Many philosophers believe that Mind and Body are separated. Descartes, is often believed to be the father of dualism. However, I find that his famous statement of mind and body is imbued with great irony. When Descartes famously said:

I think therefore I am

he basically described the continuum that exists between the Mind (what I call Consciousness) and the physical body.

Think of Consciousness as being the most ethereal (lightest) of all substances – e.g. fundamental. Think of the physical body as a condensation of Consciousness (ethereal) into something more dense (physical matter).  All substances, even Qi (the Chinese word for energy in the body), can be described as condensed Consciousness.  Everything is either more solid or less solid depending upon the density of Consciousness.

It is as if Consciousness is playing with spiraling string, and it is winding it tighter or looser to make things. When people weave with material, they do the same thing. Consciousness creates the physical body by spiraling itself in like a string being wound around and around itself, such as you would if you wanted to make a ball out of string (the metaphor of modern physic’s string theory comes into play here).

Alex Gray’s paintings captures the idea of the continuum of Consciousness and the Physical Body.

So when Descartes exclaimed I think therefore I am he actually was describing something very, very different from dualism. Instead of being separated, Consciousness and Physical Body are a continuum of the same. All intertwined and connected like waves in an ocean.

I wonder if he realized it and was just afraid to articulate it because of the religious times. Maybe he was misinterpreted? Maybe he didn’t even realize it himself. Who knows? But the irony always strikes me as being very amusing and exciting.