Descartes, considered rationalism’s father, was tormented trying to discover what was true and what a mere speculation. The same as we do when looking for something on the Internet anyway. He needed a good bunch of justifications and reasonings. There are full chapters of the “Discours de la Méthode” before getting that well-known Cogito ergo sum, aka I think therefore I am. Even if it seems just a truism now. Do we need to summon him again to understand the concept of net-existence? Could we segregate the truth from the info-rubbish?
The net-existence issue
Net-existing—existing in the network—is surprisingly easy. It doesn’t require any impressive intellectual effort. The only prerequisite is “I am linked, therefore I am,” or better yet, “I can be Googled, therefore I am.”
With the Internet serving as a mirror of the outside world—and increasingly surpassing it—any public, traceable action is enough to exist in Google’s eyes. And given Google’s love for social networks, simply opening a Facebook, Twitter, or LinkedIn account is enough to secure your place in the network.
The net-truth issue
Regarding the problem of truth, Descartes used a dirty trick. A little bit later the cogito ergo sum, he used God. How to be sure his sensations were real? Well, he demonstrated God’s existence, something no one objected to. And then he said God consequently doesn’t allow your senses to cheat you. And what about now? In this atheistic era, who is going to assure me the truth of any piece of information? Wikipedia, Bro! the incarnate intersubjectivity (I suppose Larry Sanger –one of the 2 Wikipedia’s daddies- has something planned when he flirted in his PHD thesis with Cartesian subjects)
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