Sentio ergo sum.

This piece is about sentio ergo sum or the difficulty of a thinker to go beyond thinking.

Is it our ability to think that makes us human, that denotes our existence? I claim that this is not sufficient because it is unnecessarily restrictive. It appears that it is our ability to think that actually is the basis of existence. I’m not claiming that without feeling there’s no existence. What I say is that without feeling existence is trivial.

The question is whether it is possible to entirely separate off thinking from feeling. If we were to feel, could we do it without thinking? Similarly, if we were to think, would we want to do it without feeling? Would it matter?

It all boils down to a constant struggle between rationality and emotionality. Emotionality is irrational by definition. If we were because we think, we are not because we feel. It follows logically that emotionality goes beyond existence. It goes beyond secular existence.

Does this mean that there might be different levels of existence? Does this mean that the emotional level of existence, if it existed, is spiritual? If it were, are we connected to something that’s greater than the rational when we feel? If this was true, then thinking can in fact be separated from feeling. If feeling is pure, then thinking does not matter. It loses its significance. Thinking and feeling in their pure form cannot coexist. In thinking’s stead, the absolute loss of reason leads to a gain of a deeper understanding of what it really means to exist. Once the discussion concerns meaning, reasoning comes into play again. In order to discern the meaning that feeling has for our existence, we need to think about it. We need to consciously reflect on it. 

Our ability to feel is a gift that comes at a price. In its pure form, it may dissolve the ability to think. The thinker lets loose of his rationality and is endowed with something that is greater than ratio.

Sentio ergo sum.