Comments on: NYT Reporter Has Never Heard of Descartes

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Sat, 18 Aug 2007 08:00:18 +0000

You know, maybe some of us just go through our existential awakenings at different times. Sometimes we have more than one. This poor fella is just a little slow, that’s all.

By: Adam

Adam — Fri, 17 Aug 2007 12:48:28 +0000

404 descartes not coordinated?

By: Allen

Allen — Fri, 17 Aug 2007 09:54:43 +0000

It reminds me of Monty Python’s University of Walamaloo.
“Renee Descarte was a drunken f.rt, I drink therefore I am!”

By: Chris

Chris — Thu, 16 Aug 2007 23:45:49 +0000

There's a scene in Animal House where this very issue is discussed in what the New York Times (heh) refers to as a "cannabis-fueled conversation". It was also the subject of a Simpson's opening credits scene, punctuated by Homer saying "Whoa" in a Spiccoli-like manner. In short, this is not a topic which we has eluded pop culture.

By: Mordaxus

Mordaxus — Thu, 16 Aug 2007 18:46:48 +0000

Nicko, Jon Williams’s response may very well be the best one, that “never” was merely hyperbole. I would never, ever put even a dollop of hyperbole in my writing, even under torture, but I suppose it’s not logically impossible that someone might.
Another hypothesis is that the editor in charge was too harried to call BS on him and say, “Change that to a Descartes reference or at least a Futurama one.”
However, on my list is the people who thought that 9/11 was “unthinkable” or “unimaginable” when a popular novelist did in fact imagine it in a novel that was on the paper of record’s best-seller list.
Such people need to get out more and order that third bottle of wine.

By: Nicko

Nicko — Thu, 16 Aug 2007 18:13:57 +0000

Mordaxus, while you and I may well have spent many an evening with a good bottle of wine (or three) discussing if reality is real or if we’re all just rats in a cage, I have to say I’m surprised at your surprise. Most people just don’t think about this sort of stuff. If they ever do think about it in their youth then most people ask their parents, who simply regurgitate the dogma that they were fed in their youth. “God moves in mysterious ways”. “His Noodly Appendages go unseen”. “Your purpose it to love Him”. “The meaning of Life is to get to heaven”. The vast majority of the world (regrettably, in my opinion) accept this as truth and leave it at that.
Also, keep in mind that if too many people start to question reality then it takes all the fun out of the game. All that introspection consumes too much memory and makes it all run more slowly. Just eat up the dogma and don’t think to hard, or out creator might have to click on you and press the delete key :-)

By: Jon Williams

Jon Williams — Thu, 16 Aug 2007 17:59:31 +0000

I’m going to go with it being a white lie that made framing the article easier.