René Descartes is often quoted to emphasize reason as the hallmark of Enlightenment based culture of the West.  Cogito, Ergo Sum.  A pithy saying indeed, “I think therefore I am,” with Latin lending the words a patina of sophistication.  Descartes by profession a mathematician naturally would be inclined to believe the clarity of reason is the foundation for becoming a self-aware Agent, to become distinct from all other mammals, to become an “I.”  Was Descartes mistaken? 

Did the separation of the human from the merely animal take place differently, and much earlier than humankind’s ability to wield abstract thinking?  What if…

I work
therefore I am.

---

It is through work that the animal
became human.
Work was, above all else, the foundation
for knowledge and reason.
The making of tools and weapons
was the point of departure for
the early faculty of reason
which humanized the animal we were.
Man, manipulating matter,
figured out how to adapt it
to whatever end he assigned to it.
But
this operation changed not only the stone,
which was given the desired form by the splinters
he chipped from it,
but man himself changed.
It is obviously work that made of him
a human being,
the reasonable animal that we are.

-excerpt, The Tears of Eros by Georges Bataille p. 41

The song, the song, we need a tune to get us through!  This one by Elvis Costello is just right.

(What’s So Funny ‘Bout) Peace, Love And Understanding

By Elvis Costello

As I walk through
This wicked world
Searchin’ for light in the darkness of insanity.
I ask myself
Is all hope lost?
Is there only pain and hatred, and misery?

And each time I feel like this inside,
There’s one thing I wanna know:
What’s so funny ’bout peace love & understanding? Ohhhh
What’s so funny ’bout peace love & understanding?

And as I walked on
Through troubled times
My spirit gets so downhearted sometimes
So where are the strong
And who are the trusted?
And where is the harmony?
Sweet harmony.

‘Cause each time I feel it slippin’ away, just makes me wanna cry.
What’s so funny ’bout peace love & understanding? Ohhhh
What’s so funny ’bout peace love & understanding?

So where are the strong?
And who are the trusted?
And where is the harmony?
Sweet harmony.

‘Cause each time I feel it slippin’ away, just makes me wanna cry.
What’s so funny ’bout peace love & understanding? Ohhhh
What’s so funny ’bout peace love & understanding? Ohhhh
What’s so funny ’bout peace love & understanding?

Lyrics by Nicholas Lowe