I
instagram, therefore I am: From Descartes to the 'selfie'
Is
the self autonomous, existing independently of its environment, or are we
actually an inseparable part of a larger social web?
U.S.
René
Descartes had a tough life. His mother died when he was a year old, and he was
raised by his grandmother, who died when he was 13. He never married, and had
an illegitimate daughter. Tragically, she died from an illness when she was 5
years old. For most of his life, he preferred solitude to social interaction.
Toward the end of his life he became the private tutor of Queen Christina of
Sweden, but his bad luck persisted. A few months after arriving in frozen
Stockholm, he contracted pneumonia, to which the philosopher, mathematician and
writer succumbed in 1650, at the age of 54.
Descartes
was ridden with anxiety, which is not surprising considering his life history,
and apparently had at least one nervous breakdown. However, he was also
ambitious and courageous, convinced that his mission was to understand the
truth in its most objective form. After casting off all universally held
opinions, rebelling against his teachers’ authority and abandoning the study of
books, he began to investigate the experience of one’s selfhood from its very
foundations.
Descartes
will always be remembered as the one who defined humans as the only creatures
who are capable of using their intellect in order to prove their own existence.
His famous epigram, coined originally not in Latin but in French – “Je pense,
donc je suis” (“I think, therefore I am”) – formulated a philosophical axiom
that defines the most basic human he formulated a philosophical axiom that defines
the most basic human unit: the autonomous individual. Such a person needs no
proof or external drive to attain the truth, nor any external affirmation to
validate his life or to realize his freedom.
When
Descartes was a child, another book was published in Europe, which preceded and
complemented his own ideas. This book was the Spaniard Miguel de Cervantes’
“Don Quixote.” Considered to be the first modern novel, it turned the
individual and the turns and twists of his fate into objects of observation. Its
second part is particularly fascinating, because it’s there that Don Quixote
encounters fictional characters who know him because they read of his exploits
in the first part of the book.
This
constitutes a sharp expression of an art form that is aware of itself and
reflexive − illustrating for the reader the different
transformations that the hero undergoes. Sancho Panza, the wise fool who
accompanies Don Quixote, says as they approach their village at the end of
their journey that even though he suffered defeat at the hands of others, Don
Quixote has vanquished himself, and that is the biggest victory one can hope
for.
To
date, stories of self-transformation are considered in Western literature to be
inspiring myths that serve as guiding lights. They are avidly consumed since
they reflect and validate the concept of the self as it has been molded over
the last few centuries. Indeed, it’s hard to think of a film in which the main
protagonist’s spirit does not undergo some transformation. As Robert McKee writes
in his best seller on scriptwriting, “Story,” the plot will not be
convincing unless the hero’s plans fail, his character changes only then to
succeed.
The
autonomous, self-aware self is a construct of the modern era. Nowadays, when
millions of people obsessively take their own “selfie” shots on their
smartphones, they are likely unaware of the link between their behavior and the
writings of Descartes and Cervantes. However, the legacy bequeathed by those
two and others has dramatically impacted the development of the concept of
self-awareness and has affected every facet of life. The autonomous individual
owns his property, his decisions, his identity and life. He belongs to a
community and does not live in isolation, but he is separate from any definition
that may link him to others, taking sole responsibility for his actions...
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