I think therefore? Batter up?

 BATTER UP MR. DES CARTES

Today is the birthdate. Of one of the most famous of the semi-post Renaissance pre-Enlightenment (you know neither  a Gen X or Millennial) western philosophers.  Rene Des CARTES.  If you took  any advanced math especially linear algebra or linear geometry you undoubtedly experience his “coordinates slyly named “Cartesian”  by the way.   

Well if you know the coordinates for any two points on a straight line you can determine  the slope of that line and if life were a straight line then we could figure out a bunch of stuff like that we might be going straight to hel?  On the other hand...seeking peace and joy is not  a straight line and therefore, we should turn to Mr. DC’s other contribution to our modern life.  Their is this quote...”I think therefore I am.  Now this whole discourse has to do with the mind versus the soul and how we know we exist.  That’s pretty heavy stuffSo the notion is this....simplified...If you have thoughts and you are aware of them it is reasonable to know you do exist because  if you having thoughts is a reality then knowing you have them is a reality and thus your existence is true.  Conversely if either you doubt your thoughts or you cannot verify them then the idea that your doubts are valid is true and therefore you can know that and that means you exist too.  In short you are aware either way and thus your conscious self is real.  Isn’t hat nice/. 

Now thinking about this and becoming aware of my feelings regarding these thoughts it occurs to me that Des CARTES  might have also stated “I feel or I’m aware, therefore I am..... 

It’s hard not to wonder what impact  making emotions the basis. For saying  “i am” might have been or might be if we could adopt that stance.  How much  more would we have reward for the emotions of others and how much more would we value empathy above  labeling people with factoids?  Just think about that for a minute and how does it make you feel....Or do your feelings dictate your thoughts..hmmmm?  

Come on you logical positivist step to the plate—and speaking of that—

Tomorrow is opening day of a new baseball season and when the first batter steps in and first pitch whistles toward the plate a new story of that at bat begins and a new story of that season begins and new stats get cranking and the story of a season filled with hopes starts to unwind and if the batter  hits the ball all the physics of a round ball traveling at a high rate hitting a round bat come into play and the flight of the ball is influenced by the force of contact and the movement of th wind and the shape of the ballpark.  If the batter doesn’t swing the umpire defines the pitch as a strike or a ball and the rest of the story of that at bat is tainted by a slightly tilted count.  

So maybe seeking peace and joy is a bit like baseball with a lot of variables and infinite numbers of contexts and yet in the end some things are experienced and meanings of those  experiences are understood by many who are present in the moment they happen.  

To sum that up..... When we wake up tomorrow step up to the plate and be ready to start  a new set of circumstances and while life may throw a high hard one right  at your head chances are you will get another swing  pretty soon so take a whack and go from there.   You don’t have to homer every time and you and your teammates will make errors but so will those who might not encourage. You— I hear your “walk-up” music....

Batter. Up...