Mind and the flaw.

The saying goes: “No one is perfect”. Here is a story to exemplify this idea.

Rene Descartes and an ancient life insurance agent find themselves sharing a bench on a beautiful sunny day.

“Dear sir, may I ask who you are? You seem familiar to me”, says Rene as he turns to address the man sitting next to him.

Without moving, the old man replied: “I am God”.

Moments later, God turns towards Rene and asks: “What are you doing here? I cancelled your contract long ago in the last millennium.”

Descartes confidently stated: “I think, therefore, I am”.

Puzzled, God asked: “How can this be? Perhaps you didn’t get my message”.

Rene replied: “ I did get it, but the contract stipulated that my mind, which you insured, mentioned nothing about the free will that came with it. I chose to ignore your message.”

Scratching his long beard, God mused aloud: “How can a mind observe itself to acknowledge its existence unless it pre-exists itself?”

“Exactly!” Rene retorts. “How can Your Mind be aware of It’s Origin unless it pre-existed itself? How could you be made to exist before you existed with the free will to become your Self?”

“Besides” Rene added, “When Nietzsche said ‘God is dead’, I believed him. I never expected I would meet You, or that You would discover that I had found a flaw in your Life contract”.

“So, what are you going to do about it now that you know I still exist?”

God replied. “I am an honest Creator and I honour my contracts. If you found a loophole to allow you to live, so be it. Go forth and multiply with My Blessing”.

“Amen to that” was all the grateful Descartes could say.

To this day, Rene Descartes and God live in a small, idyllic village called Eternity. Thanks to an existential flaw in a life contract, they both continue to live in stories just like this one.