My Pop would have appreciated this.
Theo is the king of stretching out the time between him climbing into bed at night and me saying the final goodnight. He used to sneak out of his room 10-12 times a night when he was a toddler, so this is nothing compared to how it used to be.
The other night, face down in his pillow as I was about to leave the room, he suddenly said, "How do I know I'm really here? How do I know I'm real?"
And my mind flashed through a dozen false starts laced with Cogito ergo sum -- "I think therefore I am" and Cartesian anxiety of dualism. That is, the mind as a non-physical, separate entity from the body. How we might have a physical reality and a separate mental/spiritual one. Like a Jedi mind trick. And how I once postulated that the only way we can know if we're in a dream is if we wake up to a reality that is a longer continuous consciousness than what we now take for reality.
But instead, I reached out and pinched him on the tush. Hard.
And got several points across at the same time.
The other night, face down in his pillow as I was about to leave the room, he suddenly said, "How do I know I'm really here? How do I know I'm real?"
And my mind flashed through a dozen false starts laced with Cogito ergo sum -- "I think therefore I am" and Cartesian anxiety of dualism. That is, the mind as a non-physical, separate entity from the body. How we might have a physical reality and a separate mental/spiritual one. Like a Jedi mind trick. And how I once postulated that the only way we can know if we're in a dream is if we wake up to a reality that is a longer continuous consciousness than what we now take for reality.
But instead, I reached out and pinched him on the tush. Hard.
And got several points across at the same time.