Nice to meet you. I would say “I am Matthew”, but that would be a lie. Matthew is my name. And the use of the word ‘my’ implies Matthew is not me, but something that belongs to me. And that something is my name.

Of course, everyone knows that. We just associate names with people. And I am a person, right? I am a human being. On this website you can see pictures of me... Wrong again. That is my body, and my body belongs to me, but it is not me. I am also not my brain, nor my DNA, nor my consciousness.

I am the thinker of my thoughts. And you are the thinker of yours. We think, therefore we are.

I can think about anything I want. Often I think about things I have thought about before. Other times I think new thoughts. Even when I don’t make an effort to think about anything, thoughts which I have no control over appear and disappear. Perhaps I can more aptly be described as the experiencer of my thoughts. But that doesn’t sound half as cool as the thinker, and I’m the one writing this, so I’m sticking with the thinker.

As a fellow thinker, I think we can agree that my body belongs to me, and yours to you. How do we know this? Well, I can control my body by thinking, but I can’t control yours. But this control comes at a cost. I can also feel my body. In a way, my body controls me back. I suppose it’s only fair. Without my body, there would probably be no me!

Human anatomy isn’t my strong suit but I posit this: My physical body is not all that different from that of a troglodyte. The environment around us has changed, but not our biological responses. To quote E. O. Wilson,

“The real problem of humanity is the following: We have Paleolithic emotions, medieval institutions and godlike technology.”

It’s a struggle being the thinker. I don’t know about you, but I’ve made some pretty irrational decisions and felt some pretty bad emotions. It’s an imperfect world. A confusing one too. But we too often forget that we are all just a bunch of thinkers interacting with each other through the outdated bodies we control, trying to make sense of the universe we share. And I wouldn’t have it any other way.

So take care of yourself, and your body, and everything else that belongs to you, and everything else that you belong to.

Sincerely,

The thinker of my thoughts