# Am I the Problem By:: [[Brian Heath]] 2024-09-07 Descartes said, "I think, therefore I am," as evidence for one's existence. Once one exists, one must figure out how to be in the world. This being is not trivial, but versions of it do come naturally. One looks for food, shelter, and water. One looks for mates, tribes, and friends. These two ways of being within the world come naturally to us. Beyond this comes much more complex ways of being. One aspires to a career. One aspires for the meaning of one's existence. As one ventures down these paths, one will find more questions than answers. Many will not know what to do with such questions, so most rely upon the crowd and answers from those who have gone ahead. This is not necessarily a wrong decision. There is extreme value in ancient wisdom. However, things change, ancient wisdom gets lost, and crowds are easily hacked. If one explores the answers and reflects, one will either fall in line with the rest, pretend to fall in line, or reject the crowd. Once one ventures beyond falling in line and into the world pretending or rejecting, one will eventually wonder whether one is the problem. Is there something fundamentally wrong about oneself resulting in them being on the outside? How does one know when the ground truth is unprovable? Thus, we enter the realm of Descartes. If one thinks, one exists. If one questions if they are the problem, they probably aren't. Only those who do not ask the question will forever be the problem. At least those who question themselves have the opportunity not to be the problem or come to peace with being the problem. Few people ever get this far. #### Related Items [[Problem Solving]] [[Existential]] [[Radicals]] [[Society]] [[Resistance]] [[Reflection]] [[Questions]]