Cartesian+Dimension

After having read a bit of Descartes, I feel it is necessary to further that line of thinking. In //Meditations on First Philosophy//, he proposes (either sincerely or only for his mental experiment) that there exists a demon that deceives him (he determines that he exists because he can think, but fails to prove that anything else around him exists, as anything could be a trick by the demon).

Where, then, does the self exist? Do all human thinkers exist, or is the self the only thinker who exists? Is there a separate existence for all selves, or were the other selves created by the demon? Is the demon sentient? Is the demon designed by the self? Is the self designed by the demon? Or do the demon and the self coexist?

Let us begin by considering all possibilities. The first, which came to me previously, is best described with an analogy. Imagine that there exists only one spatial dimension*. In that dimension exists only the demon and the self. Now, the demon and the self may or may not be of bodily form. The demon and the self may be zero-dimensional points, one-dimensional lines, two-dimensional planes, three-dimensional spheres (particles, maybe?) or even large spaces that contain some sort of informational material (not unlike floating nuclei). But for now, let us think of them as a devil and a human. In any interpretation of this **Cartesian Dimension**, the self, in its current state, is powerless against the demon. Imagine that the self is strapped into a large throne, hands cuffed to the chair's arms, legs cuffed to its legs, and head fixed in a helmet hanging from the back. The throne is in an infinite, black space. A single light hangs from nothing overhead, and the demon waltzes around the throne, manipulating the senses of the self. The self cannot move or speak. The self has no way of offense. It can only think. Thinking is its only defense. MORE TO COME.


 * Here, dimension refers to a place of existence.

Why have a demon that you know could influence you when there's a Daemon that you can never know if it is understandable and nonexistent or existent but nonderstandable, and an partner in crime with waffle? That is a much more fun demon, the Daemon that is. When we think we can know something, it turns out we may not be able to know everything and/or nothing. Thtbthbhtbhbthbthbhbt!