knowledge has proven

previous beliefs are not real. For instance, lightning does not take place before the thunder. On
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the contrary, the two actions occur at the same time. However, since the eyes see the flash before

the ears perceive the noise, one may think that the events are separate. This phenomenon is

widely employed in the film industry. To simulate gunshot, the "victim" falls, and a gun sound is

played simultaneously. Therefore, the viewer may think that one action is caused by the other,

even when the falling and the sound are merely separate events co-occurring. Similarly, when

one is dreaming, everything seems real. The person sees objects, hears sounds, and perceive

touch. However, in reality, none of the actions is taking place. Therefore, what one understand

using the senses may be manipulated by the brain's affinity to create relationships between the

real events and the information stored in the memory.

However, the text lacks consistency. For instance, Descartes holds that his existence is

beyond doubt. He supports the belief by stating, "I think; therefore I am." Nevertheless, thinking

and existing are not related to phenomena. When the statement is written in reverse, it becomes

“I exist because I think”. But, if he says, “mountains walk because I think”, logically, the

statement would not hold true. However, following Descartes reasoning, then the ability of

mountains to walk would be absolute, just like the absoluteness of his existence because he

thinks. Also, the author’s belief in god lacks enough justification compared to his opinion on

senses and dreaming. Initially, the author stated that it is better to doubt everything than to have

the slightest doubt. Therefore, Descartes belief about the existence of god is biased. He wishes

the idea to be real

Reflection

The primary question that arises from the text is whether we are composed of our biases.

There are compelling reasons to believe so. Growing as a Christian child, I learnt about

Christianity and what religion expected me to be. I was thought to believe in one God, Jesus his
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son who was conceived through the powers of the holy spirit, the existence of heaven and hell,

the devil as the source of all evil, and a set of ten rules that govern the relationship between

human and god as well as between human and fellow human. In addition, there were incentives

such as a life of extreme abundance in heaven for believing in the teachings and following them

diligently and sufficient punishment for disbelieving and violating the instructions. Therefore, I

avoided disbelieving at all costs.

However, growing up, I developed questions concerning the writings in the Bible. I

remember myself wondering where god himself came from, how long he had existed before

creating the earth, and his motives for creating the world and all that is in it. The Bible also

teaches that taking another person's spouse is a deadly sin. However, god made a child with

Joseph's wife. It is also important to note that god commanded several individuals to kill, thus

contradicting his laws. Therefore, one would wonder when exceptions should be created while

following the Ten Commandments. Nevertheless, religion taught me not to question, so I did not

question openly.

Another issue is the existence of various religions across the world. Most religions share

the common belief of good over evil. Therefore, goodness seems to be a universal law. Among

the Hindus, people who do well to other creatures come back in their next lives as superior

creatures, while individuals who are devoid of empathy return as inferior beings. On the other

hand, Islam teaches that good people shall go to Jannah while evil people will go to Jahannam

where their souls will be tormented forever. Besides, each religion has a religious book to refer

to.

Therefore, I believe that religion is deeply embedded in the culture of a group of people

to govern morality among the people. I the animation film known as the Small Foot, Yankee
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elders created a belief that human (small foot) did not exist to limit the curiosity of their people

that would have led them towards human, consequently bringing destruction among the Yankees.

Similarly, the phenomena that people belief aims to achieve a particular moral goal. The Ten

Commandments, for instance, reduced internal conflicts among the Jewish people, hence

allowing them to focus on their external enemies. Therefore, while reading the text, I could not

help but think whether god created humans or humans created god.

Conclusion

Descartes' text is insightful. It challenges the audience to evaluate beliefs and separate real from

make-believe. But before one makes the distinction, they must first rid themselves of their

previous beliefs. Nevertheless, the author is incapable of ridding himself of the idea that god

exists even though he knows he should since he does not want to lose his identity. Therefore, it is

true that humans are who they are because of their biases.