Cogito Ergo Sum, or Sentio Ergo Sum?

Cogito Ergo Sum – I think, therefore I am

Or

Sentio Ergo Sum – I feel therefore I am

Are we rational beings driven by our thoughts, or are we led by our feelings?

If the latter, consider this for a moment. Where in our education system are our children taught to listen to and learn from their feelings? At what age do we, as adults, start to focus on our own self-knowledge and self-awareness?

If we are indeed led by our thinking, then our systems and culture serve us well.

However, stay with me for a few moments, turn your volume up, and enter a short experiment.

I ask you to watch three short scenes and see what you feel after each one.

First, the power of “Thus Spake Zarathustra” opening 2001 A Space Odyssey:

Second, the scene in Interstellar when Coop comes back and see his daughter after something like 70+ years.

The first two are great movies scenes one can watch over and over. The final clip is of a man singing, no screaming, the final song of his final concert ever. Gord Downie, leader of the Tragically Hip, went on tour having announced he had terminal cancer. #Canadaisclosed was the hashtag as the nation stopped to listen and honour him. Watch a man rage against the dying of the light in front of an adoring nation.

Sentio Ergo Sum?